Michael Jordan Has Kobe Bryant In Front Of LeBron James On His All-Time List
Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all time, was asked the ‘Kobe or LeBron’ question by a fan at his camp. Jordan replied, with only naming one reason, the never-ending overvalued ring counting.
“Would I rank LeBron over Kobe in terms of…best of all-time? No. It’s something about five that beats three.”
I personally think that Jordan is the G.O.A.T, but this only reflects my opinion of him on the court. Off the court, and when talking basketball, Jordan may be one of the worst.
No doubt, Kobe Bryant is one of the best players we’ve ever seen in this league, and when talking best pure scorers, I’d easily rank him in front of James. But James is a more complete player.
LeBron’s career averages are 27.1 PPG / 7.3 REB / 7.0 AST / 1.6 STL / 0.8 BLK on 50.1% FG / 34.2% 3PT / 74.0% FT
Kobe’s career averages are: 25.0 PPG / 5.2 REB / 4.7 AST / 1.4 STL / 0.5 BLK on 44.7% FG / 32.9% 3PT / 83.7% FT
The only two categories in which Kobe is leading LeBron are rings and free throw percentage. Whenever talking or ranking great players, people overvalue rings. There are 30 teams in the league with 13 active players each, and it still is a team sport. One player can and will never win a championship by himself.
These days, people discredit players more for losing in the Finals, than not making them at all. After 82 games in the regular season, and a minimum of 12 more playoff games, you play the best other team in the league. How is losing to the best team in the Finals worse than losing in the first round, or not even making the playoffs at all?
Seven straight Finals appearances with 2 different teams? One Finals appearance as a 22 year old, who was leading a dumpster team to the NBA Finals. But 5>3!
On my all time list, I have LeBron at three (for now), Kobe is 10th.
Check out the full video of Michael answering questions. He also talked about Durant’s move to the Warriors and about Stephen Curry.