Since LeBron James broke out as a star in the NBA there has always been a debate on whose better between James and Kobe Bryant. There has been a similar debate growing with Bryant in regards to who's better between Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Now that the 2012 London Olympics have wrapped up, the development of an even bigger debate has took form about who's better between James vs. Bryant vs. Jordan.
Now I personally grew up a MJ fan. Every time I touched the court I wanted to emulate Jordan and what he did. As a youngster, he was the greatest player I've ever seen and you couldn't tell me any different.
But that was in the 1990's and now I'm on the fence about it.
Former Detroit Pistons bad boy John Salley recently said he believed Jordan was not the greatest player ever.
"I love Michael," Salley said on ESPN Radio. "I'm a Michael Jordan fan, like everyone else. I just don't think he's the greatest player ever. ...
"I think the greatest player I ever played against was Magic Johnson. Next was Larry Bird. Then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"The hardest guy I ever had to guard? Hakeem Olajuwon. ... And then Kevin McHale."
Now Salley's comments really got me thinking about who really is the greatest player. It's too difficult to make a conclusion I think.
So to arrive back to my point from my intro, I've decided to narrow things down to three of the most polarizing players to ever play the game; Jordan, Bryant and James.
All three are the greatest I've seen since Jordan's reign in the 90's.
We know Jordan's stats; Rookie of the Year, Six-time NBA champion, Five-time league MVP, 10-time All-NBA First Team, Defensive Player of the Year, Nine-time All-Defensive First Team, All-NBA Second Team, 14-time NBA All-Star, Three-time All-Star MVP and Two-time Olympic gold medalist.
I mean you it name and Jordan's done it basically. And if he didn't take time off to play baseball, he might even have at least seven or eight championships all together.
Jordan elevated his game and the shooting-guard position to new heights, and then came Kobe.
After being a breakout star in high school, Bryant skipped college and headed straight to the NBA. Bryant was drafted 13th overall in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets, but was later traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since then Bryant has boasted some pretty impressive stats; Five-time NBA champion, Two-time finals MVP, League MVP, Two-time scoring champion, 14-time NBA All-Star, Four-time All-Star MVP, 10-time NBA First Team, Two-time NBA Second Team, Nine-time All-Defensive First Team and Two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Along the way Bryant also scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006, placing him second to Wilt Chamberlain for most points scored in a game.
Personally to me Bryant has always been some kind of Jordan replica. From his swag on the court to his release from that post-up fade away jumper. It all screams Jordan.
I think that's what makes him such a popular player in this generation because most fans haven't seen what Jordan has done.
Still, that doesn't take away from how incredibly gifted of a player Bryant is and how much he's done for the league and sport.
But again Bryant had much of his success from 2000-2010, and somewhere during that time LeBron's star began to shine.
LeBron James is easily the most gifted player to have ever touched a basketball, being capable to play all five positions if he wanted. Standing at 6'8" and 249 lbs., he is a locomotive driving to the basket.
Before being drafted No.1 overall in 2003, James has always had the spotlight on him being such a great standout basketball prodigy in high school.
Though James hasn't had much success in championships he's still managed to boast decent achievements in his nine-year career thus far.
James stats; Rookie of the Year, NBA finals champion, NBA finals MVP, Three-time league MVP, Eight-time NBA All-Star, Two-time All-Star MVP, Six-time All-NBA first team, Two-time All-NBA second team, NBA All-Defensive team and Two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Recently James has become the only player since Jordan to receive NBA MVP honors, finals championship, finals MVP honors and Olympic gold all in the same season.
And he's only 27-years-old.
When looking at the achievements and stats I've come to a conclusion on how to settle the debate on who's better.
You just can't.
It's too hard to say who's No.1 when we haven't seen them face each other head-to-head in the prime of their careers to even phatham a legitamate conclusion.
Each of these players are great in their own right. Each did different things to help their team. Each did different things to make themselves NBA superstars.
Even when the careers of Bryant and James are done, we still won't know who is better amongst the three.
So to end this debate and all future debates, I'll say they're all the greatest players I've seen in the game of basketball thus far and they rightfully deserve to be viewed as some of the greatest to ever play in NBA history.
