Lebron vs. Kobe

Recently there has been a lot of heated debates on issues such as abortion rights, prop 8, universal health care, and let’s not forget Kobe vs. Lebron. Not to lessen the seriousness of those other issues, but unless you’ve been living under a rock, you had to have heard about this Kobe/Lebron dispute. And I can imagine that most of you already have your opinions on the issue (as do I) so in order to get in the spirit of the new season, I pose this question: who do you all honestly think is the better player; Kobe Bryant or Lebron James.

Frankly this debate surfaced around six years ago when Lebron James first entered the NBA; however it was propelled to new heights during the last basketball season with all the ads and commercials implemented by Nike. Some people felt that the debate was settled; however, when Lebron failed to make it to the finals, losing in a disappointing series against Orlando (after sweeping the first two series) and Kobe finally winning a championship without Shaquille O’neal. Yet many (including myself) feel that, Kobe’s victory didn’t prove anything. For instance Lebron James team disappeared during the playoffs altogether (although the whole starting lineup would be coming off of the bench on anyone else’s team, so what can you expect) and he single handedly swept the first two series on his own. Kobe on the other hand, had a team that actually has some talent and knows how to play. But that’s just politics I suppose let’s stick to the cold hard stats.

Courtesy of NBA.com, King James leads Byrant in six out of the eight statistical categories, well seven if you count the EFF (efficiency) rating. Lebron leads inFG% – 0.471 to Kobe’s 0.455, Rebounds – 7.0 to Kobe’s 5.3, Steals – 1.8 to Kobe’s 1.5, Blocks – 0.8 to Kobe’s 0.5 and Scoring 27.5 to Kobe’s 25.1. Kobe leads in FT%- 0.840 to Lebron’s 0.738 and 3P% – 0.341 to Lebron’s 0.328. Lebron has broken just about every “the youngest player to” record, and countless others, as well as tied and surpassed some of the greats like Oscar Robinson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan in records such as the most triple doubles and overall scoring averages. Something Kobe has never done. Lebron’s a team player, a distributor if you will, sort of like Magic Johnson and was even cheated out of being the first player in the NBA to score 50 points with a triple double. The main accomplishment Kobe has under his belt is scoring 81 points in a game, and he doesn’t even lead in that; Wilt Chamberlain holds that record at 100.

Indeed Kobe has 4 championship rings to Lebron James big fat 0, but call me a hater, Kobe always had tons of help and a really good team, Lebron took the worst team in the NBA and turned them into the best (during the regular season), even with a bunch of untalented has been’s or never were’s. Lebron’s problem has never been his skill, but the lack of help that he gets from him team. Delonte West is a hustler and Varejao’s diligence incites me, but the closest thing Lebron’s had to an “all star” is Ilgauskas, a washed up, broken up, 7’3 Lithuanian that can’t get a rebound, block a shot, or make a basket to save his life, and Ben Wallace, who was great about ten years ago. However, just in case you didn’t get the memo, Shaq has joined the Cleveland Cavaliers. If Lebron James could make it as far as he did averaging just as much rebounds and blocks as his previous 7’3 center, what do you suppose he can do with Shaq?!? I smell a championship, do you?