Saw this on twitter and thought it was interesting. Compares Kobe and LeBron at age 18. LeBron not only had more points in less games but also had nearly 2000 more assists than Kobe and also shot better % Also played less playoff games but had accumulated more stats
So what kind of stats and success would Kobe have had if he didn't have Shaq at the beginning of his career?
To be fair, Kobe wasn't even starting until his 3rd season and even then was the second banana to Shaq. LeBron on the other hand, was handed the reigns to the Cavaliers franchise from day one.
Not a fair comparison because of the supporting cast each had to deal with... But it's already been a forgone conclusion that Lebron will be the better play than Kobe (and possibly already is). This chart only validates that. When it's all said and done, Jordan will be the only player worth comparing Lebron to.
3 MVPs and 1 Final MVP to Kobe's 0 MVPs and 0 Final MVPs.. come on man imagine if LeBron had played with Shaq back then True but you can't fault LeBron for being good enough to start at such a young age..
Because he got two of them like 2 or 3 years later. Not a fair comparison. LeBron still has a long way to go before he compares to Kobe's legacy. It's possible he overtakes Kobe, but just because he compares well when they were 28 doesn't mean crap.
Kobe played second fiddle to Shaq in his early years. Not really a fair comparison for that reason IMO.
I always thought Kobe was a weird case in that most of his most dominant seasons were spent playing with kwame brown and Smush Parker The only time he could even be considered to be an all time great he spent getting eliminated first round by the suns
I'm not faulting LeBron at all. All I'm saying is the stats are going to be skewed (and not even by a big margin) considering Kobe was drafted to a contender, and in '96, teams weren't used to starting an 18-year old kid ahead of established, veteran players. By '03, there was already a trend towards younger players.
Not as much faulting LeBron as it is recognizing opportunity. We don't know how good/bad Kobe would have been if he was given starter minutes from the get go and a green light to do whatever he wanted.
Every time i saw this kind of debate between Kobe and Lebron, I kinda miss Goodbug. Maybe at the rate the Lakers are winning now, goodbug may come out from his grave soon. Of cause his excuse will be he is busy working on some multi millions project in New York. Lol.
His stats would be better and he would have less rings thus eliminating any argument for Kobe > Lebron.