Enough with Jordan... New Comparo...

**theveed** · January 14th, 2005 07:46 PM

More direct, more debatable...

Kobe or LeBron at this point of their careers...

No crystal ball speculation about future career advancement...

Just facts, stats, and intangibles...

I'd go with LBJ... even if he's at the same age as Kobe.

**voltes_V** · January 14th, 2005 10:49 PM

They played with each other yesterday. Ganda sana ng laban, na ankle sprain nga lang si kobey. Lebron seems to be more mature for his age as compared to kobey when he first started. And magaling din si LJ sa teamwork, hindi katulad ni kobey na swapang noong mga rookie days niya. For me my money goes to LJ.

**empy** · January 14th, 2005 11:28 PM

my opinion:

scoring - even
shooting - kobe
rebounding - even
passing - james
defense - kobe
championship experience - kobe
killer instinct - kobe
makes his teammates better - james
potential - james

from where i stand, they're almost dead even, except i would rather build a team around james because he can only improve as he grows older, he has a better attitude towards the game and most importantly, he makes his teammates better.

**CLAVEL3699** · January 15th, 2005 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by M54 Powered

my opinion:

scoring - even
shooting - kobe
rebounding - even
passing - james
defense - kobe
championship experience - kobe
killer instinct - kobe
makes his teammates better - james
potential - james

from where i stand, they're almost dead even, except i would rather build a team around james because he can only improve as he grows older, he has a better attitude towards the game and most importantly, he makes his teammates better.

Agrreeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**baiskee** · January 15th, 2005 12:15 AM

bat naman ata laging na kukumpara si kobe? pwede naman dr. j and lebron...hehe

ser theveed, init ata dugo mo kay kobe ah...

ngayon kaya pala...ang kalbo, galit sa kapwa kalbo....

nice avatar ser veed. ;)

**kimpOy** · January 15th, 2005 08:45 AM

ok nga ang kinocompare it means bench mark ka of sometime great.
i'll go for lebron, mas malawak ang scope ng game niya,

baiskee, wag kang mag alala, after 1 or 2 years years free agent na si lebron, malay mo naka purple and gold na siya. he..he

**ssaloon** · January 15th, 2005 09:14 AM

theveed, nabasa mo yung article sa cnnsi.com noh?

**kimpOy** · January 15th, 2005 09:30 AM

pero magkaiba ang laro ni lebron at ni Kobe.
maski si MJ at si lebron.

most identical to mj is kobe talaga.

Lebron is like DR.J/MJ & Magic combine

**empy** · January 15th, 2005 10:25 AM

lebron to me is more like a young kobe with better shooting and magic johnson's court vision/playmaking ability. scary to think of what he will be when he develops...baka mj + magic hybrid ang lumabas

Originally Posted by kimpOy

free agent na si lebron, malay mo naka purple and gold na siya. he..he

sana nga, in fantasy life as well as real life

**ssaloon** · January 15th, 2005 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by ssaloon

theveed, nabasa mo yung article sa cnnsi.com noh?

i'm referring to this article

The Top Five
LeBron James quickly develops into Kobe Bryant's chief rival
Posted: Thursday January 13, 2005 12:56PM; Updated: Thursday January 13, 2005 10:34PM

Thursday night in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant gets a chance to redeem himself -- if that's the correct term -- in a marquee matchup. This time it isn't against a mortal enemy, as it was on Christmas Day when Shaquille O'Neal came to town and the Miami center escaped with a 104-102 win. It's against Cleveland's LeBron James, who, down the road, will no doubt turn out to be much more of a basketball rival than O'Neal, against whom most of Bryant's future battles will be verbal and psychological.

At first blush, might seem a bit premature to declare them equals in any way, shape or form: Bryant has three championship rings, and so far, James only has some nice high school hardware. But you know and I know that the quantum leap James' game has taken this season has lifted him, at age 20, among the NBA's elite, where Bryant has resided the last several seasons.

