well....judging by how's he progressed....no. i'm not speaking of skills or talent...i'm talking about his willingness to play within Jackon/Winter's Triangle. Jordan had to do it in order to win...would Kobe? Highly doubt it.
I agree with MadMax. It's such a cliche, but Jordan made many or all of the players around him better (as did Bird, Magic, et alia). I truly don't believe Kobe makes the players around him much better. If anything, he makes them stand around more. The comparisons are somewhat appropriate when it comes to skill, the ability to score, and determination, but there's a whole extra layer he lacks in my opinion.
Personally, I don't think he'll ever add that extra layer but that is pure speculation. He plays in a offense, where the defense isn't exactly concentrating on stopping him. And a good amount of his 3pt shots are primarily from kick outs from Shaq. Also, I don't like how Kobe b****es and whines and quits on his team if they question him. It's childish when he tanked it against sac town. Everyone knew to stop Jordan, but couldn't
Much much less, Kobe is a great single talent but like some of the board members have pointed out, he can’t make a team better. I can’t wait to see Kobe leave LA because when he does, neither he nor shaq will ever see another championship.
It's already been lightly touched, but Kobe also hasn't shown anything close to Jordan's tenacity on D. If anything, he's slid the last couple of years. It wasn't long ago that he went after guys like Iverson as a personal challenge, but now he sticks to typical matchups and doesn't always put in the all-out effort. Jordan: 87-88 DPOY, 9 time all-NBA D team. Kobe: 99-00 all NBA D team. Plus, he's got more of Pippen's mindset than Jordan's. Jordan wasn't a b!tch that demanded constant coddling from coaches and teammates. He was an arrogant SOB that was going to go out and do what he needed to do. Evan
To even post this question is crazy. Switch Kobe and Jordan and do the Bulls have ANY titles, that is the question. Lets see, if memory serves, Bulls beat Lakers in 5 Bulls beat Blazers in 6 Bulls beat Suns in 6 (after Knicks in a tough 7) Bulls beat Sonics in 6 Bulls beat Jazz in 6 (after Pacers in a tough 7) Bulls beat Jazz in 6. I would say the only ring the Bulls would be favored to win with Kobe for Jordan is the first one, assuming the Lakers sustained the same injuries in the finals. Another way to look at it, switch Jordan for Kobe and the Lakers would be on their way to 5 strait if not 6-7-8. They are different caliber of players, comparing Kobe to players like Pippen or Drexler is a better comparison.
Jordan was a career fifty percent shooter from the peremiter when he had no help. There's your difference. Even guards back then didn't shoot that well, and that's a guy whom everyone knew whould shoot. Reverse the question, would there be any doubt that if you put a young Jordan on these Laker teams that he would have won rings. I don't think there's any.
I think Kobe would do it. Kobe is unguardable. If you look at Jordan's last few championships he wasn't even that good. His shooting was way down. It's just that nobody could play better. Karl Malone was a joke. I think Kobe could have easily lifted the Bulls to a championship in the last 3 seasons. As for the first three, Jordan had more help, and so I too think Kobe could be plugged in. Jordan was the better player, but not by much in my opinion.
I second that. If there is anyone in the history of the league who is overrated, it's Jordan. I don't doubt the fact that he is the best player to ever play the game. and won six titles with the Bulls. But the media has hyped him so much that he is a "god" of basketball litearally. Keep in mind, at Kobe current age, Jordan has won zero championships. Comparative wise, Kobe has done more in early career than Jordan, and of course, playing with O'neal is definitely an asset too. When it's all set and done, could Kobe have a better career than Jordan? Maybe, maybe not. But most people would rule out the possibility claiming that there won't another Jordan. True that, there won't another Jordan, I believe Kobe can exceed what Jordan has done. Not saying he will, but Kobe has the potential.
