Did you see MJ play back then? MJ was more fluid that Kobe will ever be, but the BIGGEST clear cut difference is the ability to exemplify the people around him. Kobe made Smush look like...well..smush Jordan made Pippen look like....hm...an already HOFer
I think Tmac is great, and is better person... but Kobe is able to be more consistent and doesn't get injured as much. Tmac limps around, hurts when he shoots half the time, and has nights where is shot is off way too much. Still Tmac is a better leader and I think that if he could lead this team to a championship then I may change my mind. But he's got to have a better season than this last one.
He can't will a bad team to playoff like Kobe did by stringing 40, 50 points game, or 81 if he has to. And we are talking about leasten league here.
Oh please, Kobe vs McGrady was a wash in virtually everyone's eyes when they were both in their primes. He didn't have the killer instinct Kobe does? Did you just begin watching McGrady when he was a Rocket? McGrady was one of the most clutch people in the league at his peak. He could score how he wanted to - when he wanted to - that didn't change in the clutch. I still remember him draining what should of been the game winning three from near halfcourt against the Kobe/Shaq Lakers; the Refs called it back though because he released it .1 seconds too late. Absolutely was torching them in the fourth.
The "in their prime" bit is funny because technically they are both in their primes. Kobe gets better while T-Mac hit a wall and bounced off of it with a messed up back among other nagging injuries.
What are you talking about? McGrady had multiple 40 point games virtually ever year in the playoffs - and he willed a much crappier team than the Lakers (the Magic) to the playoffs 3 years in a row.
So you think MJ can make Smush look like Pippen? How about Wade can't even make Smush look like a worthy backup.
Are you kidding me? This was exactly the game Kobe torched TMac in 4th, 24:5 in scoring. Tmac had to switch off Kobe later after receiving 2 fouls. Orlando had 15 points lead at the end of third and lost it regardless, that's called choke.
The year he asked for the trade - his (fourth) year with them. McGrady was injured for a portion of that season and his team tanked to get a good pick once they realized they were out of it. That's why McGrady asked to get out, he wanted to go to a team that was in win now mode. Really, I'm starting to doubt you ever did watch McGrady at his peak - some of the comments you're making are ridiculous.
Kobe doesn't really play like MJ at all. I mean there are similarities because they are both star SG's but they are very different. Kobe takes alot more jumpshots, especially from long range where he's much better than Jordan ever was. Dwayne Wade is the closest comparison to MJ in the game today and thats only because he's super quick.
Kobe's prime (past/present) is better than T-Mac's ever was. No disrespect to T-Mac but Kobe has the hardware and longevity that T-Mac never had. I will say that T-Mac is probably the most cursed NBA star there is. Everytime he had a chance to advance in the post season his teams always seemed to be hampered by injuries or lacking home court advantage. People forget in his Orlando days back whenever a sidelined Grant Hill was sucking up half of the payroll and his best teammates were Mike Miller, Darrell Armstrong and Pat fricken Garrity. It was near impossible to build a winner around T-Mac with Hill's albatross contract distorting everything. In Houston? Sure, he pulled a bit of a choke job in the Dallas series but truth be told --- it was T-Mac's first year against a seasoned Mavs team plus we lacked HCA and were never favored to win. The only playoff series in his career that he really has no excuse for losing is last year's Utah series. We had the HCA, we had Yao and should have advanced. Kobe never advanced past the first round after Shaq was traded until this year. Convienent, that this same group that won 42 games last year were all of a sudden a serious threat once the Gasol bank robbery went down. I don't know if it's a testament to how strong the Western Conference really is or what. All I know is despite Kobe's advantage and status as probably the league's best player, even he was unable to get out of the first round until the Gasol trade.
Kobe wanted to win now since 2004, did he ever tank? Fake injury like Wade is doing now or Tmac was back then. Yep, that says a lot about competivity nature.
That was the game they didn't count McGrady's game winning shot - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugkFcXpRan4 at 10:20 of this video (triple teamed). People tend to discount the fact that McGrady had a near triple double and had his team up against a team with 4 hall of famer players and role players better than Orlando's starters.
You don't seem to understand - McGrady didn't ASK to sit - management used the back injury he sustained as an excuse to keep him out. He was averaging 40 points per game over the 5 games leading to him getting pulled - he didn't just tank. He asked to be traded in the offseason BECAUSE his team decided to win now and not later. Kobe did the SAME THING but the difference was his team got him Pau Gasol. Don't put your own words in my mouth.
I am talking about 2nd 3 peat Jordan, when Jordan was almost strictly a midrange jumpshooter. He did nearly all of his damage in the mid-post/iso on the wing, where he unleashed his deadly fadeaway. Kobe has that same exact fadeaway, plays the exact same position in the triangle, etc... Here are 2 mixes, one of Jordan's fadeaway and Kobe's: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9h8p1hL6-UU http://youtube.com/watch?v=3zq7xmnAj_M And again, it goes far beyond their actual play. The swagger, the intensity, the defensive capabilities, the massive ego's and of course the fact that Kobe copied all of Jordan's famous celebrations and such make Kobe a near carbon copy of Jordan. 2 major differences between the 2...as you said Kobe takes more long range jumpers than MJ did, and Kobe doesn't take advantage of smaller players in the post as MJ did (although Kobe has done it a lot so far in the playoffs).
You should win when you are up 15 points in 4th, no excuse. The truth was that TMac torched George and Fox in first 3 quarters but couldn't score on Kobe in 4th and OT. On the other side, Kobe torched him with 24 pts in 4th and he had to switch off to prevent foulout. That winning shot was released after final buzzer, and so it's not a winning shot at all. And that's in year 2003 btw, obviously you didn't watch the game.
NO that was in 2004. Don't tell me I didn't watch the game; it's blatantly obvious you didn't watch it after that comment. It was in March 2004. 1) They switched Stevenson OFF of Kobe and McGrady on him because Kobe was starting to get hot. McGrady had to lay off of him because he picked up his fifth foul quick. They switched Stevenson back onto him and Kobe was still scoring - so they put McGrady back on him and basically prayed. 2) It wasn't just Kobe. That was team defense, NO ONE was stopping McGrady 1 on 1 at that point. 3) McGrady hesitated on the final shot because Malone hacked him (watch the replay, it's blatantly obvious). He let it go .1 seconds later and it went it - but YES it was after the buzzer.