Consider this: Only two players in the last 25 years have averaged more than 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a single season. Their names are Larry Bird (in 1986-87) and Michael Jordan (in '88-89). Both Bryant and James are close to those numbers right now. As primary ball-handlers, something that San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett are not, Bryant and James stand alone in terms of versatility.

So for this week's five-pack, let's take a look at how Kobe and 'Bronnie compare in five areas.

Scoring

Bryant is the more prolific scorer, averaging more than four more points per game more than James. But he also takes more shots and is averaging almost 10 points fewer than James in field-goal percentage. That is a significant difference, even though Bryant insisted, after his 42 points fell short in that Christmas Day game, that "my teammates actually approached me and asked me to be more offensive-minded." If he gets any more offensive-minded he's going to need treatment for bursitis, being second only to Allen Iverson in field goals attempted.

But, look, if I need one guy to buy me some nylon, it's still Bryant. At this point he's more capable of exploding on any given night than James.

All-around offense

The stats won't help you much; both of them do everything. "He has to rebound, he has to pass and he has to score," said Orlando guard Steve Francis of Bryant. "Hopefully his body will last throughout the season." The same can be said of James.

But despite Bryant's edge as a scorer, I see James as a better all-around offensive player. He commits considerably fewer turnovers than Bryant (3.28 per game compared to Kobe's 4.66) and, if you want to argue that Bryant has his hands on the ball more often, then also consider that James gets more assists per game.

Defense

In each of his last five seasons, Bryant has been named either first- or second-team all-league on defense. With his cobra-like quickness, he has been compared, legitimately, to Michael Jordan.

But James, in just his second season, has already become one of the canniest passing-lane readers in the NBA, accounting for his 2.34 steals per game (Bryant's average is 1.34). Cleveland coach Paul Silas has already compared James to four great thieves of the past -- Jordan, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton and Maurice Cheeks. "And once he gets it," says Silas, "you can cancel Christmas because he's going to dunk the basketball."

Further, at 6-foot-8 and a rock-solid 240 pounds, James can bang with power forwards, which Bryant cannot do.

Still, if Bryant is given the challenge of stopping someone -- point guard, shooting guard or small forward -- he'll do it better than anyone since Jordan.

Big-game play

Bryant has been in about, oh, 50 stomach-roiling showdowns in his nine NBA seasons -- James has yet to play past April -- but some have hinted that Kobe's game-winning mystique has evaporated of late. Even before Bryant's last-second miss against the Heat on Christmas, he had missed three other buzzer-beaters that would've either won a game, sent one into overtime or given the Lakers a more comfortable margin of victory. Does he need Shaq to hit big shots?

In a word, no. Shaq never did draw much attention in those climactic situations because of the fact that he would've been fouled and sent to the free-throw line, the place where Superman most keenly feels the effects of Kryptonite. A player's ability to win games is directly related to his willingness to take big shots, and, in this respect, Bryant's cojones are as large as anyone's since Jordan.

James, to this point, has been content to find the open man in clutch situations, as he did on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats when, with the score tied and time running out, he passed up the chance to go one-on-one and zipped a crosscourt pass to a wide-open Jeff McInnis. (McInnis missed but the Cavs won in overtime anyway.) His time will surely come, but for now Bryant still carries a longer history of clutch performances. Remember that the Lakers would've been swept by the Pistons in the '04 Finals if not for Kobe's buzzer-beater.

Intangibles/Future

This seems like a setup slam-dunk, right? Time for some more Kobe-bashing? But keep in mind that Bryant's teammates have never -- repeat, never -- said they wouldn't want to go to war with this guy. Then, too, there's plenty of time for LeBron to make some Kobe-esque missteps, either on or off the court,

But the way James has adjusted to the pressure and worked on his game -- Garnett calls him "The Gift" because of how well he's "handled everything thrown at him" -- indicates that he'll be OK. He works hard, his teammates love him and, unlike Bryant, he doesn't act as if he's the sun around which all else revolves. On the court he is third in the league in a category known as "efficiency," determined by a complicated formula that adds up positive stats and subtracts things like turnovers. (Bryant is ninth.) Is there anyone, right now, who, looking at the big picture, wouldn't take James over Bryant?