I think people forget a few things: -the last 3 championships (ESPECIALLY the last one), the bulls were running on fumes and they did not even deny that. They were getting old and Jordan basically had to go out and do the unthinkable and get his 6th ring. Could Kobe make the defensive stops that Jordan made against the Jazz in 1997? I don't doubt his ability to knock down clutch shots but I have my doubts about whether or not he would be able to defend any better than Jordan did. -age shouldn't even be a factor. it's a moot point since Kobe came out of HS and jordan had what..2-3 years at UNC? and age shouldn't even be used to talk about championships. Kobe had the most dominant player in the late 90s in the middle and had one of the best coaches in NBA history on the sidelines. What did Jordan have his first 3-4 years with the Bulls? Exactly; himself. -from a statistical standpoint, I'll give Kobe the benefit of the doubt and say that it's even. But what about the other factors? The will to win and lead a team? To carry his team on his back? To actually buy into the Triangle offense? I guess it's too early to tell if Kobe can do a metamorphosis like Jordan did, but since we're comparing the Present-Day Kobe, I don't see how Present-Day Kobe could have won anything in Chicago in place of Jordan. oh and one more thing: if we want to play with stats, look up Jordan's stats vs. Kobe's. Everything is just about even except for one thing --FG%. I'm not a mathematician or a statistician or anything but it's hard to argue that 47% (Kobe's highest output in 3 different years) is comparable to 54% (Jordan's highest output in 3 different yers).
The thing about Jordan is that he always made his move quickly. He didn't dribble around like Kobe. He either drove, pulled up for the jumper or shot the ball. He never stood around dribbling the ball like Kobe does. Jordan at 40 after 2 retirements was a better shooter than Kobe is now.
Early on, before thee first retirement, Jordan was unstoppable when he wanted to get to the rim. He would put up monster numbers against the league's best defenders. Would he be as effective against the zone? Probably not, but he could still get you 28-30ppg. Kobe settles for too many jumpshots.
Kobe Bryant isn't nearly as good an athlete as Jordan was. Kobe's a great athlete - but Michael Jordan was a freak - stronger, faster, and more explosive than Bryant - so Jordan's ceiling is higher.
From what I've seen, and just saw again today in Game 2 just now. That Kobe three pointer, my god.. if he has anything MJ "esque", it's that ability to make the most difficult, the most crucial, clutch shot on a consistent basis. That's just amazing. Kobe= Jordan Light As some would say around here.
i'll hand it to him though...he makes some crazyass shots. half of the time it just looks like a jack up. i seriously think that sometimes he increases the level of difficulty just to look good. but hey...the dude is clutch. that's all i can say.
Not by much? How we forget so easily!?!?!?!?!! Kobe....? Huh? Jordan was better than Shaq!!! He was a scoring freak of nature, at 6'6", 216lbs. His ability to dominate possession after possession has not been done since! This is a 2-guard scoring/assist/defense maniac! Better than even Shaq could ever do. Even the Shaq/Kobe duo is not better than the Jordan/Pippen duo. Plug in very good role players and you have dominance! This guy could score 33 points a game, have 8 assist per game, and shoot 52% for the year! He was pure dominating efficiency. Sure, in order to win it all you have to have a supporting team. But to compare Kobe to Jordan in total talent is way off! They are not on the same level. No way. Shaq makes Kobe better. They both need each other. But Kobe needs Shaq more. Does anyone remember last year when Shaq when down? What happened? The team when into a loosing slump until Shaq came back. Even with all those Kobe shooting spectacles, it still didn't compensate. Shaq carries Kobe. Kobe plays *off of Shaq.* Kobe has Jerry West type shooting skills. Very clutch! Similar to West. He has a lot of Jordan type moves. But this is just mimicking his style. He does not get his points the same way, nor at the same efficiency. Here's a little perspective.... Who's more capable of leading their respective teams? Kobe or KG (leader of team) Kobe or TD (two rings; leader of team; defeated a Shaq/Kobe team) Kobe or Shaq (leader of team) Then, ask yourself...Who's more capable, in this list, of leading their respective teams? Jordan (leader of team; 6 rings) or KG (leader of team) Jordan (leader of team; 6 rings) or TD (two rings; leader of team) Jordan (leader of team; 6 rings) or Shaq (leader of team; 3 rings) Kobe does not win any comparison. Jordan wins all of them. Jordan is arguably the best basketball player that ever lived, no disrespect to Wilt. Now, unless you are willing to say that Kobe is better than Shaq, KG, and TD. Then how can you even compare him to Jordan, who is better than Shaq, KG, and TD? Different league. Different roles.
