Kobe can be in the conversation, but there should be no debate. MJ was just better. Look, it's commonly accepted that for any team to win, you have to have a dominant low post presence. As far as I know, MJ's Bulls were the only team to be able to win without a dominant low post presence. MJ won with the likes of Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley, while Kobe had Shaq and Pau. Horace Grant was probably the best big man he played with on offense, but he was more of a mid-range pick and pop type player than a guy with a go-to post-move. Rodman was dominant on the defensive end, but had no offensive game. Imagine putting Kobe on the Bulls with Cartwright--I don't think he wins against the bad boys back then. In fact we have some evidence of what happens when Kobe plays without a dominant big man--just look at what the Lakers were like after Shaq left town and before Pau came. Kobe almost whined himself into a forced trade. MJ never did that.
In terms of rings, play style, and leadership, Kobe is the only one who comes close to MJ. Lebron is great, of course, but his career has been a lot more like Karl Malone. Awesome player, but not as mentally strong as the all-time best (MJ, Bird, Magic, Russell, Dream, Kobe, etc.).
I guess you missed all of Kobe's highlight reels when he was young and before his knees were shot. I don't know of any below average to average NBA players who can throw down a 360 in game. When Kobe was prime young, I would put maybe 3 stars ahead of him athletically (Carter, McGrady, and Francis). Jordan's strength has always been the threat of his mid range shot. It was always there and you HAD to respect it otherwise he is going to rain it down on you all day. The problem was, Jordan was also amazing at taking the ball to the rim. It wasn't just speed, it was a combination of strength, speed, athleticism, and at times, sheer determination that allowed him to blow by most at will. When he actually GOT to the rim, he had amazing hang time, body control, and big hands. Jordan had oversize hands (bigger than Kobes) that allowed him to postpone release until the last second. This gave him all the time in the world to make the shot even as he was fouled, His only real weakness was his outside shot and even then, weakness was a question mark. On the seasons where he shot poorly from downtown, his 3pt attempts were usually less than 10% of his types of shots. When he did shoot significantly more, he actually got good at shooting threes. He also always seemed to make them when he needed to. This tells me he wasn't very interested in shooting 3's and rather drive it inside for more guaranteed buckets, a mentality that very few NBA players still share.
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Guess I was right then. :grin: Someone needs to show AB,KM, and Bud this video. Take less 3's, drive to the bucket more, be like Mike!
"when compared to other all-star wings of his time" Sure, he's a much better athlete than most at the time but he wasn't one of the best athletes among all-star wings. And, honestly, I think people just forget about all the amazing athletes that have cycled in and out of the league since Kobe's been playing. There's Jason Richardson, Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, Gerald Green, Nate Robinson, Josh Smith, James white, etc. were all just as athletic or more and weren't even all stars. And, really my main point was that, relative to his era, Kobe was not the athlete MJ was.
Very gracious of him, assuming it's true and the author's not just hyping his book; and probably more meaningful to Kobe than he would care to admit. Jordan used to compliment Latrell Sprewell too, though (Halberstam book I believe).
lol...pippen took them to the playoffs without jordan remember? how can you say pippen would not be the main star on another team? i just think that jordan was so great that it over shadowed pippen a lot. go back and watch some of the bulls games and you would see why pippen was great, his court vision, defence and scoring ability was through the roof. Also what have jordan accomplished without pippen? to make it clear, I am not saying pippen/kobe is better than jordan, just that ALL great players need others to help them in order to win it all. You can make an arguement with the rockets and Hakeem, but I feel that rockets team had probably the best role players in the league, anyway thats another arguement
Everyone is freaking out about Red_Alertz post, but this guy is one of the most well known Kobe fanboys on this board. He was obviously being sarcastic.
that other squad won 72 games. the 91 squad, we toasted them with Sleepy Floyd, Kenny Smith, and Buck Johnson. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Iu92R-UR12o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Jordan is on the money here. LeBron is just like Scottie-Pippen, and he would do well to play that role in Miami. He's just not of the same mold as Kobe and Jordan are. Kobe and Jordan were killers and closers, LeBron really doesn't have this attribute. LeBron will go down in history as arguably the best all-round basketball player but not really a champion that won rings for his team. Any wings he may win will be from Wade bringing it home (or another superstar) with LeBron playing the "superstar contributor / scottie pippen" type of role.
In my opinion, Kobe Bryant has been and still is the best player in the league and also has many comparisons to MJ. I'm not even a fan of his, but he's proven it time and time again. Dude has 5 rings, elite defender, still in his prime, and has an 81-point game on his resume. It's not fair to say he can't carry a team because that's all he's done. So what if he always had a good supporting cast because MJ had a good cast of players as well. Some of you fail to see that because back in the 90s their roster was considered good. They may not have been star-studded names, but there were good pieces around MJ. He had Pippen, Rodman, Harper, Kerr, and Kukoc. They also had size in the paint with Luc Longley at 7'2 and the wizard, Phil Jackson. MJ didn't do it himself. I just want to clarify that. As much of a great player he was, I think even he wouldn't say he did it on his own. So yes, Kobe Bryant is what MJ left behind.
