LeBron is far above Kobe as an athlete.

Kobe is FAR above LeBron in terms of basketball skills.

IMO this is just like comparing Shaq and Tim Duncan.

i want rings...i don't care if lebron is ranked 467th

No help from Kobe

If LeBron James(notes) is looking for advice on how to play with Shaquille O’Neal(notes), he’d be wasting his time asking Kobe Bryant.

“I clearly know, but I’m not saying nothing,” Bryant said. “That’s something that I had to do.”

So what did you do?

“I figured it out,” Bryant said. “That’s something that [James] needs to do. I won’t give him advice.”

Did James call you for advice on O’Neal?

“I won’t give him none. I’ve given him enough already.”

Shaq being on that list makes it a head scratcher. But I do agree with #1, hell, even the top 3.

Trueblue23 wrote: LeBron is far above Kobe as an athlete.

Kobe is FAR above LeBron in terms of basketball skills.

IMO this is just like comparing Shaq and Tim Duncan.

lol what? LeBron has better vision, is the better playmaker, better rebounder, better 3 point shooter, and better defender than Kobe..

How exactly does Kobe have better "skills"? The only thing Kobe has on LeBron is his midrange game... That's it.

JakeGiant wrote:

royal_k wrote: The way I look at it is who would you build your team around if you were starting one.

Pretty simple....Lebron

If one wants to win really bad, it'd be Kobe. Four rings and him putting the USA on his back during the critical moments of Gold Game against Spain tells me as such.

Yep, I agree on better team player/leader as well.

This is coming from the guy who wanted to keep Shaq over Kobe, lmao.. Blindness.

Anyone that believes Kobe is a better team player and or leader has lost their mind, let alone credibility.

SQ_Crazies wrote:

gabuckeye wrote: I don't like the NBA, but watching Kobe in the Olympics would make me choose him, because he is a very clutch performer, and has proven that throughout his career. LeBron is not consistent enough yet in the crunch time to make me pick him as the number one player.

For the last 2 or 3 years LeBron has led the league in scoring in "crunch time" (last 4 minutes of the game). I also read a stat somewhere about game winning or tying shots and the percentages...MJ was something like 27%, Kobe and LeBron were both between 25 and 26%.

SQ I'm not calling your bluff on that stat or anything, but do you have a link? If I remember correctly Melo leads in most of those crunch time stats, but I may be wrong.

LTrain23 wrote:

Trueblue23 wrote: LeBron is far above Kobe as an athlete.

Kobe is FAR above LeBron in terms of basketball skills.

IMO this is just like comparing Shaq and Tim Duncan.

lol what? LeBron has better vision, is the better playmaker, better rebounder, better 3 point shooter, and better defender than Kobe..

How exactly does Kobe have better "skills"? The only thing Kobe has on LeBron is his midrange game... That's it.

Please don't think I'm "hating" or anything.. but IMO the skill thing isn't close. Kobe is one of the most skilled players in the history of the game. LeBron is not a better 3pt shooter than Kobe, and Kobe is a better on ball defender than LBJ. LBJ is easily a better weakside defender than Kobe. KB is averaging 2.3 steals and .2 blocks, while LeBron has averaged 1.3 steals and .7 blocks, which is somewhat evidence to show that LB is a better weakside defender.

I think of it this way.. when Shaq was overpowing defenders and backing them down, he dominated NOT because of skill, but because of physical strenghth. I think it's a similar case to LeBron getting to the rack so well.

I love this debate though, it's one of the best in sports.

Eh, I can try to find it. Not going to be easy to find though--it was from sometime last season and it isn't a normal stat.

SQ_Crazies wrote: Eh, I can try to find it. Not going to be easy to find though--it was from sometime last season and it isn't a normal stat.

http://www.82games.com/0809/CSORT11.HTM

TB--it is the best debate in sports because it's a legit debate, they're both among the best to ever play and they're playing at the same time.

http://www.82games.com/0809/CSORT11.HTM

There is what you're looking for--that's based on last season, 4th quarter or OT, 5 minutes left and neither team winning by 5 or more. Kobe comes in first in points per 48 minutes of clutch time (which is sort of a weird way to look at it, not to mention he played in 10 games more than LeBron that fell into this scenario). LeBron is second. We know how LeBron likes to spread the ball out and is often said to "always make the right play"--even in crunch time. So the most glaring stat to me that differentiates them, because the points per are seperated by .8 points (not much) is the FG% in these situations. LeBron's at 56%, Kobe's at 46%.

