Can't Compare Kobe and MJ

By Draconian Guppy
in The Sporting Arena

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Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

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Can't Compare Kobe and MJ

The eras in which they played are completely different

Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance the other night against Toronto was certainly incredible, but it is unfair to try and compare what Kobe did to what Michael Jordan did in his playing career or what he could have done for that matter.

In the era when Michael played, it was a physical game. Defense was promoted. Guys took pride in it. Today defense is no longer a part of the game. Guys are driving to the basket. There are rules where you can't step in front of them. To me, it is taking away from the game seeing a guy like Tony Parker taking advantage of the rules. He is shooting 55 percent from the field. That says something about the game itself. In the history of the NBA, I'm sure a point guard has never led the league in field goal percentage. It's a different game now. It's really not about being tough and physical because the NBA isn't a physical game anymore. When you talk about how the Knicks and Bulls used to battle in the early '90s, the Oakleys, and Pat Ewings, the Masons, and how they would have the ability to use their hands to put you in a trap position. There is no way you can even triple team a guy now and stop him. Any contact is a foul. I can't compare the two players because I see it as two different games. If I'm guarding Kobe Bryant in today's game, I couldn't be the defender I was known as.

The defensive rules, the hand checking, the ability to make contact on a guy in certain areas, the ability to come over in the lane to stop guys from getting to the basket, that's all been taken away from the game. There is no contact up on the floor. The way I played Magic Johnson in the '91 Finals, I would have fouled out the first time down court. To compare how someone would have played Michael Jordan, Chuck Daly would send someone to wear him down. Even though he may get 30 or 40 points, they're going to be a hard 30 points. But in today's game, you can't put that physical wear and tear on a guy. It's a free ball type of game. If you are shooting it well, you can score 80, as you've seen because you are going to get to the foul line.

Officials have very quick whistles now because they're promoting scoring. Let's not forget, three years ago, this league was trying to figure out how they could get the scoring back up, how they could drive the fans back into loving the game, and this is what they were building on. They changed the field of rules. Those rules are huge in the game today. They benefit the perimeter guy. Back in the day, you may get one guy to score 40 points in a month. When Michael Jordan scored 40, it was all over the front page of a newspaper. Now you can pretty much have 40 points at halftime. Until the league went and changed the rules and tried to get some of that bully ball out, you couldn't come out and perform like that every night. The game was too physical. You were too sore the next day and you were just tired and physically worn down. The game seems so fun and free now. Guys are making a living just standing out there shooting jumpers.

If you want to say that Kobe could get 100, I would say that Michael could get 100. If Kobe could get 81, I think Michael could get 100 in today's game. I think the psychological style that Michael was able to master in the game, puts him far beyond Kobe. But Kobe's youthfulness has put him in a position where it looks like he is overtaking Michael. Kobe has 10 years in this league. That is a lot of experience to have and still be a very youthful player.

I would love to see what would have happened the other night if the rules had been the same as in past years. Kobe is as close to being like Mike as anybody, but you can't make the comparisons anymore. Tracy McGrady can probably, from a numbers standpoint, put up the numbers Michael Jordan put up. He has that type of ability. Dirk Nowitzki can put up those kinds of numbers. The game is built for those guys to put those shots up. If they get touched, they get to the foul line. I would say Kobe is the most polished of all of them as far as being able to handle the ball and create his own shot and opportunity. But this is what the game is going to turn into. Guys are going to start to score 40 points regularly. It may become an average.

I don't think Kobe will get 100. What he did is what like Wilt did, a once in a lifetime experience. Given the fact that he shot a heck of a percentage it could have been better, but I don't think he still could have gotten to 100. It would almost have to be perfect and the game would have to go to overtime. I think a lot of things would have to come into play for him to get that.

With that said, I am sure Phil doesn't want to coach that type of game. It's not his style. I don't expect it to happen again. Phil will probably do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't. I don't think Phil is going to try to promote what Kobe has done more than anything because he has damaged his whole team. You just scored 81 points. Do you need your teammates? Are they going to step up when you need them or are you going to continue to pound them like you've been doing and be selfish just to get some individual accolades?

From a leadership perspective I think Kobe has taken a step back. Look at what he has to live up to now. You just scored 81 points. If you scored 81 points, your team should pretty much go out and win at least 75 percent of their games the rest of the year. Is that fair to say? You just compared yourself to Wilt. Can you go out with your team and do that or are you just going to go out and score tons of points every night? Are you going to get back to the point where you are shooting a lot of shots and you're teammates are not shooting and you're losing?

Right now, Kobe has willed the Lakers to a 22-19 record. It will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the way.

Source: CLicky!

It's a pretty good point of view, since everyone was shocked with Kobe's performance and how he was the "next jordan", Don't mean to start a flame fight, just share the knowledge :D

  • Victor Rambo
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Grand Master

mattmatik

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Want to know what seperates Michael Jordan from Kobe Bryant? Plain and simple, MJ never would have went for 81 points in a regular season game.

