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Content provided by The Sports Informer By James Choleras
Published July 23rd at 7:12 pm

With the 2008 Summer Olympics fast approaching new stories are being written everyday about the US Olympic team and their attempt to end their eight year drought. I personally don’t understand how they don’t wipe the floor with everyone considering they have the best players in the world but I digress. So with all of the best players in the world basically on one team the only real question isn’t are they going to win, it’s who is their best player? Some might say its Kobe Bryant while others believe it is Lebron James. A vote or two might even go to Dwight Howard aka Superman but I think the majority of people are picking Kobe or Lebron. So what I am going to attempt to do is break down who is the better player and try and end, or start a brand new, debate about who is really the best player?

Feel free to trash my opinion but only after you have read my arguments. Don’t read the first sentence of the next paragraph and then skip to the bottom and start hating and calling me an idiot and all that nonsense. Read, form an opinion, and then respond. I do welcome all insults though.

With that being said I firmly believe that the best player on team US and in the entire world is Kobe Bryant and this is why:

Let’s get of the simple stuff out of the way. Yes Kobe Bryant is 29 and is 6 years older than Lebron James (23) so I am not going to focus on stats like points in a career since Kobe clearly has the advantage. However they don’t play the same position as Kobe is a shooting guard and Lebron is a small forward so keep that in mind. Now let’s get down to the real comparison.


Stats

  MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Kobe 36.5 .453 .340 .839 5.3 4.6 1.5 .5 25.0
Lebron 41.1 .467 .324 .728 6.9 6.6 1.8 .8 27.3


Now looking at these numbers people are already starting to second guess my choice but it needs to be noted that in the first 2 years of his NBA career Kobe Bryant was not a starter and averaged well under 30 minutes per game. This is why his numbers are a bit skewed and why Lebron looks to trump him. However saying that some of these stats are very telling and need to be explained a bit.

Lebron James IS the Cleveland Cavaliers. Without Lebron the Cavs would be the worst team in basketball and relegated to joke status along with the Los Angeles Clippers. They pass him the ball almost every trip down the floor and even though he plays Small Forward he basically plays point guard. With more minutes come more chances to score points, get rebounds, and get steals it’s as simple as that.

This is one of the reasons that he has better career numbers than Kobe, but it is not the only one. Until recently Kobe was never a 1 man show, and to be fair he still isn’t today with players like Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, but for 8 years it was Kobe and Shaq who dominated and SHARED the ball and the spotlight. It was an actual team and not one guy doing everything like Lebron and the Cavs. Kobe very easily could have averaged over 30 PPG, like he did when Shaq left, but he did what all good teammates do and passed the ball and put the team above himself. The best player Lebron has ever played beside is Larry Hughes, who is not exactly in the same league as Shaquille O’Neal, which explains why he is always shooting and doing everything himself.

But enough with the simple stats. Its time to focus on something more important than just the simple numbers that people use to try and prove who is better. The best way to prove someone is better is by looking at trophies, records and honors.


Trophies, Records and Honors

Kobe Bryant has been named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Lebron hasn’t. Kobe has 3 championships and Lebron has 0. Kobe has been named to the All-NBA- Defensive team 8 times and Lebron has been named 0. Yes Lebron is on pace to score the most points ever but basketball is a team game and requires defense. Also we have been over why he scores so many points so let’s not dwell on that. Lebron may have more Cavalier records than Kobe has Lakers records but honestly which is more impressive? Kobe Bryant is a much all around better player who has accomplished more as a basketball player than Lebron James has as a purely offensive threat.


Kobe


  • 3-time NBA champion: 2000, 2001, 2002
  • NBA Most Valuable Player: 2008
  • 2-time scoring champion: 2006, 2007
  • 10-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Has started in each of his appearances
  • 10 consecutive appearances (No All-Star game in 1999 due to lock-out)
  • 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007
  • 10-time All-NBA Selection:
  • First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Second Team: 2000, 2001
  • Third Team: 1999, 2005
  • 8-time All-Defensive Selection:
  • First Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Second Team: 2001, 2002
  • NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997
  • NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion: 1997
  • NBA regular season leader in:
  • points: 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • points per game: 2006, 2007
  • field goals attempted: 2006, 2007, 2008
  • field goals made: 2003, 2006, 2007
  • free throws attempted: 2006, 2007
  • free throws made: 2006, 2007
  • 2nd most points in a Game: 81
  • Gold Medal with Team USA

NBA Records

Kobe Bryant holds four and shares five NBA records:

