I really cant believe that some of the posters in this thread are seriously implying James Harden is better than Kobe. Hilariously blind homerism. I love the Rockets and everything James Harden is doing, but lets be realistic here Kobe is 11yrs his elder and still the much better and well rounded player. That said Harden is very, very effective at what he does.
I don't believe anybody said James was better. Simply that he was better for the Lakers. I do think James is equal at this point in their careers though. James makes his teammates better. And plays about equal defense which is almost none.
Kobe is averaging 5 more points while shooting four percentage points better from the field, better from the 3pt line and only averaging 0.4 less assists per game. And you tell me that you feel that they are equals? yeesh.... you are welcome to that opinion, no matter how baseless it is. But if they switched roles Kobe would continue to do what he's done his whole career and James would dominate through the pick and roll game.
5 more shots a game. Give Harden those shots and with his efficiency, he would cover that easy. The point is, Harden is not a chucker like Kobe, and for that reason he would be a better fit with a team featuring Nash,Howard, and Gasol.
Basically with how Harden is playing now, we're seeing just how good Kobe Bryant has always been. Harden is doing a good Kobe/D Wade impersonation. He needs a full season before he's counted on to be THAT guy. Lakers main problem is their DEFENSE. Which is odd considering they had a defensive Coach of the Year in Mike Brown, and 2 Defensive Players of the Year in Dwight Howard and Metta World Peace. But thats what the numbers show. I don't like Kobe much at all and he is a chucker. But Kobe is just as efficient as Harden this year. I think Harden is a better team player and would maybe offer them a better fit, though Harden is NOT a good defender, so Harden wouldnt address their most pressing need. Basically this is the first year that Kobe actually has rights to chuck.
Kobe's getting some really impressive numbers right now at the expense of his team. Is it just coincidence that Howard, Gasol and their bench are all putting up career mediocre numbers? Watch the games, Kobe is impressive as hell and a much more offensively complete player than Harden is at this point, but Kobe's too much of a gunner that plays outside of the offense and consequentially causes his teammates to suffer. Or are we going to make excuses for the fact that the Lakers have a losing record while the Rockets are 4 games above .500 while the Lakers have a team of Howard, Gasol, Kobe, Nash and decent role-players in Artest, Jordan Hill and Jamison.
Lol OK everyone is sucking except Kobe so it must be Kobe holding them back. If that's the case you would think the coach wouldn't play Kobe 40 minutes per game. BTW after 29 games Kobe is +144 so far while Dwight is +4.
Next time before you write a comment make sure you READ IT carefully...hes not comparing anyone hes just saying that harden is a better fit on that team am i right? DUMB KID!!!
Kobe does not run the offense. He is a ball stopper who basically takes the ball away from the point guard. Phil Jackson would be perfect for this team.
You realize most of Harden's foul attempts are shots too? Factor that in and Kobe only takes 1-2 more shots a game than Harden.
Why so many Kobe lovers out tonight? Take in the fact there are loose ball fouls and hand checks over the limit. The fact is though, Harden takes better shots and is more efficient.
Those are all shots at the rim rather than contested fadeaway jumpers after isolating for an entire set. Kobe is a talented player, as I said even at his age it's impressive how great his game his. The problem is that he's the same gunner he always has been and without PJ and the triangle offense and good team defense, Kobe and the Lakers are sucking. He's basically playing like a rich man's Jamal Crawford/ JR Smith/ Nick Young. All three have been chastised for having low BBIQ, making stupid decisions and having awful shot selection - and it shows in how mediocre the Lakers have been the past few seasons. Last season Matt Barnes was considered a scrub by the Lakers and look at how incredible he's been playing in the Clipper system where Chris Paul has made sure that everyone has clearly defined roles and plays to their strengths instead of looking for his own shot and his own points for the entire span of games. Antawn Jamison was a good player, same as Jordan Hill, but they're both being criticised as being inadequate. Pau Gasol was beasting for Spain before being run out of town as a soft-euro once again because he's playing out of position. If you marginalise the role of others, they're going to play within the confines of that very limited role and conversely be mediocre. If you get people involved they become better players. Imagine if Chandler Parsons was on the Lakers, he'd be marginalised into a scrub role as well. They're complaining about Howard who, despite not being 100% is still playing exceptionally well. What do you think they would say about Asik's stone hands? And yet, those two players are invaluable to us in our team - just like Barnes has proven to be valuable to the Clippers, just like how seemingly almost every other player has been valuable to every other team until they come onto the Lakers and become Kobe's put-back b****es.
He's averaging the most PPG he's averaged since 2006-2007 He's shooting the highest percentage he's shot in his career. He's having his 4th highest scoring season. He hasn't missed a game and is averaging 38.8 MPG IN his 17th campaign. You're comparing him to Harden, whose having a break out season and even so is inferior in his stats. I don't know if Kobe's just that prominent in peoples minds, of if ppl just hate him that much, but why this comparison? Why not "Replace Wade with Harden" or "Replace Westbrook with Harden"? Yeah, that's what I thought
I didn't compare the two. James is better for the system the Lakers run, as well as the players on that team. Kobe kills his teammates with his chucking. See Bynum's comments. You put Kobe on OKC and they may actually be worse. Kobe doesn't need to be alpha dog anymore.
Individually, Kobe > Harden in terms of skill and veteran leadership, no argument about this. On the Lakers, Harden would make the Lakers a better team than Kobe. It is correct to say that Kobe is shooting at a more efficient rate this season. However, he takes a lot of long 2s, which does not benefit the Lakers at this point. The Lakers main strength over the rest of the league is their post presence. Playing the post is only effective when you have effective players who can shoot on the perimeter - this means players that are good at shooting the 3, penetrating and moving the ball among the team. Harden would make the Lakers better than the current Lakers because he is a more efficient 3 point shooter, as well as a better pick and roll player. In my opinion, he fits greatly Mike D'Antoni's offense. Harden can run the pick and roll with Howard or Gasol better than Kobe. He also provides better spacing with his ability to shoot the 3 when the Lakers decide to slow things down and utilize their big men. Imagine Howard/Gasol kicking the ball out to Steve Nash/James Harden/Metta World Peace, that offense will work all day. When the bench comes in, you can just put in Harden to run wild with the role players as Harden is still a really good play maker. Compared to Kobe, who prefers to post up or go in isolation mode, Harden can really improve the bench production of the Lakers. Thus, in overall Harden will make the Lakers a better team than Kobe does. Just my humble opinion.
