Since being drafted in 1996, Kobe Bryant has been revered to be the next best thing since Michael Jordan. This claim has brought much debate over the years about who's the better player and I must say that there is no comparison that Jordan is clearly better.
I was surfing the web today and I came across this video:
Now let's review some of 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.
Jordan did it all in the 90's and if he didn't first retire in 1993 to pursue a baseball career, he might've won seven NBA championships instead of six.
Jordan was also the most popular player, not only in the United States, but in the entire world.
If you remember the Jordan years you should remember the McDonald's ads, Nike sneaker ads and the famous and still relevant "I wanna be like Mike" campaign just to name a few.
Jordan not only elevated his game, but he elevated the game of his teammates as well. Sure you can say Scottie Pippen helped put the Chicago Bulls over the edge to win those championships, but Jordan is the one who brought the Bulls to that point and he was the finisher.
Jordan was the blueprint for what the perfect shooting guard looks like, Kobe just took that and ran with it.
Not to be out done Kobe has also posted 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.
Kobe has exceeded expectations put on him.
During the 1998-99 season Kobe emerged as a premiere guard in the league. During the 1999-00 season Kobe won his first championship and went on to win two consecutive championships in the seasons after.
Now I say the difference between Kobe's three-peat in comparison to Jordan's is that when Jordan did it he was the clear cut leader of the Bulls. During the Lakers three-peat, Shaquille O'Neal was the leader, not Kobe
It wasn't until Shaq's departure from L.A. Kobe emerged as the leader.
Kobe's leadership showed when he brought the Lakers to two consecutive NBA finals from 2007-09, becoming Finals MVP in both trips.
Ok now here's why these two shouldn't be compared.
Like I stated earlier Jordan was the blueprint. Kobe is just the replica.
The only reason why these two are being compared is because they have similar styles of play, and I don't think that's by accident.
Kobe's style is exactly like Jordan's. The proof is in his post moves, his fade-away jump shot and his overall swagger on the court.
I even think Kobe's pursuit for a sixth NBA championship is only important to him because Jordan has six.
However, to Kobe's credit I will say he's clearly the better scorer than Jordan and that's primarily because he's the better shooter. I mean 81 points is very impressive, but I don't know if he could've accomplished that playing in Jordan's time.
Now I already know I'm going to receive a lot of hate from this but I already know it's coming from the fans who haven't watched Jordan play.
I've been fortunate enough to see both players play and dominate the game, but I just can't say Kobe is better Jordan when his whole style is Jordan's.
I won't even say Jordan is the greatest player in league history, he's just the greatest player at that position and Kobe has proven to be second and worthy to be mentioned with Jordan, but never mentioned as better.
That's just ridiculous.