  • Most three-point field goals made, one game: 12
  • Most three-point field goals made, one half: 8
  • Most consecutive three-point field goals made, one game: 9
  • Most free throws made, one quarter: 14
  • Most free throws attempted, one quarter: 16
  • Youngest player to score 15,000 points: 27 Years, 136 days
  • Youngest player to score 20,000 points: 29 years, 122 days old
  • Youngest Slam Dunk champion: 18 years, 175 days
  • Youngest player to be named to the NBA All-Defensive Team
  • Youngest player to start a game: 18 Years, 158 days

Lakers franchise records

Kobe Bryant holds or shares 30 Los Angeles Lakers franchise records


Lebron


  • 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008
  • NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004
  • 4-time NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • 4-time All-NBA: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • NBA regular season leader, points per game: 2008
  • NBA regular season leader, field goals made: 2005, 2008.
  • NBA regular season leader, minutes played: 2005, 2007.
  • NBA regular season leader, traditional three-point plays: 2006.
  • Career 40+ point games (regular season): 23
  • Career 40+ point games (postseason): 3
  • Career 50+ point games (regular season): 5
  • Career triple-doubles (regular season): 17
  • Career triple-doubles (postseason): 3

Youngest player records

James owns numerous NBA "youngest player" records:

  • Youngest player to be named NBA Rookie of the Year (19 years of age).
  • Youngest player to record a triple-double (20 years, 20 days).
  • Youngest player to score 40 points in a game (19 years, 88 days).
  • Youngest player to score 50 points in a game (20 years, 80 days).
  • Youngest player to score 2,000 points in a season (2004-05).
  • Youngest player to average 30 points per game in a season (2005-06).
  • Youngest player to be awarded All-NBA honors (2004-05).
  • Youngest player to be named to the All-NBA first team (21 years, 138 days).
  • Youngest player to win an All-Star Game MVP (21 years, 55 days)
  • Youngest player to reach
    • 1,000 points
    • 2,000 points
    • 3,000 points
    • 4,000 points
    • 5,000 points
    • 6,000 points
    • 7,000 points
    • 8,000 points
    • 9,000 points
    • 10,000 points

Cavaliers franchise records

Lebron James holds or shares 49 Cleveland Cavaliers franchise records


Conclusion

These are real numbers and achievements. I didn’t embellish them or leave anything out. Kobe Bryant has accomplished by 29 what some players couldn’t if they played until 50. Many people try and say that Shaq was the only reason Kobe was any good but that is a horrible argument. Without Shaq Kobe took the Lakers to the NBA Finals, he won the MVP, made All-Star teams, and still won awards and set records.

Looking at all of the evidence I think it has become clear why I picked Kobe Bryant as the best basketball player on the planet. He isn’t the best basketball player of all time so let’s not even start that debate but in today’s game there is no one better and no one I would rather have on my team than Kobe.

Comments

125 of 59 comments
July 23rd at 9:16 pm Done12345

when it comes to team america
kobe and lebron know not to be hogs. at the FIBA americas last summer, it was actually Carmelo Anthony that took the scoring role. Kobe and Lebron didnt have a problem giving Carmelo the ball

So for the Olympics this year, look for most of the scoring to come from Carmelo and Dwight Howard(since D.Howard is so much bigger than international centres)

July 23rd at 9:30 pm daKingBack.!

KOBE THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAII KOBE'S JUST BEIING KOBE

July 23rd at 9:38 pm RhymesDelFranco

dwight howard is really only guna be there for gettin rebounds
since he has sub par free throw shooting

July 23rd at 10:24 pm iAmStew__

dennis rodman

July 23rd at 10:48 pm Detox_Rendar

I think Kobe takes this one, slap lebron up with an extra rape charge too LOL

July 24th at 8:59 am ToplineInc

There are no comparison to Kobe right now because he obtained the league mvp, once lebron gets that status then there will be a match up. other than that Kobe is the best

July 24th at 3:47 pm Jblacksz%

i can say kobe is better but then lebron has something kobe cant reallie doo in the game and thats dish out assists and get his teammates in the game too but if we are talkin one on onee then i say kobe but who can reallie beat kobe one on onee really ?

July 24th at 7:34 pm Done12345

^^^
wooow are you serious?
have you watched the season at all?
kobe is a great passer....hes definitely underrated
everyone thinks that because he understands when its his duty to score, hes a hog.....thats not true at all
just look at the averages....lebron put up 2 more assists per game than kobe, but played 5 more minutes...
your saying in 5 minutes, kobe cant get 2 more assists?

