Kobe or Lebron?

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, its 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, who is 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-PPG

Kobe----36.5--.453--.340--.839--5.3--4.6--25.0
Lebron--41.1--.467--.324--.728--6.9--6.6--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.