Kobe VS Jordan

kobe vs jordan?

the league has changed a lot during these past years. you can't even handcheck! the youngsters should watch the detroit-chicago series during the early nineties to get what i mean...

my opinion? jordan vs kobe shouldn't even be talked about. saying jordan is greater than kobe is like saying koufax is better than r.johnson. the two are different, from different generations. the rules of basketball have changed. i'm not saying playing now is easier, i'm saying that it's just different.

many people are speculating on how well kobe would do if he played in jordan's era. would he know HOW to play? everyone, or at least most of us, would agree if i say that we all wanted to play like jordan; growing up, we wanted to jump high like him, dunk like him, shoot jumpers like him. i'm sure kobe did too. jordan was the first; he revolutionized basketball for others to follow in his footsteps. if it wasn't for him, the game would still rely on the play of big men. would kobe invent the moves and dunk like he does if he didn't look up to someone?

what if jordan played on today's NBA? we wouldn't know too, would we? would he be able to think of doing his fadeaway when he could just as easily drive to the basket? would he still learn to drive to the hole and soar like that if he knew about the no-charge zone? basically, would he still play like that?

comparing jordan to kobe and vice versa is pointless. even putting them up against each other is unfair. we really can never tell. the only thing we can do is watch them play, and judge them in their own right. i loved jordan's game, and i think he's one of the greatest ever. and kobe, watching him play makes me want to pick up the basketball and dunk like him too. they are both great. but right now, kobe is the best the league has to offer.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AIRTIGHT:</div><div class="quote_post">Then I ask about James who was drafted younger than Kobe, and you give me ' well it had to do with his draft position, and cuz he was bigger'.</div>

The reason James got a starter spot was because of players like Kobe, McGrady and Garnett. The pattern was that a player with a reputation from high school turned into the next NBA starter. The Cavs took a chance with LeBron, hoping they would get the same player and it payed off. Why do you think the Wizards selected Kwame Brown from high school as their number one pick? The same goes for Tyson Chandler.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AIRTIGHT:</div><div class="quote_post">Lemme ask yall again, esp Mamba, "Why shouldnt we compare Kobe's numbers from the Shaq years with any of Jordan's?"</div>

You shouldn't rule out all of the years, but the last two years should be compared as Kobe's "rookie season." As various people have pointed out, Shaq was the number one player and the Lakers style of play ran around him, not Kobe. When you are the number one option on the team, the plays tend to run through you more.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Since you missed the post the first time here it is again ...

Kobe Bryant didn't come to the Lakers as the number 1 option or franchise player. Shaq was the player the team was built around, and everyone else played off Shaq.

These past two seasons is the first time the Lakers have tried building the team around Kobe Bryant.

I think a fair starting ground would be this ...

1986 Jordan (year after his injury, first real season Bulls started building around him)

2004-2005 Kobe first year without Shaq, Lakers start building around Kobe

2003-2004 LeBron's rookie year, the Cavs built around him since Day 1</div>



You can't really have it both ways can you though ? Some of you only want people to only judge kobe from the past few season when he's been team leader and yet continue to bring up kobe's 3 rings as an advantage for him in discussions over other players?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting away_27:</div><div class="quote_post">Just so you know, Rodman was only around for half of the Bulls championships. The first three was with <font color=""Red"">Pippen</font>, <font color=""red"">Cartwright</font>, <font color=""red"">Grant</font>, <font color=""red"">Paxson</font>, ect. Role players that Kobe could never win with. I'm not going to argue that Kobe's skills are along the same level as Jordan's, but Kobe's determination to win is not as great as Jordans, as evident by his self centered attitude. If Kobe can win scoring titles so easily why didn't do it last year when the Lakers couldn't win enough to get out of the lottery? But that's the problem with players like Kobe and a lot of fans today, it's all about scoring. Jordan did everything a player can do to help the team win. He never slacked off with any aspect. If you think Jordan left such a small mark upon the game then you need to do your research and learn the history of the game and how Jordan helped it evolve into what it is today. If it was flipped and Kobe came first, Jordan would still surpass what Kobe has done today and would still earn more respect in his accomplishments. And please for the sake of everyone that reads this, what is Kobe's immortality that Jordan can't approach. Unfortunately I think you only remember the Jordan that played for the Wizards.</div>

The players we have now is not what I would consider role players. Give Kobe Stojakovic, who I think might be the Steve Kerr of the Lakers, and let that kid Bynum develop and you will see what Kobe can with role players. But passing a ball to players ala Smush Parker who act like someone had killed their dog and can't even make a shot. That's not what I call role Players.