July 25th at 11:54 am HOLIDAYSEASON

Lebron stats are obv better than Kobe as we clearly see
Lebron doesnt get mvp cause his team is shit
Kobe has help around him..whos Lebron really passing it to
Lebron is better than this Man

July 25th at 10:50 pm Jblacksz%

truu sayy ur right still he cud prolly get 3 assists in like 2 mins i juss said that because i look at kobe as a hog sometimes but enough about that kobe is by far the best mann one on onee noo mann yess even lebron cannot take himm one on one he is way too smart for the gamee and he has moree basketball IQ then lebron lebron is a grezzy player but honestly he only has body against kobe

July 25th at 10:56 pm flexx_24

Clearly Lebron is better anyone who watches the games has to know, the game with cleveland at LA! lebron slapped up kobe with 41 points and he won the game, look at the stats, AND! look at how old lebron is. look what boston did to Kobe and look at what boston did to lebron compare 39 points to 5 points. and look at lebrons team and look at kobe's team, kobe has a stacked team to tell the truth. lebron has almost noone... lebron is better hands down. kobe has accomplished more but hes also been in the league longer, and as far as MVP goes it should have went to chris Paul considering the fact that he brought new orleans from nothing to SOMETHING! look at what they did this year. its the same concept with when steve nash went to the suns, he made his team better. Kobe was always blessed with a good team reguardless whenever he went that far in the playoffs. all of those guys on new orleans werent that good, but Chris paul made them better. individually speaking lebron should have gotten it EXCEPT! his team hasint done that well during the season, but i promise hes getting his ring in the next 3 years. no joke he dosent except loss very well and fuck kobe. HAHA KOBE....TELL ME HOW MY ASS TASTE!!! HAHAHAH that guy is to cawky hes not a hog but look at lebrons POINTS!! ANNNND! assists. conversation over, he does it ALL! HANDS DOWN he will have more rings then kobe before hes 29. period.!

July 25th at 11:02 pm flexx_24

and the reason that kobe got MVP is becasue hes been in the league for 12 years and the NBA was forced to give it to him to keep fans watching, look at the dunk off i didn't know you could throw the ball in the net and win. it might as well be a SHOOT OUT! Dont get it twisted Dwight Howards other 2 dunks were CRAZY! but the superman bullshit dosent fly REPLAY IT! jamario moon took off from FURTHER then Howard and he COMPLETED THE DUNK! Dwight howard couldn't even reach the net! he threw it in at the last minute and it went it! it looked CRAZY UNTIL!!! you replay it and see hes on his way down throwing it in. the NBA is FUCKED! all they try to do is make money to tell the truth the people who decide these things are idiots but thats alright =) ill let the kobe fans have their dick to ride on UNTIL lebron gets his rings! and mvps plural! because everyone know that its happening and soon! kobe never had to do anything ALL HIMSELF he had SHAQ and now he has ODOM PAU and a bunch of other pretty good players LOOK AT CLEVELANDDDDD! and lebron already took them to the FINALS! its alright kobe got MVP but he wont get it again for the rest of his career i promise anyone. HAHA!

July 25th at 11:05 pm flexx_24

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA9ruQJ-STk just watch

and the thing is Kobe trys TOO HARD! to be like jordan ofcourse everyone has some of their game modeled after him but EVERY MOVE!! naaw boss thats not even cool LeBron is faster then kobe and the nigga is like a GIANT compared to kobe LeBron is way to strong AND! he can shoot when he wants, its a WRAPP! he just needs the experience and he will be all he can be.

July 26th at 12:44 am Infinite

lebron is better he can carry a team by himself
if lebron replaced kobe on the lakers this year they
would hav won the title.. he is harder for teams to guard
lebron is a better passer, rebounder and he is more efficient
titles dont really mean anything cuz if lebron had shaq in his
prime playing on the same team as him for his first 8 seasons
then he would have got as much titles if not more..and also kobe
cant avg 2 more assists per game if he played 5 more minutes cuz
currently he avgs 1 assist per about 9 minutes.. most gm's would trade
kobe for lebron

July 26th at 1:19 pm Done12345

flex...

i dont think you should be talking about kobe dickriders when your clearly riding lebrons dick...

