DPoY is the glaring omission. Jordan won scoring title, DPoY, and MVP all in the same season. Unheard of. And I think he averaged about 35 that year. To put his season in context, LBJ and Durant are the runaway favorites for MVP this year. Their PER's are 30.62 for KD and 30.25 for LBJ. In 1988 Jordan had a 31.7! He led the league in scoring AND he led the league in steals! In the same year. Jordan averaged almost an entire steal per game more than anyone else this season. 3.2 spg and CP3 has 2.4 this season, which is considered dominant. Kobe and Lebron are in the conversation with their offensive stats (somewhat). But what Jordan had was intangible, and even though his stats are convincing, they don't begin to tell the story.
lol lebron with 2004 olympic bronze. Lebron's physical talent served him well in first half of his career, don't think it will last for too long tho. Kobe is pure hard worker.
Jordan missed 2 years of his prime, comparisons just should not be made, Kobe is many steps behind Jordan, and LBJ isn't the same type of player.
LeBron's assists and rebounds numbers compared to Kobe/Jordan are really staggering. Jordan is clearly the best but 10 years in is 31, versus LeBron is 28. LeBron also has Dwayne Wade (who won a championship without him) and Chris Both, a perennial all-star, and Kobe had Shaq, the most dominating big man of all time and Pau Gasol who is a terrific big man. Jordan really aside from Pippen didn't have much talent around him so had to score more. I think if he had the kind of talent around him, his assists would be higher. To me its about drive. Jordan had the talent and the extreme drive. Kobe has less talent but Jordan-like drive with a bit of childishness (Pippen-ness), whereas LeBron has probably more talent than Jordan and drive but not to the level of the above. Tracy McGrady to me is the most physically talented player I've ever seen who was so natural that if he had Jordan or Kobe's sheer desire he could have eclipsed both of them.
I tend to agree. If Tracy had their drive + if he was the iron man that Jordan and Kobe were (small amount of injuries), McGrady would easily be in this "through 10 years" graphic with Lebron.
I was going to note this as well. And didn't he win the dunk contest that same year? Nuts. I'll admit I'm biased because I grew up watching MJ play but the stats really bear out what I remember. He was an elite force on both ends of the court and absolutely made his teammates better (although that last part took a few seasons to develop). He took the weaker parts of his game and made them strengths. A rare combination of athletic gifts, basketball IQ, work ethic and off the charts competitiveness bordering on psychosis. I think Kobe is in the same mold of MJ but falls significantly short. LaBron is more physically gifted (never thought I'd say THAT) but plays a different style of game. James is a freak and can literally play almost five positions.
Indeed it's the other way around: -"Kobe needed Shaq's help" Lebron has not one but TWO superstars helping him. Not including the best spot up shooter of all time and a overrall better supporting cast -"Kobe had Gasol & Bynum" Again, Lebron has Wade & Bosh. Jordan had Pippen & Rodman. Magic had Kareem & Worthy. Bird had Mchale. Gasol is NOWHERE in that list of HOF players. No argument -"Kobe shooting% is terrible compared to Lebron" Well, Kobe's a perimeter player who got most his shots from fadeaways and 3's. Lebron's a SF who gets alot more shots from fast break dunks. They play different positions. "Kobe couldn't even get his team past the 1st round against Steve Nash" Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom, Chis Mihm, Brian Cook, Ronny Turiaf. Enuff said
Gotta remember, Lebron/MJ were already established go to guys and had the ball in their hands, while Kobe was warming the bench and earning his minutes first couple of seasons. You have to factor in pace.
the most impressive thing about these numbers is jordan and lebron didn't play with a dominate player that commanded double and triple teams that made the game easier for them. watch kobe fans get mad lol
The three point line has been moved around so an '*' for Jordan's numbers at three point line. I like Jordan and Lebron but will say that Kobe was the best finisher. Thanks for the stats, all three are ridiculous. Jordan was by far the coolest and most liked. Everybody like and wanted to be like Mike, a little bit of that is circumstance. Cheers you dogmatic Maricones!
Meh... Kobe is still my favourite player. MJ= My dad's generation, didn't really get to see him play. Kobe= The embodiment of so many manly man things. Taught me to believe in myself beyond a doubt, work my butt off everyday, and that to be a leader one has to lead himself first (i.e it's okay to be a lone wolf at times). LBJ= The star of the YOLO generation. Friendly, gifted, cool. I've watched some of his games. The style he plays embodies this generation of basketball. Nothing is personal, and teamwork is paramount to any individual. Stats wise, Kobe doesn't stack up. With that said, I regret nothing about being a Kobe fan the last 17 years.
That and he wasn't good enough to crack the top 10 let alone the top 5. The rape would still hurt him even if he was a better player though.
