Sports Piece: The Argument for Kobe Ahead of LeBron

It’s become quite common for NBA fans nowadays to be in complete awe of the beast that is LeBron James. He deserves it, at least to an extent. He just finished making it to his 8th straight NBA Final, a feat that hasn’t been reached since the Celtics of the 60’s. In his 8th straight Finals, he also became the first man to average a triple double throughout the series. All throughout his career LeBron has been doing the unthinkable and been surpassing other greats that came before him. Here are a few arguments for one great that I’m hesitant to say he has definitively passed. One Kobe Bean Bryant, otherwise known as, The Mamba.

Literally almost 99% of the time, those arguing for LeBron in this debate bring up stats. I mean how could you not. LeBron has already surpassed Kobe Bryant in almost every stat. He has more rebounds. More assists. More blocks, steals, and so on. In terms of stats, Kobe seems to only have free throw shooting and career points as major career stats that surpass LeBron. The problem with ending this argument right here referencing nothing but stats is that the stats used are either incomplete or are referenced without context. For instance, Kobe Bryant has 5 NBA Titles in 7 Finals appearances to LeBron’s 3 Titles in 8 appearances. Those are still stats but they are rarely referenced. One possible reason for this that I hear is that Kobe was carried to his first 3 titles.

First of all, looking at the Kobe and Shaq Lakers' 3 Championship seasons, Kobe averaged around 25 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 46%. Even in the playoffs, his averages were either the same or even better. Beyond just his stats, Kobe played a major role on the team becoming the main closer as well as becoming a lock down defender for the team on the other side of the court. He may not have been the best player on the team. That was Shaq. In fact, Shaq was probably the best player in the world. That being said, it is very arguable and most agree that Kobe was already the second best player in the world at that age.

Another reason I hear Kobe’s rings being discounted in the LeBron argument is the constant reference to how well LeBron would do with a player like Shaq by his side. First of all, I don't even think this would be as amazing as a duo as people think. If you think about the intricacies of LeBron’s game, he is a very unselfish player but a player who needs the ball in his hands most of the time to make plays for his teammates. On a team with prime Shaq, LeBron would either have the ball forcefully taken out of his hands to feed the beast or would have to adjust to playing with Shaq (all of that being said, they would figure it out but I'm saying it's just not that simple). Another problem with this argument is the assumption that LeBron has never had a team as talented as those Lakers. Sure, he never played with a player like prime Shaq but he did play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and later with Kyrie and Kevin Love. For those two reasons, I don’t think Kobe’s first 3 titles can just be discounted.

So Kobe’s 5/7 to LeBron 3/8. What else? Another argument for Kobe is his Mamba Mentality as people say. People refer to it as if it's some myth but it’s real. It’s a will so great that you can impose it on others during a game and on the game itself. It’s this mentality that makes Kobe one of the hardest players to play against, especially in high-pressure moments. It's why GM’s in the NBA picked Kobe from the period of 2002 to 2012 to be the number 1 option in terms of clutch shots in clutch situations. Keep in mind, LeBron was definitely still playing during that time. In fact, there have been a few times in LeBron’s career where his mentality has come into question. There is no better example than in the 2011 NBA Finals where LeBron averaged a mere 2.2 points in the fourth quarter and failed multiple times to close out the series against the heavy underdog Dallas Mavericks. Just ask yourself, since we're so interested in doing hypotheticals with LeBron and Shaq together, how about a hypothetical of Kobe in that situation. Honestly, I can’t imagine Kobe disappearing in the fourth quarter of the 2011 NBA Finals like LeBron did. That NBA Finals remains a black mark on LeBron’s resume and is always a speaking point for LeBron being a comparatively weak minded NBA superstar to the superstars of the past. Unlike LeBron, Kobe’s mentality, especially in the biggest moments have never come into question like that. Kobe’s a killer. Kobe's thought of as someone who will do whatever it takes to win.

It’s this killer mentality that ties into my next argument in favour of Kobe Bryant. Many NBA players and formers player, some being legends, reference Kobe’s killer mentality as one of the reasons he is better than LeBron. Here’s just a handful of names who believe Kobe is better than LeBron: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Ron Artest, Kenyon Martin, Stephen Jackson and the list goes on. Who’s opinion matters more? Regular NBA fans and media members or opinions of actual peers and NBA Legends? I would argue peers and NBA Legends most of the time have more insight into what makes a player great and the names listed above seem to agree that Kobe Bryant is better than LeBron James.

Finally, let's just look at skill. Kobe Bryant might just be the most skilled player to ever play the game in terms of the most complex repertoire on both offence and defence, even at the most fundamental levels. At first glance, you could argue of course LeBron is more skilled when he averages more rebounds and assist and etc. That's not what I mean. Kobe is maybe the most skilled ever because even though he can’t, for example, rebound as much as LeBron, that is one of many skills he has mastered. Just like the skill to pass. At a more basic level, his fundamentals are referenced as some of the best ever. He has an offensive repertoire that is unmatched by any guard in NBA history outside of maybe Michael Jordan. He can score from the post with his impressive footwork. He can drive to the rim. He can shoot from the outside. There’s nothing he can’t do on the offensive side of the ball. I haven’t even mentioned his defensive IQ which kept him as one of the best defenders in the league for years, even as he began to lose his athleticism. Kobe mastered almost every imaginable element of the game and could do almost anything the team needed to win the game. In comparison, LeBron has often struggled with certain skills like being able to hit free throws, especially in high-pressure moments. LeBron has also never been quite as good of a shooter as Kobe and can often be streaky(that being said, he has improved tremendously). Therefore, I can also reference Kobe’s complete mastery of almost all facets of basketball as another reason for why Kobe Bryant is indeed better than LeBron James.

To conclude, I wanted to say that I didn’t make this piece again to bash on LeBron James or to say Kobe is definitively better than LeBron. I wanted to bring more discussion to the topic than blah blah LeBron has better stats, blah blah. One’s stats are not the only measure of a players greatness. Winning plays a major role. Along with winning, comes recognition of peers and members of the NBA family. Even skills at their most basic fundamental level play a major role and I believe these all favour, Kobe Bryant. This is why Kobe or LeBron is not as simple as it seems. See, as great as LeBron James is and he is great, there still is and frankly always will be an argument for Mr. Kobe Bean Bryant.