i read all 3 of the points you made and i heavily disagree with what your saying in the first point
i hate when people look at stats to say whos better than who....
ok lebron went off against LA but thats because lebron is a hog and feels that he needs to get 30+ a game, whereas kobe knows he has teammates that can produce, so he doesnt need to go off for 30+......kobe already showed that when he has no one on his team and he NEEDS to score, he can AVERAGE 35+ppg
as for lebron and rings.....lebron will NEVER get a ring in cleveland and he definately wont have more rings than kobe throughout his WHOLE career

as for the second point you made....
i do agree that MVP shoulda went to chris paul and that kobe only got MVP cuz hes been in the league for 12 years and they want to respect him
but dont say kobe will never do anything himself....what about last year when they didnt have gasol and i believe the year before aswell....they made the playoffs and kobe almost got them past the star-studded phx suns all by himself
and i like how your being so biased when makin the comparison of their teams...you said LA has odom and pau.....ok but cleveland has ben wallace and ilgauskas (both were allstars just to remind you)
ok, kobe does have a better team around him, but dont act like lebron is doing everything by himself, cuz hes not, he has a pretty solid team around him too

as for the third point....
kobe doesnt try hard to be jordan...obviously he models his game after him
but if you wanna say taht kobe tries hard to be michael...then i can say that lebron tries to hard to be magic johnson........look at the passes lebron does, he doesnt have to look away everytime he passes to make the pass look more flashy and more magic johnson-ish

July 26th at 2:31 pm flexx_24

Number one! lebron dosent hog! considering the fact that he has averaged more assists then kobe then dosent that make kobe a hog to? and kobe scored 81 points hmm......clearly didn't pass! and im not riding lebrons dick, what im doing is providing FACTS! because for you to say that people shouldn't look at facts dosent really make to much sense in my eyes, becasue thats what they have produced for their team. mabey your decision is based on the fact that he dropped 81 i dont know but in the end if you have good stats and you produce for your team assists rebounds and points then what else is there?? thats a large contribution because to tell the truth you cant say that lebron wont get a ring with cleveland. and i was talking about lebrons team with out ben wallace, and allstar or no allstar hes a defensive player so it wouldn't make sense to compare him to to offensive players (odom an gasol) because look at the game against boston, ben wallace missed an OPEN LAY-UP who knows if he made it his team could have built momentim < i cant spell that. and mabey lebron would have hit his final 3 pointer and put it into over time. who knows the point that im making is LeBron James has made his presence felt in the NBA mabey kobe is better mabey hes not it all depends on peoples opinions, but im saying Statisticly LeBron is better. and once he builds a franchise around him he will do dirt in the NBA and he will get a ring with cleveland cause thats the only team he will ever play for thats his birth place. he wont leave and they will bring players to him to make the team better, but at the end of the day compare kobe to lebron at his age and LeBron blows him out of the water. dont get me wrong kobe is a great player but i think the reason he is so regocognized in the league today is because everyone has been hearing his name for the past 12 years. and im glad you think Chris Paul should have gotten MVP becuase it shouldn't be based on respect! it should be based on proformance which chris paul provided during the entire season. but kobe has a few more years in the league asa great player, hes in his prime right now and ill give him that. cause he worked for it and now he has it. but fuck the suns their my favourite team but they do bullshit they have the best team in the league in my eyes but they CHOKE! and do bullshit, but thats a different story all im saying is that LeBron dosent get enough credit for what he does, im giving Kobe Full credit for what hes done he has accomplished more then most players but LeBron is living in Kobes Shadow because people are so focused on MVP MVP they dont actually look at what lebron does hes taken a garbage bullshit team and worked with them got them to the finals and almost defeated the boston celtics. but people dont really look at that because hes so young he hasint really accomplished to much YET but if you give LeBron time he will accomplish a whole lot by the time he retires in the league, kobe is great but at the rate lebron is developing he will be amazing hands down. look at when he first came into the league people doubted his shooting ability but now hes cluch. he makes the nessecary adjustments to his game to not only improve his individual game but his team game, thats why he knows how to pass. look at kobe, it basicly took his 12 years just to learn to pass! Phill Jackson said in an interview that kobe wanted to get traded at the begining of the season but then kobe agreed to actually PASS for once in his career and it worked so im glad that he learned that aspect of the game all im saying is that LeBron is under rated or looked over because 90% of the people i hear talk about the 2 people say kobe is WAAAY better which is not the case. he may be better he may not be but WAAAAAAY better is going to far. there at the same level, and kobe has been in for 12 years lebron 5 so thats why i say lebron is better because based on experience lebron shouldn't even be compared to kobe but he is which shows something.

