Why Kobe Bryant is still the best basketball player on the planet.
The Best Player in the League.
The best player in the NBA is Kobe Bryant. There is nothing you can say to change my mind about it. Kobe Bryant is 34 years of age and he is leading the league in scoring. Kobe is also having his best year in terms of field goal percentage. I already know what some of you are thinking: "No way! Lebron James is the best player in the league!...just look at these career stats."
Kobe Bryant
|
LeBron James
| |
Points
|
25.4
|
27.6
|
Rebounds
|
5.3
|
7.2
|
Assists
|
4.7
|
6.9
|
Steals
|
1.5
|
1.7
|
Blocks
|
0.5
|
0.8
|
FG
%
|
0.453
|
0.483
|
Statistics courtesy of
basketball-reference.com
Going by these numbers, it would be a no-brainer to say that Lebron James is the better player right? WRONG! There are a number of things that sports fans never think about when they are comparing two players. First among these is the team they were on and the offensive system they were in. For more than half of Kobe's career he was the 2nd option to Shaq. And for the first few years of Kobe's career, he had to come off the bench behind Eddie Jones(smh). LBJ, coming to a terrible Cleveland team, was the #1 option in his rookie year. All the plays were ran through him.
Another statistic that fans like to get on Kobe about is his field goal percentage. In the span of their careers, LBJ is shooting a higher FG % than Kobe. Again, the numbers are fooling sports fan. If we look at and compare the type of shots Kobe and LBJ have had, we would begin to understand the differences. Lebron James scores a majority of his points from dunks and lay-ups. Lebron's FG% is inflated by this fact. If Lebron were forced to always score in the half-court offensive, his percentages would decrease slightly. Lebron James is not a good perimeter shooter. He just isn't. Anytime I watch a Miami Heat basketball game, I wonder why the people guarding him do not guard him in the way that people guard Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics. Just sag off of him a little and make him hit jump shots. Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, is the worst shot taker AND the hardest shot maker in the league. The number of contested and/or double teamed jump shots that Kobe Bryant takes and makes consistently is amazing. No other player comes close. Of course, the difficulty of these shots makes Kobe's FG % lower when compared to Lebron James. It should be noted that Kobe's FG% is up this year because he is able to get easier looks at the basket because of the presence of Steve Nash.
Kobe is old. Lebron is still young. I think this is the ultimate reason why I believe Kobe is better than Lebron. Kobe's fundamentals and skills are top-notch. Lebron is highly skilled and highly talented, but he lacks a certain polish in his game that Kobe possesses. Once Lebron's athleticism starts to fade as he grows older, how will he score? He has no post game. No jump shot. And he is only a decent free throw shooter.
Having said all of this, I will admit the following though. Read the following sentence carefully: Lebron James is the most talented basketball player in the world.
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