Arent LeBron's numbers a bit too good for his OWN good??

[lbjcavs23]

Offensively, Kobe has more ways to score the ball. LeBron is the more dominant slasher, by far...but Kobe is the more complete offensive player, by far. His post game is five times superior to LeBron's, and his mid-range wrecks LBJ's. Bron hits better from beyond the arc now, although Bryant has been playing with three mangled fingers most of the season.

LeBron James has made 221 out of 569 jumpers which makes him a 38.8% jump shooter
LeBron James has made 81 out of 225 three pointers which makes him a 36.0% three point shooter

Kobe Bryant has made 323 out of 777 jumpers which makes him a 41.6% jump shooter
Kobe Bryant has made 54 out of 170 three pointers which makes him a 31.8% three point shooter

Kobe leads the league in shot attempts, LeBron James leads the league in scoring. That's a very telling statistic.

It took Kobe 13 years to lead a team to a championship. For 3 of Kobe's rings he was a sidekick. Believe me LeBron James will lead a team to a championship well before his 13th season.

I have a hard time believing the finger injury is really an issue. Phil Jackson said Kobe is fine physically between quarters during the Lakers vs Dallas game. TNT announcers said that Phil said "Kobe's getting better". An avulsion fracture isn't a fracture in the sense of a real broken finger. It's a microscopic piece of bone dust that gets pulled off by a ligament. Most people would call this a jammed finger. Go figure that it happened when Kobe was trying to receive a deflected pass.

Kobe Bryant is averaging 23 shots per game since "injuring" his finger. He's played in 21 games since injuring the finger and has had 11 games where he took at least 25 shots since the "injury" and 5 games where he took at least 30 shots. His finger seems to effect his ability or willingness to pass more than anything else.

So you can look at this a few ways, you can say that Kobe's over selling his finger injury, or if you really believe Kobe's finger is that bad, in that case you must think he's a selfish fool for taking that many shots with an injured finger and not trusting his teammates more.

[whitehops]

i say with the new and improved m2 they sticky an official lebron vs. kobe thread so this doesnt happen.

[detrimental]

Getting very tired of the "mangled fingers" sensationalism. This is the most I've ever seen one player's injury blown out of proportion to this level, it's getting beyond ridiculous.

[RichTheProdigy]

Why? that happens all the time...

I find it odd because everytime I speak to someone about this topic, they go ahead and mention Lebron's supporting cast and compare to Kobe's.
The Cavs did have the best record last season with a supporting cast that supposedly doesn't stack up to Kobe's, and they didn't make it to the Finals.

[detrimental]

I find it odd because everytime I speak to someone about this topic, they go ahead and mention Lebron's supporting cast and compare to Kobe's.
The Cavs did have the best record last season with a supporting cast that supposedly doesn't stack up to Kobe's, and they didn't make it to the Finals.

Which proves what?

[Imadogg]

Getting very tired of the "mangled fingers" sensationalism. This is the most I've ever seen one player's injury blown out of proportion to this level, it's getting beyond ridiculous.

The finger(s) don't seem to be affecting his shot much anymore, but his ballhandling/gripping of the ball is much wacker now.

Which proves what?

Lebron > Kobe son

[lbjcavs23]

I find it odd because everytime I speak to someone about this topic, they go ahead and mention Lebron's supporting cast and compare to Kobe's.
The Cavs did have the best record last season with a supporting cast that supposedly doesn't stack up to Kobe's, and they didn't make it to the Finals.

Because it doesn't.

Pau, Bynum, Ariza > Mo, Delonte, Varejao

[detrimental]

I don't understand his strained elbow vs. the Kings. I'm not saying he faked it, but I've had a lot of strained elbows. If it affects you enough that you have to shoot left handed for an entire quarter, you're not suddenly going to start shooting with your right hand in the clutch... and you're not going to be non-affected by it the following game like Kobe was. It may be the skeptic in me but I honestly believe I've seen a conscious effort at legacy building from Kobe this season, and the fans are trying to capitalize on it.

Enough of me assisting in the derailing of this thread. Also, if there are many more posts of this KBvsLBJ sh*t, I think it's safe to assume that the thread topic has been exhausted and it's now a troll playground.