It never gets mentioned how the Lakers ended up winning that game by 18 and Kobe had about 13 points AFTER the game was in hand in the 4th quarter. Taking nothing away from Kobe, it was an amazing accomplishment, but MJ would have worked his team back into the game by doing more than just jacking up shots from 30 feet (and Kobe won't be making those every single night).

One of my two favorite memories of Mike are of plays when he DIDN'T shoot the ball with the game on the line. One was when he came back from his first retirement and the Bulls were playing the Knicks. Down 1 point, Jordan drove to the elbow, drew a double-team and elevated like he was going to shoot, fired a pass into Bill Wennington (Bill freakin Wennington!!) and Wennington dunked it for the game winner. The other was against Utah for the 5th championship in Chicago. Again, game tied in the final seconds, Jordan drives to the right side of the free throw line, dumps the ball to Steve Kerr who hits the game-winning shot and the '97 championship.

All I'm saying is, and in agreement with bangbang, when Kobe wins 6 titles by being the main focus of the team (i.e. withOUT Shaq) then he gets to be in the same breath. Until then...I'm off to watch "Come Fly With Me".

edit: and shame on the Raptors for not sending Kobe a message. It's no wonder guys in the NBA are putting up so many points now, there's no heart or self-preservation by opposing teams anymore. If that were the '89 Pistons or the early '90s Knicks, Kobe would have been put on his ass multiple times by Bill Laimbeer or Anthony Mason or Dennis Rodman. Instead, you see guys like Jalen Rose after the game saying "It was cool to see." Whatever.

Grand Master

L3thal Veteran

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Yes, I agree with that. Its like comparing Bush to Barry Sanders. Without such comparison, the level of greatness will never be determined but just because Kobe reels in 81 points in a game doesn't mean he can be compared to MJ.

In any case, Kobe doesn't make the Lakers any better by scoring 80 points a game. To be "great", you need to make your team perform at a higher level than normal in a daily basis, something Kobe lacks.

Grand Master

KoL Veteran

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In my opinion, it's even simpler when comparing the two......Michael made his team better, Kobe doesn't seem to have that same effect.

I agree with you.

and I agree about the new rules. That is something that I dont like about the NBA, they keep making stupid rules and make the game easier. The game of the 90's was a lot better, more physical game like the article said.

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bigbluepride35

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The reason you can't compare the two...Kobe tries to emulate Mike...Mike emulated nobody.

Yeah that plus six rings without antoher bona-fide superstar on his team might make the debate more plausible but even then the slogan's still "Wanna be like Mike," not Kobe. Jordan revolutionized the game. Everyone else just wlaks in his shadow. Kind of like Gretzky with hockey. No one will ever more for his sport than Jordan did. Even if Kobe were to ever come close to Jordan's accomplishments on the court (which I doubt) he will never come close to him as a superstar.

And as for those on the court stats. Jordan for his career (including two years playing when he was over the hill on a terrible Wizards team):

30.1 PPG 6.20 RPG 5.3 APG 2.35 SPG .497 FG%

23.2 PPG 5.20 RPG 4.4 APG 1.40 SPG .452 FG% (this line is Kobe in case you were wondering)

Not even close. O and not to mention those 6 rings, 5 MVP titles (and let's be honest, a few years they just gave it to the second best player for some variety), 1 DEFENSIVE player of the year award, 6 Finals MVPs. I could keep going but I think the point is proven.

Grand Master

L3thal Veteran

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Yeah that plus six rings without antoher bona-fide superstar on his team might make the debate more plausible but even then the slogan's still "Wanna be like Mike," not Kobe. Jordan revolutionized the game. Everyone else just wlaks in his shadow. Kind of like Gretzky with hockey. No one will ever more for his sport than Jordan did. Even if Kobe were to ever come close to Jordan's accomplishments on the court (which I doubt) he will never come close to him as a superstar.

And as for those on the court stats. Jordan for his career (including two years playing when he was over the hill on a terrible Wizards team):

30.1 PPG 6.20 RPG 5.3 APG 2.35 SPG .497 FG%

23.2 PPG 5.20 RPG 4.4 APG 1.40 SPG .452 FG% (this line is Kobe in case you were wondering)

Not even close. O and not to mention those 6 rings, 5 MVP titles (and let's be honest, a few years they just gave it to the second best player for some variety), 1 DEFENSIVE player of the year award, 6 Finals MVPs. I could keep going but I think the point is proven.

Numbers speak volumes! :yes:

Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

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The reason you can't compare the two...Kobe tries to emulate Mike...Mike emulated nobody.

Indeed, even all those sports commentators say how Kobe Might score 100 points, people would still compare him to michael and not say he's better than michael...

i would take jordan's 61 over the celtics in the playoffs over wilt's 100 and kobe's 81. both of those were regular season games, and against last place teams.

Agreed!

In my opinion, it's even simpler when comparing the two......Michael made his team better, Kobe doesn't seem to have that same effect.