That's weird.

But like I just explained--you have to look more into those numbers than just the points per 48 minutes of clutch time. I'm not trying to backtrack or anything, I'd look at that if LeBron was on top of that list as well--it's not like we didn't already know they'd both likely be in the top 3.

LeBron's stats per 48 minutes of clutch time:

55.9 points, 56% FG, 42% 3's, 85% FT, 14.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 1.7 blocks, 3.5 steals.

Kobe's:

56.7 points, 46% FG, 40% 3's, 92% FT, 8.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0 blocks, 1 steal.



LeBron also attempts 8 less FG's than Kobe per 48 minutes of clutch time.

I'll easily take LeBron as the more clutch player.

Last year's 4th quarter stats:

http://www.82games.com/0809/QTR4S11.HTM

LeBron's team is better than anyone's when he's on the floor compared to off:

http://www.82games.com/0809/ONSORT6.HTM

LeBron OWNS the #1 in Roland Ratings (his stat's vs. his counterpart's stats while on and off the court), no one is close:

http://www.82games.com/0809/ROLRTG8.HTM

SQ_Crazies wrote: LeBron's stats per 48 minutes of clutch time:

55.9 points, 56% FG, 42% 3's, 85% FT, 14.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 1.7 blocks, 3.5 steals.

Kobe's:

56.7 points, 46% FG, 40% 3's, 92% FT, 8.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0 blocks, 1 steal.



LeBron also attempts 8 less FG's than Kobe per 48 minutes of clutch time.

I'll easily take LeBron as the more clutch player.

And I'll take Kobe.. as would the majority of the NBA haha

SQ_Crazies wrote: LeBron's team is better than anyone's when he's on the floor compared to off:

http://www.82games.com/0809/ONSORT6.HTM

LeBron OWNS the #1 in Roland Ratings (his stat's vs. his counterpart's stats while on and off the court), no one is close:

http://www.82games.com/0809/ROLRTG8.HTM

Mediocore stats IMO. Not Kobe's fault his team is stacked.

All that matter...the MVPuppets are back!!!

http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikebasketball/2009/12/04/mvpuppets-were-back

Pause the music on the left side and hit play.

Well they'd look stupid then wouldn't they? LeBron is clearly the more clutch player--the numbers aren't even close. The only reason most of the NBA would is because of all the game winning/tying shots Kobe has hit in his career. Like I said earlier, which is an article I can't find right now, the percentages are pretty close--they both shoot roughly 25% in that situation. But Kobe has many more examples because he's taken a hell of a lot more of those shots. I think being clutch in the last 5 minutes means a lot more than one shot anyways.

And you can call those mediocre stats, but the per 48 minutes of clutch time are far from mediocre. Those are legit right there and your man is FARRRRR behind.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

SQ_Crazies wrote: LeBron's stats per 48 minutes of clutch time:

55.9 points, 56% FG, 42% 3's, 85% FT, 14.3 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 1.7 blocks, 3.5 steals.

Kobe's:

56.7 points, 46% FG, 40% 3's, 92% FT, 8.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0 blocks, 1 steal.



LeBron also attempts 8 less FG's than Kobe per 48 minutes of clutch time.

I'll easily take LeBron as the more clutch player.

Just wanted to post that again so it didn't get lost on the last page

8 less FG attempts as well, don't forget that--that's important. If he took 8 more, shooting his 56% his assist numbers would likely be down around Kobe's but his points would be way higher. But Kobe is the better clutch scorer....mhmm..

Feel how you will...

Atleast we all know the Lakers are the best team in the league

Well I won't debate that. They should be the best team in the league--I haven't seen a more stacked NBA team in my life as far as I can recall.

SQ_Crazies wrote: Well I won't debate that. They should be the best team in the league--I haven't seen a more stacked NBA team in my life as far as I can recall.

But but but.. the Cavs have Shaq and Mo!!

Just givin ya a hard time man