Nagging question which really looms up after this season: is Kobe Bryant better than Michael Jordan? Simple. Direct.
There will be another Kobe, but there will never be another Michael Jordan. MJ is the champion plain and simple. Kobe is just an amazing scorer.
No. At the moment. Ask again in maybe another 5 years, or after Kobe has retired and the answer may be different. His feel for the game was spot on in game 1 against the Spurs. He came out a little passive looking to get his teammates involved, play the decoy draw the defence and get the role players some points. In the second half he sensed the team needed some points and put the Lakers on his back and carried them. I have always been a bit of a Kobe-hater, but watching him play in the 2 games against the Spurs has changed my opinion of him, a little. He just has an amazing feel for the game and he isn't just all offence, he can actually lock it in and play D as well. As for the original question Jordan is still ahead in nearly every aspect, but Kobe is closing the gap, in my opinion.
Yes if you are a Lakers fan, Kobe hasn't proved nothing like Michael Jordan did, the best ever in the history of basketball.
You must be 10-16 years old if you voted Kobe. Maybe if Kobe can string together 2-3 more championships and add more MVPs to his career and he MIGHT have a chance. At this point, its not even close.
See what Kobe does with hand checking. Bet he struggles a lot more. Also no for other obvious reasons.
WTH??!??!?! Are you kidding me? Kobe never won any rings on his own, he never won a playoff series on his own. MJ = 6 Championship rings / 6 Finals MVP Kobe = 3 Championship with Shaq and maybe more with Pao STOP COMPARING KOBE TO JORDAN We probably will never see a player come close
Kobe may be the best player in the game by far but he is still nowhere close to jordan at this moment. Of course he still has atleast 5 more years to play, but the next 5 would have to be the best he's ever had for this question to even be seriously considered.
Ever heard of a player named scottie pippen? He was really good, possibly the second best player in the league during his prime. Jordan gets all the credit for winning 6 championships because he was the one who did it in the clutch. Kobe may have had shaq, the most dominant player of our generation but I think you should give him a little more credit because he was the one who closed the fourth quarters.
No. If any of you think differently, go and watch some Bulls playoff games then get back to me. However, Kobe is as close to MJ as anyone has gotten
i voted yes, but i don't necessarily think kobe is better. i think they're about tied. especially if kobe wins it all this year. everyone wants to just hand jordan the title of greatest ever, and in all reality thats probably where my vote would go too. but kobe had to deal with some things even jordan didn't. zone defense. permeter handcheck rules. bla bla bla. the league is different. but i think playing with shaq would've been a struggle for jordan. he never had to play with a guy who demanded the ball. kobe did. and still succeeded. no really... do you think jordan could've played with a guy who repeattedly said, 'gimme the ball, everyone on my back is a bum.' i'm not so sure. do i think he's better? not necessarily, but its way closer than most people think.
I sometimes browse insidehoops.com to get news about other teams, trade rumors and such. It is an all-around terrible forum because it is made up from r****ded 15 year-olds but there are 10 or so excellent posters. Luckily, almost each one is a fan of a different team so you get a good perspective about most teams. One time there was a thread that, although purely statistically, showed why MJ>>>Kobe. Ranging from obvious categories like FG%, scoring, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, PER to more subtle categories... all in all Kobe wasn't even close. Every category, Jordan was better. Let's not forget that guards are heavily favored in today's game. It was like comparing Tracy to Luther. I know, I know, link? Maybe Clutch City Returns can help me out and search for it, he posts there. So what I'm trying to say is, there is no argument and it's not even as close as people think.
Nah, Jordan would've just stared Shaq down (figuratively) and made Shaq his beezatch. Plus Shaq was older and was the more accomplished and experienced player than Kobe. Not the case with Jordan.
Wow, you're joking right? They did play in different eras but Kobe plays in an era that favors guards. So that argument works in favor for Jordan. You lay a fingernail on a guard on the perimeter and its a foul. Ever heard of the "Jordan Rules" than the Pistons used? Back then, a flagrant foul of todays standards were just regular hard fouls. After a few years of being humbled, all MJ wanted to do was win. If he had Shaq, I bet he wouldn't had ran him out town like Kobe did. MJ won 6 rings without a dominant scoring inside presence during an era where "Big Men" were at their best. Imagine what he could do if he had Shaq on his team. They'd win more than just 6 titles. Kobe succeeded because of Shaq. He'd be an idiot if he didn't give the ball to the most dominant player at that time. Take Shaq away and does Kobe win any championships or even make the first round? I'd like to see Kobe win some titles with little to no inside presence on offense before we can say "he's closer than people think".