That's exactly what my cousin said when discussing the subject. It's simply not a matter of points, but a matter of what they do for the team as a whole. And as bigbluepride35 says, until Kobe accomplishes those amount of rings and MVP's including DEFENSIVE player of the year, which I don't think Kobe will ever get :whistle:

Still deserves credit, if he's hogging the ball, the least he can do is not miss :) But the bottom line is he can't be compared to his airness...

  • Victor Rambo
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bigbluepride35

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Personally, I don't mind giving Kobe his due for the 81 points. Good for him. That is amazing. His team was down by 18 (or 13) and it wasn't like anyone else on that team was going to bring them back. What he did was simply incredible. And personally, when he sat the 4th quarter of the game when he scored 62 I thought he should've kept playing and gone all out. In fact, I'm glad he did the second time. I personally am not a Kobe fan but I like to see history made and/or records broken. But my point in the whole thing is one amazing game doesn't warrant comparisons with MJ.

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assassin08

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I really hope people could just stop with the comparisons, it's just getting ridiculous... Both players are amazing in their own rights, whereas MJ had areas that he was better at, Kobe is better in areas such as ball-handling, shooting... But that's not really the point, they're different players in different eras, you can only speculate what each could've done in the other's era.

Sure, you can say MJ won 6 rings by himself while Kobe only has 3 so far, courtesy of Shaq... but do you really think Pippen played no role at all? Who locked down Magic during the 91 Finals? Not MJ, and for good reason: the team needed him to score on the other end. Players like Harper, Paxson, Kerr, etc... they all helped out at key moments. Did the Bulls not have Dennis Rodman as well, during their second three-peat? And we all know how much trouble Rodman proved to be for a great scorer like Karl Malone.

You say Jordan made his teammates better whereas Kobe doesn't have the same effect, well, Mihm, Luke, Butler (who's been traded to the Wiz.), Atkins (waived by Memphis now), they all had career years last year, just to name a few people.

You say it's easy to score 81 when you're a ball-hog and that Jordan would've never went for 81 points in a regular season game... didn't he score his career high, 69 points, against the Cavs in 1990 in a REGULAR season game as well? And didn't that game go into over-time? The Lakers needed Kobe to score the majority of his 81 points just so they could get back into the game, and by the time the game was over, they turned an 18 point third-quarter deficit into an 18 point win, that's a difference of 36 points. Ball-hog? If you ever played basketball, you know what it feels like to be in a "groove", and Kobe was in a rare "groove", why not just appreciate what he was able to accomplish instead of knocking him down for doing something that had never been caught on tape in the history of the NBA?

To me, Kobe just can't win... the game on Dec. 20th when he scored 62 points in three quarters against the Mavs... he decided to sit out the fourth because they were winning BIG! What did people say? He robbed his fans of a chance at witnessing history. And now, he stayed for 42 mins due to the closeness of the game and was able to put on a historic show, what do you say? He's being selfish, he should've passed more because... what? He was shooting near 60% while the rest of his teammates were shooting a combined 40.1%? Hey, the end of the day, a W is a W, no matter how you get it. How come nobody said anything when he scored 11 points but dished out 11 assists the last time they played the Raptors?

Just let the comparisons die and just enjoy the show and appreciate the fact that you were able to witness something like that, most likely once-in-a-lifetime experience. But of course, some of you wouldn't like him no matter what he does, for whatever reason there is (I hear the Colorado incident now... just don't let him be your role-model, that's all, and try not to cheat on your girl... or maybe you wanna say how he ran Shaq out of town, well... most of us would be fired if we demand a raise in salary at our employeer in front of thousands... or maybe you wanna say how he's "uncoachable", in Phil Jackson's own words... well... where's Phil now? and who is Phil coaching? You got it, L.A., back with Kobe again.)

Alright, I'm done with my 2 cents... go ahead if you disagree with me, I'm just gonna go ahead and pop-in the game tape again, just because I know how to appreciate greatness when I see one, and I feel lucky because of that.

Have a good day, y'all, :) I enjoyed reading your respective views.

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Gfunk4life

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Posted
In my opinion, it's even simpler when comparing the two......Michael made his team better, Kobe doesn't seem to have that same effect.

kobe and MJ are similer players. young MJ was like kobe(ball hog). a young MJ could have never socre 81 points. at any Age MJ couldnt stick 81 points. and the Ds are weaker now is just stupit since the big Guys now are bigger and faster, they have more options in D now. im not say now Ds are better but we just dont know.but MJ was just a offence player in the 80's. but he did get help from the team(didint make any player better) his team won 3 chapionships with him(then he came back for 3 more). then made the playoffs once at less of the 2 years MJ was gone could the lakers make the playoffs in 2 year with out kobe, no. the lakers are # 8 seed at best now, how was the bulls in the 80's.

but MJ is better then kobe

Grand Master

ceminess

Posted
Posted

I grew up watching mike, and today I get to see Kobe. In my opinion Kobe doesn't even desirve to be in the same sentence as mike.

face it, MJ is better then kobe, even though points win a game, their is more to the game then points. MJ is a well rounded player, Kobe is not

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