The greatest NBA player of all time in most opinions would be Michael Jordan. If anyone else name is brought up before” MJ” that person who speaks such retched names is; ousted as a non-basketball fan and banned from the group. The internet has made it easy to for fans to follow their favorite player’s stats and prove to their friends why a particular player is so great. Most of today’s generation of NBA fans all agrees the two top players in the league are Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Now the problem comes when you try to rank them either first or second.
Lebron James is the younger of the two only being in the league for 8 years, so he has played fewer games. This means lesser min and years in the NBA. With that being said James has put up a pretty extensive resume. His career average is 27.7 points, 7 assist, and 7 rebounds while shooting .479 percent from the field.
James has played in 627 games and which he has scored in double figures in 619 of them. He has played in 258 games which he has scored 30 or more points (Not exceeding 39). He has 46 games of 40 points or more (not to exceed 49), and 9 games over 50 points (Not to exceed 59). James has 9 triple doubles, which means he has accumulated double digit numbers in 3 categories from (Points, Assist, Steals, Rebounds, Blocks, and Turnovers). Although he is criticized for not showing up in late games in the playoffs he has 37 double doubles and 7 triple doubles in the post season.
Here are more accomplishments by James listed below.
• 2× NBA Most Valuable Player: 2009, 2010
• 2× NBA Most Valuable Player: 2009, 2010
• NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004
• NBA Scoring Champion: 2008
• 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008
• 8× NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
• 7× All-NBA:
First Team: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Second Team: 2005, 2007
• 3× NBA All-Defensive:
First Team: 2009, 2010, 2011
• NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004
• Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games
• Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship
• Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship
• Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games
Kobe Bryant the older player has been a polarizing figure in the NBA for over 12 years.
Yes, he has played 15 years but his impact started in 1999-2000 season. There is not a player active in the NBA who accolades exceed “The Black Mamba”. Kobe has averaged 25.5 points, 4.7 assist, and 5.3 rebounds while shooting .454 percent from the field. Kobe has had five 60 point games, twenty-four 50 point games and one hundred and seven 40 point games. Kobe can even hurt you from long range he has the record for most 3 pointers in a game with 12.
Here are lists of the many accolades Kobe also possess listed below.
• 5× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)
• 2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010)
• NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)
• 14× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2012)
• 2× NBA scoring champion (2006–2007)
• 9× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2011)
• 2× All-NBA Second Team (2000–2001)
• 2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005)
• 9× All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003–2004, 2006–2011)
• 2× All-Defensive Second Team (2001–2002)
• NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997)
• 4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011)
• NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997)
• Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)
Now with all this being said your argument can be validated on each side. If you want to make a case that Lebron career accomplishments are not even close, you can rebuttal that he has not played as long. If you want to say Lebron averages more points, you can rebuttal he didn’t have to score all the time because he had better good players around him (Shaq, Gasol, Odom, Horry etc…). This argument comes down to who do you just like more or what generation you grew up watching basketball. If you’re an 80’s baby most you feel Kobe is the better player because you followed his career growing up. Those who think Lebron is better, mainly think so because they followed his career growing up.
As great as they are only 2 things separate Kobe and Lebron. One being championship rings, which Kobe has a commanding 5-0 lead. The other would be the infamous “Clutch” factor that most Lebron critics rip him for every day. In time someday King James just might win a ring, and Kobe Bryant just might retire so he can catch up to the stats as Kobe Bryant did when Jordan retired.
We are all entitled to our opinions but let’s give credit where credits due on both ends. Kobe Bryant one of the greatest players ever to play the game, finally he has someone that can follow his footsteps as he did Jordan.