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Originally Posted by mixtapelive
there goes the credibility of your post/opinion/etc...
90s and 200's thats a whole decade and more lol (MJ didn't win a chip till 90s anyways)
when would you define as MJs prime?
MJ was hands down the more mature player when both players came into the league. Kobe came into the league at 18, MJ at 21 and 3 years of college experience which made him more ready for the game.
both players had different types of careers which is something people don't mention too much.. Kobe started out on a laker team with 3 other all-stars, then had to play along-side a shaq at the top of his game and in his prime so obviously he had to take the co-captain role.. MJ was the man on his team for day 1 and on which is why individually MJs stats overwhelm Kobe's.. if kobe started out like MJ did, there's no doubt in my mind that kobe would have atleast 5 more seasons of 30+ PPG averages, and etc... some people might say in that case you can take away the 3 championships from kobe and yes, you can say that, but then again, you have to think.. this is the Lakers, they're always a contending team, the lakers would've added some pieces along-side kobe to be a contending team so he might been able to win a championship on his own..
Kobe's an elite defender, but not like MJ.. that's one thing MJ clearly has over Kobe, however Kobe does lock down players whenever he wants to.
Team-wise, kobe came in to the league immature, then had to play along-side shaq, so he had to share stardom.. MJ had his own team from the gettgo... If MJ had to play co-captain to another player and be considered the 2nd option I'm sure he would'nt have liked that either.. and would've caused some internal problems.. that's the reason why people label kobe as a bad teammate, but if you're a player thriving to be the best, you wouldn't want to settle as being a 2nd option either.. Look at kobe now, he's been as good of a leader as mj ever was.. and yeah the way kobe treats his teammates on the court isn't the best way, but MJ did the exact same to his teammates.
offensively, MJ was more atheltic, and made smarter decisions.. however Kobe is sligthly the better offensive player, and a lot of players, people in the media and even phil jackson admitted to that during the 06-07 season, not to mention kobe's done things even MJ hasn't done offensively (this statement alone is going to get 234954935 replies loll)
MJ never lost in the finals, that's a flawless feat.. the Bulls were always the better team going into the finals and they took care of business once they got there..
Kobe's lost in the finals twice.. against the Celtics, the Celtics were clearly the better team. Against the pistons however, lakers were clearly the better team, however that team wasn't much of a team, rather 4 individuals trying to get themselves a ring.. not to mention kobe trying to do too much and trying hard to get the finals MVP honors instead of shaq, which killed it even more for the lakers.
all that being said, MJ is still clearly the better player.. but kobe has 4 good years left in him, and after that another 2-3 effective years so you never know what might happen.. MJ won his last title at age 36.. Kobe has 5 more years till then.. he can win another 2-4 championships till then, or he can get injured tomorrow and will be all over.. this debate will never end unfortunately, but I wish we can just hold it off till kobe's retired from the NBA
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Good points. But about being a good defender, Kobe is as good of a defender he ever can be for a SG. Theres no way to play perimeter D the way they did back then and no way to lock players down the way they did back then.