I think with LBJ now winning his first ring in spectacular fashion and dispelling the "King without a ring" crowd, LBJ has now supplanted Kobe and is now the 2nd best wing player of all time. Sure Kobe has more rings, but LBJ has 3 MVPs to his name, and unlike Kobe LBJ was able to carry a sorry-ass team to the Finals, while Kobe couldn't do anything when he had Shaq traded and spent the season moping around, quitting against the Suns and then asking for a trade in the offseason. I like Kobe a lot because of the 3 superstars (MJ, LBJ, Kobe) he's the one who is most approachable and he always has time for fans but as a b-ball player I think he's just inferior to LBJ. All of Kobe's rings were won with a dominant big by his side (Shaq/Gasol), one of the best coaches of all time (Phil J), AND he has had a pretty good cast of role players over the years (Odom, Ariza, Metta). What do you guys think?
One ring and second best? Eaaaaaaaaaaaaasy there. Basketball skill wise, I think Kobe is better, but mixed with the freakish athleticism that Lebron has, it helps out definitely.
Allen Iverson took a WORSE team to the finals . . . . taking your team to the finals mean nothing!! Win it! "He got 1 . . . good for him. Could he have done it without the GREATNESS of Eric Spoelstra? - JVG Rocket River
Lebron is a better basketball player than Kobe ever was. Still he needs more rings. This is a good start.
Not Kobe caliber (career wise) yet. Right now he's clearly the best player in the league. Having said that, it's still not a very good comparison. Two very different players.
No, but seriously, James to me is somewhere around 13 to 15, around the level of KG or Karl Malone. And as for non-big men, I'd still take Kobe, Dr J, Larry, and mayyybbbeee Oscar over Lebron as of now.
Not to completely dismiss your post, but: - James JUST won with Bosh and Wade. It's not like LeBron didn't have anyone, like in Cleveland. Also, Battier / Miller found the fountain of youth in this series, while Chalmers found the fountain of elders or something. All three were CRITICAL in the Heat winning this year. James is already the best player in the world. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be considered better than Kobe in a few years.
He's a better player NOW, and has been since 07-08. Career-wise? Let Lebron finish his career first please.
Not yet. Very close, however. These are my rankings, IMO Top 5 SF, no particular order Larry Bird LeBron James Julius Erving John Havlicek Scottie Pippen Top 5 SG, again no particular order Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant Reggie Miller Clyde Drexler George Gervin
Question is, for Kobe's big man opinion will Lebron have the same i.e. "he needed the super friends"? Haters will hate and will always come up with a reason to put an asterisk by something. A shortened season for example. As for the role players comment, the role players had a huge part in this run. Shane, mike, Haslem, chalmers, cole...couldn't have done it without them.
Yeah LBJ has won with Bosh and Wade, but thing is nobody wins with a crap team in the NBA anymore. Like I have said all of Kobe's ring were won when he has had an amazing team, and LBJ put up historic averages the past two seasons so its not like he's been slacking off. As for the role player corps, every year you always have role players stepping up during title runs, like when Ariza exploded from the 3 during the year before we signed him, and then Metta winning a playoff series for the Lakers the next season. As I said Kobe has more rings than him, but to me rings are more of team accomplishments, Kobe won a ring when he shot under 40% FG while LBJ put up near triple double numbers last year and didn't win anything. In terms of individual accomplishments LBJ has been beasting and had been better 3 years ago than Kobe ever was in his entire career, how many people out there got 3 MVPs? And he might get his fourth next year as well.
Dude Lebron has been great but don't quickly forget what Kobe has accomplished and what he was capable of.
Nope. Kobe has done more. Lebron's career is not over yet but it's going to be tough to accomplish what Kobe has.