[Real Deal]

LeBron James has made 221 out of 569 jumpers which makes him a 38.8% jump shooter
LeBron James has made 81 out of 225 three pointers which makes him a 36.0% three point shooter

Kobe Bryant has made 323 out of 777 jumpers which makes him a 41.6% jump shooter
Kobe Bryant has made 54 out of 170 three pointers which makes him a 31.8% three point shooter

Kobe leads the league in shot attempts, LeBron James leads the league in scoring. That's a very telling statistic.

It took Kobe 13 years to lead a team to a championship. For 3 of Kobe's rings he was a sidekick. Believe me LeBron James will lead a team to a championship well before his 13th season.

I have a hard time believing the finger injury is really an issue. Phil Jackson said Kobe is fine physically between quarters during the Lakers vs Dallas game. TNT announcers said that Phil said "Kobe's getting better". An avulsion fracture isn't a fracture in the sense of a real broken finger. It's a microscopic piece of bone dust that gets pulled off by a ligament. Most people would call this a jammed finger. Go figure that it happened when Kobe was trying to receive a deflected pass.

Kobe Bryant is averaging 23 shots per game since "injuring" his finger. He's played in 21 games since injuring the finger and has had 11 games where he took at least 25 shots since the "injury" and 5 games where he took at least 30 shots. His finger seems to effect his ability or willingness to pass more than anything else.

So you can look at this a few ways, you can say that Kobe's over selling his finger injury, or if you really believe Kobe's finger is that bad, in that case you must think he's a selfish fool for taking that many shots with an injured finger and not trusting his teammates more.

How can a player be a sidekick if he's running the offense and scoring 25-28 PPG in the process? What other NBA player in the last 20 years has been considered a sidekick for doing that? If you can name me one, I'll agree that Kobe was a sidekick.

Kobe shoots 30 shots when Bynum, Fisher and Odom struggle, or when Gasol doesn't play. Against the Kings, those three were a combined 10-35. Against Cleveland, they shot 7-17, and Gasol was 4-10, highest scorer was Artest, with 13. The other four times he shot 30 shots or more, Gasol wasn't playing. Bynum, Odom, Artest and Fisher all struggled against the Clippers. Bynum had trouble with the Blazers. In the game against Memphis, both Bynum AND Gasol were out, and Odom shot 1-6. Against Houston, Bynum, Odom, Artest and Fisher all shot under 43%, no Gasol.

Don't bother complaining about Kobe's shot attempts, because the Lakers have been fighting injuries all season long, and Cleveland's players are playing much more consistent basketball this year.

Because I know you haven't watched the Lakers much at all this season, just know that they rely on Bryant to bail them out in almost every fourth quarter they are down this season, no matter the circumstance...and sadly, they are down quite a bit, either by blowing leads in the third or not being able to stay focused to grab a lead until late fourth. It's been the story of the Lakers, which is why Kobe has already racked up three game-winning shots on four attempts, not including the go-ahead game-clincher against the Mavericks.

And an avulsion fracture is not a jammed finger. You don't wear splints on jammed fingers, and Kobe is shooting the ball with a splint and a "cast" on the finger. Not tape. That, and the additional two dislocated fingers (one ring finger, one pinkie) on the same shooting hand...makes you wonder how he can shoot the ball with just a healthy thumb and middle finger.

But I already know how this will turn out, as I've run this course plenty of times with guys who think LeBron is the greatest thing to happen to the NBA. Funny enough, LBJ is my second favorite player, right next to Durant...so I have no reason to bash him for anything, but I do see why LeBron fans (and Cleveland's own) have a reason to slam Bryant.

[detrimental]

Kobe has a small chip in his bone. Jordan had a legitimate break in his finger as well as torn tendons in the shooting hand, and played without a finger splint the entire '98 season + playoffs. A finger splint does not indicate the type, nor the severity of the injury, just the way in which the medical staff is dealing with it. lol@the dislocated fingers. They don't take months to heal, sorry, I know you want to sensationalist this, but stop. Anybody who actually witnessed the three-peat era knows who the man of the team was, hence the term "side kick".

He ran the offense majority of the time, which by nature is created to be an equal opportunity offense, but was all filtered down to the productive dominance of Shaquille O'neal - the one player on the team who made team's adjust their very approach to the game. Kobe did a great job in exploiting that, but he was regardless of your revisionist point of view, second fiddle to Shaquille O'Neal. If you'd like to try and rewrite the way we look at the game of basketball by creating a new term in order to prop up what Kobe did in the threepeat, and somehow place his importance at the level of Shaq's, then go for it.