Some Michal Jordan Ex-Teammates Have Said Kobe is Better

Its easier now for wing players to score. Jordan is easily better than Kobe. Imagine Jordan with no hand checking. He went to the rim like Dwayne Wade but was bigger and stronger. He would tear up the league with the current rules.

 

I wonder how Michael would've been to Shane Battier.

 

Excerpt from : http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...s-phil-jackson-20110313,0,7473272,full.column


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It begins with a question that has nothing to do with either superstar: Is there a chance he might regret retiring while the Lakers remain capable of winning again?

"I hope I have no regrets about coming back this year. When I saw how Kobe was struggling physically last year, Fish [Derek Fisher] was getting older," and then he stops himself and brings the conversation back to Bryant.

"Kobe was really hurt; people don't give him enough credit. He's a remarkable person, remarkable."

"Do you like him?" I ask.

"It's not about liking him," he says. "It's about admiring his courage. There's only one individual I know that's like that, and that's Michael Jordan.

"Kobe has patterned himself after Michael, and there are a lot of identical things there, but it's one thing to hope to be like him, it's another thing to be like him."

So when Jackson's next book comes out, and it will, will Jackson reveal who he thinks was best — Jordan or Bryant?

"I'm with [ESPN's] Bill Simmons on this," he says. "We have to take Michael Jordan out of the equation. Stop comparing anyone to Michael Jordan. It's just not fair. He was remarkable. Kobe's in his own sphere.

"He doesn't shoot the same percentage [.455] as Michael [.497]. He has the same characteristics as Michael, but he's not the same player. It takes nothing away from him — he's a great player in his own right."

Jackson then tells a story about Jordan playing 27 holes of golf before a playoff game against Miami — in which he scored 56 points.

"He had this unbelievable amount of energy that I've never seen anybody have," says Jackson, who wasn't thrilled with Kobe's late-night extra practice in Miami. "We'd play three games in four nights on the road and he'd be better the third night than the first. Remarkable."

 

And I suppose Jordan 1on5'ed his way to his rings as well?

 

I think he was saying that there'd be no doubt who was the best player on the Bulls teams while there was on Kobe's teams. Neither one of them did it by themselves.

 

I think Kobe is a better shooter than Jordan. You can't really use field goal percentage as a comparison because Jordan was relentless in attacking the basket whereas Kobe is more willing to take jump shots. Kobe's three point percentage is probably better than Jordan's even though Kobe came into the league as an 18 year old.

 

I was actually just thinking that that list contains my own personal top 8... all of those except Kobe & Shaq. To me those two go off the list first.

IMO, by end-of-career, Lebron is top 10, leaving one spot left for some young kid to earn.

After that, no idea who you knock off first. Maybe Kareem?

 

You could just as easily say that Kobe grew up playing basketball with a three-point line. So there was always the motivation for him to learn to shoot beyond it. Jordan didn't even have a three-point line when he was in college, IIRC. Then he came into the league and it was far more efficient for him to score by using his ability to get to the rim at will.

 

A 34 yrs old Jordan who no longer can jump and played more than half a season without Pippen shot 46.5% and Kobe best shooting year was 46.9%.

Jordan is a career 32% 3pt shooter and Kobe is a career 33% 3pt shooter.

 

Jordan played against guys who were physically weaker than the guys that Kobe played against. Of course, that advantage didn't really matter for the guys guarding Kobe because for the last seven or so years they haven't been allowed to breathe on perimeter players without getting called for a foul.

I meant that Jordan played against players who were better than Kobe's main competition. During much of Kobe's prime (~2000-2006), the league was overrun by perimeter guys who were great athletes but very poor basketball players.