Originally posted by AmpLee:
To me, it's the Lebron fanboys being insecure. The Lakers and Kobe weren't even a discussion until someone had to point out how amazing their championship rosters were compared to the Heat of the last couple years. All I hear is arbitrary stats about how good other players are compared to Kobe, then excuses when Kobe's successes and stats are brought up in rebuttal. It's been this way for years. Vince Carter, TMac, DWade were all supposed to be better than Kobe, but none ever were, at any point in their careers. FWIW, I believe Lebron is the most talented player since Jordan, but despite all his successes in the regular season, he still doesn't have the postseason success of guys ahead of him. He's still young and is maturing nicely, but losing two championships with a hand picked team of three of the best players in the world is a failure because of what they should have been able to do. But the book is not over on Lebron. He will go down as one of the best players ever and maybe the best. For some reason, people want to give him that crown already, despite the fact he's 2-3 in championships. That number has to improve for him to be "better" than Kobe, IMO (and it will likely improve).
I think you've it flipped. I don't start the comparison because IMO Lebron has surpassed Kobe as a player. You, as a Kobe fan, won't start a discussion of who is better between Kobe and TMac. Nor do I come into Lakers thread and post anything negative about Kobe over and over. I don't - because
a) I've a lot of respect for Kobe
b) I've a lot of respect for all you guys to come in that thread and troll
c) He's at the end of his career and injured and I don't believe in kicking someone when they're down
d) I don't need to do that because I believe Lebron is better and most ppl believe Lebron has passed Kobe or will easily pass him in near future.
I don't know of anyone who thinks Vince, TMac or Wade were better than Kobe. I think D-Wade was better for a season or two
(and one can definitely argue for Kobe in those seasons as well...but it is my opinion and I'm not passing it as a fact - that Wade was better JUST in those seasons). It's a pretty good argument to have considering the stats Wade put-up...with that roster
(most impressive one: 7apg and shooting 49%) and if one disagrees with it - one can always post valid points rather than scoff at it.
Kobe kicks Wade's ass as far as the whole career is concerned. I'm never going to say otherwise.
As far as Championship record - Kobe's has a pretty good record of 2-1 when he had to CARRY the team. I'm not even including the Detroit series even though he took 7 more shots a game than Shaq
(who took only 14 shots game - shooting 59% lol and was relegated to a glorified role player so Kobe can win MVP)
So, that may be a fair point if Lebron hadn't LED his team to the NBA Finals 5 times already...and won 2 Finals MVP
(same as Kobe). Just because Kobe lost in earlier rounds - and Lebron lost in NBA Finals - doesn't prove in any way that Kobe is a better player. Nor am I going to use that argument to say Lebron is better because he LED his team to the NBA Finals 5 times. In the end, it's a team sport.