July 26th at 2:43 pm HOLIDAYSEASON

Lebron is the best player out there PERIOD

July 26th at 5:08 pm Done12345

ok ok flex i will agree with you that lebron STATISTICALLY is better than kobe
but look at lebrons stats, theyre retarded...if you wanna go on stats alone, then lebron is in the top 5 to ever play the game...and kobe isnt even in the top 20
stats dont paint the whole picture

ok i was boostin about lebron hoging but if you wanna call kobe a hog, then i can call lebron a hog.....its called LEADING YUOR TEAM
kobe is LAs leader...lebron is clevelands leader, so obviously their both gonna have the ball the majority of the time
if you watched the game where kobe dropped 81...he put up most of taht in the second half just to let you know.....he team wasnt doing shit so he knew he had to do the scoring..and 81 is not being a hog, cuz its not like it was a blowout....taht game was very close, and kobe was the only one who could produce
kobe just has a better feel for the game than lebron has
and yes, i know that kobe has played 7 more years than lebron but kobes feel for the game is much more natural than lebrons feel for the game
lebron cherry picks alot and whenever he dunks, he travels....go watch youtube vids if you dont believe me
i think that because lebron is so freakishly athletic, it allows him to do things that other people cant do
listen i do agree that lebron will just continue to shatter records that kobe will never do but again stats arent the whole story

kobe is more pure when it comes to scoring and leadin his team
also kobe is much more clutch, cuz when it comes down to lebron being at the freethrow line late in a game, he chokes
lebron doesnt have the natural clutch ability that kobe has
as for passing....i think that lebron is a LITTLE better than kobe when it comes to passing
even in 7 years, i feel lebron will never be the pure scorer or have the clutch ability that kobe has

July 26th at 10:19 pm Infinite

the most feared player to play in the nba is lebron he can literally win
by himself cuz when he gets hot no one anywhere can defend him. and yes
when kobe gets hot he is hard to stop but lebron is even worse cuz he actually hits his 3's when he gets in the zone which is not considered a big part of his game

July 27th at 1:56 am Nizzy

So whos paying attention to to the fact that Kobe has way more experience in the league????? is AMAZING guy came in to the league killing it didnt waste anytime lets really put stats aside for a sec tho cuz lebron wins that hands down but lets use common sense skill wise kobe is probably better but lets throw lebrons HUGE frame into the mix and the way he uses it sorry KOBE LOSES as big as lebron is and the way he knows how to use his body makes him the best dude is huge how many ppl are really trying to step infront of lebron....???? not many he runs ppl over no offense to kobe but dude is peanut compared to lebron..... but like i said skill wise like freethrows and dribbling adn what not kobe wins but overall cuz you have to include the physical lebron wins

July 27th at 2:01 am Illmatic

Kobe or Lebron? thats easy... kobe can defend, lebron let stevenson drop 20 sumthin on him, pierce like 40 sumthin, i hate kobe, but face it, lebron is gonna be great, but dont compare him to kobe, anyone who says lebron better, probably one of dem ppl who said grant hill or penny when dey first came out gonna be better then Jordan

July 27th at 12:23 pm TwiinLoc

flex is ridin lebrons nuts hard
kobe shoots way better then lebron,when was the last time you saw lebron hit a fadeaway 3 when being double teamed?never
as far as this topic goes,dwight howard will be the best cause whos stopping him?
bargnani,oh please,yao ming?doesnt wanna get dunked so hes movin his ass
dirk?hahaha dont make me laugh
and as far as the superman dunk goes,remember that he won cause ppl voted for him, so regardless of the dunk he was gonna win cause look how populat dwight howard is compared to the other guys in the dunkoff

July 27th at 12:34 pm TwiinLoc

back to the kobe vs lebron,kobe is juss a physical as lebron
kobe will go post up on anyone tryng to guard him
when lebron gets hot hes better then kobe?r you shitting me
i believe when kobe gets hot he mite do summin like score 81 points
lebron got stopped by the spurs last yr in the finals,kobe didnt get shut down like lebron got shutdown
and kobe is better then lebron for another reason: he is a better leader
where was daniel gibson and sasha pavlovic and larry hughes development?
there was none cuz in practice lebron wasnt leading them to push themselves harder,whereas in practice kobe was helpin turiaf vujacic bynum and all those guys develop,kobe makes the ppl around him better
and as far as the mvp thing goes,chris paul didnt get it over kobe cuz in my opinion the lakers had the better record,if the hornets had the better record i would have said heyy give it to them,kg didnt get it cuz as good as the celtics were,there level of competition was abismal,with teams under 500 making the playoffs and the worst team in nba in their conference

July 27th at 12:37 pm GetHawked.Vo

Wtf Cp3 Should Be in Dis Shit Word BOnd

125 of 59 comments