8 teams means the teams are better. Only the very best made it into the league. Nowadays, anyone can make it (see Ha and Sergio).
so its more of a accomplishment if you're in an era where you have 50 teams and you win a championship? lol wow
I think this debate can be settled quite easily. It was never questioned with MJ if he was the best player in the game during his time.
Good point. How can a player with only a SINGLE MVP trophy be talked about as being the greatest player of all time? I mean hell Bob Pettit has more MVP trophies than Kobe.
I love how we bitch and moan about other players. I for one would KILL to have Kobe on this team, and have Titles. I'm not saying Kobe is MJ by any means, but people need to quit letting their hate cloud them. We would love to have Kobe on this team with what he has done, and won. Those who say they wouldnt are fools.
Or maybe they dislike anal-rapists, ego-maniacs, and all-around bad people. I'd love to have Kobe spend the next decade in Portland, in our correctional facility.
That's a very different issue, though. I'd love to have Chris Bosh on the Blazers, but that doesn't make him arguably the GOAT. Not that Bosh is the talent that Kobe is, but disagreeing that Kobe is all that close to a prime Jordan isn't the same as hating on him. A lot of fabulous players weren't as good as Jordan. Personally, I'd say that only Wilt Chamberlain and maybe Oscar Robertson were on the same level as Jordan. LeBron James may end up on the same level one day as well. He's on his way.
I agree with everything you say in this. But unfortunately I think a lot of people share the same sentiments like what Maris posted above. Thats what I'm referring to.
I question it now and then in this sense... switch his career path on the Bulls with Hakeeem on the Rockets and who wins the titles? Hakeem with Pippen Horace and some three point shooters or Mike with the dogcrap HO played with for most of his career? MJ was awesome no doubt, but it's a team game. Hakeem was clearly the best post player of his time and thats saying quite a bit considering who was playing...best post player I've seen. I wouldn't say one was better then the other as they're near impossible to compare... both absolutely dominated their competition individually. MJ won the titles with vastly superior teammates btw... MJ over Kobe 8 days a week STOMP
Major knock on Hakeem's claim to the throne: He only won titles when Jordan was in retirement. Those were widely regarded as some of the weakest championship teams ever... That doesn't directly answer your question (which is impossible to answer with anything more than idle speculation), but it at least adds some context.
People need to accept the fact that both players were the most dominant players during their time. its unfair to compare them, rules have changed, some teams have gotten stronger and some have weakened, you could argue MJ played against weaker teams since there was more expansion teams during his time, but you could also argue that fouls are more easily given during kobe's time and the list can go on and on. To say that Kobe isn't anywhere near MJ's level is BS. He is the closest thing to MJ. Vince Carter, T-Mac, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Wade, are very talented but have failed to maitain the same level as kobe. Has there ever been a better clutch shooter, more aggresive player after Jordan?...if so, who?. Lets stop the comparisons, at least till kobe retires, then we can see who was better or at least in our opinions. This will be a similar Pele Vs Maradonna opinion war, that will never end.