 

Its great to be back on. Alright, ive seen some comments from other forums and some articles written about advantages Kobe has over Jordan; I wanted to address them here with yall. ---- first off, yall saying that out of 10 years played for Kobe, only 2 of those years should be allowable for comparison seems a little ridiculous. -- I mean I'll talk about Wade or Magic right now, Magic wasn't the "man" on his team most of career, and Wade has never been. - yet they seemed to be doing quite decent and nobody comes out(esp. their fans) and feels the need to have to speculate as to what their numbers would be without their dominant big men in order to compare them to other players. ? ?



So it seems as though you're blowing career stats and career accomplishments out the window if according to yall Kobe is only in his 2nd comparable season// But as far skills and abilities Ive seen Kobe is : stronger than Jordan, more gifted athletically than Jordan, a better pure shooter than Jordan, quicker than Jordan, a better ballhandler than Jordan, a better finisher than Jordan, a better pure scorer than Jordan,; and back while LA was winning championships the consensus from many Laker fans was Kobe understood at a younger age how to get teammates involved, and how to win-- he was a better all around player than Jordan-- and if hadn't been for Shaq, Kobe would have better scoring #'s than Jordan. What is yall's take on these?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I mean I'll talk about Wade or Magic right now, Magic wasn't the "man" on his team most of career, and Wade has never been.</div>
Magic was the man for most of his years. It was Johnson who brought SHOWTIME to LA.

Wade is the franchise in Miami. Your probrably mistakening Shaq as the man. Shaq was brought in to help Wade and the Heat get to the finals. The Big Fella is not the main man in Miami like he was for the Lakers. It is Wade. The Heat refused to include Wade in the trade to the Lakers for Shaq. Why? Because he was and still is their franchise player. If the Lakers refused to make the trade if it didnt include Wade, I dont think Shaq would be in Miami right now. The Lakers settled for Odom, Grant, and Butler. It was that or no trade. It shows that Shaq was not worth trading Wade for.

 

Don't people get tired of this comparison alredy?
I seen so many threads like this, it's not convincing anyone or forcing anyone to change their thoughts on these 2 players.
MJ believers will never change their minds
Kobe believers will never change their minds
What's the point?

 

With the phrase "the man", I was assuming that the original post that included that term was referring to the individual with which the offense ran mostly through--- which was Jabbar in LA and still is Shaq in Miami. With what you're saying Shaq is not the man in Miami because he wasn't worth trading Wade for, that would also lead you to believe that he was not the man before he left LA either.
The comparison in itself is not the situation I was trying to contrast.--- what im saying is these guys we're able to be productive to a point where fans didnt make excuses and these players we're successfull in conforming to whatever roles they were put in. A similar situation would be Nash in Phoenix his first year--- that he was able to be MVP without being the top statistical producer on his team, and definetly not the "man" as far as main scorer-- or even 2nd or 3rd main scorer. To say Kobe is the best-- ever, as I've seen people write on here; and he not being able to conform his game and produce to a near maximum level( maybe he already was, people argue otherwise however) would suggest that the claim as the 'best' is undeserved to say the least.



But to the Kobe Jordan ability comparison I outlined in the previous post...


<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I seen so many threads like this, it's not convincing anyone or forcing anyone to change their thoughts on these 2 players.
</div>

Sure it is, there is a correct answer to the question, obviously; as no two players are the same

 

there cant be a correct answer to a question that isnt just a and b. There is like a 100 things you could compare between any two players. Its not like ai is a great scorer so he is the best in the league, but ak47 is good at D but that doesnt matter.

Now im not saying that ai or ak is better tha each other, all im trying to show is that there are too many thinks to compare and a lot of them aren't obvious who is the winner