LeBron vs. Kobe debate should be revisited following Lakers’ woeful season

Is it time to revisit the LeBron vs. Kobe debate after another disastrous Lakers season? 

The legacy of LeBron James took a significant hit this season as the Los Angeles Lakers are bound to finish among the worst records in the league.

Granted, health problems took a toll on the Lakers yearlong. But one would figure a team led by one of the best players in the history of the league should have at least made the play-in tournament, much less the playoffs.

Media outlets such as ESPN’s First Take have begun discussing how this latest failure by King James ended the debate of the greatest of all time between him and Michael Jordan. So maybe it’s time to revisit the debate between Kobe Bryant and LeBron for the greatest perimeter player since Michael hung up his jersey.

Statistically, LeBron is in a league of his own. Between his unprecedented durability over the years coupled with the multitude of skills he possessed coming into the NBA, LeBron has a lopsided advantage over any player in NBA history based on the stats alone.

That is, with the exception of championships. Kobe ended his career with five and LeBron still only has four to his name.

On the offensive end, Kobe had a career field goal percentage of 44.7%. LeBron’s a career 50.5% FG shooter. What skews the numbers a bit is the degree of difficulty in the shots the two took. As of 2018, almost 36 percent of LeBron’s shots have come from within three feet of the rim.  Kobe, meanwhile, has long held the reputation of shooting the most contested/highest degree of difficulty shots of any player in history.

As far as free throw percentage, LeBron is a career 73.4% while Kobe is a career 83.7%.

On the defensive end of the court, Kobe finished his career with 12 total selections on the NBA’s All-Defensive team ( nine times on the all-defensive first team and three times on the all-defensive second team).

Contrarily, LeBron only has six total selections on the NBA’s All-Defensive team (five on the all-defensive first team and one on the all-defensive second team).

With regards to skill level, LeBron is often credited for his unmatchable court vision and being among the best playmakers in the NBA. However, Kobe’s peers have credited him as being the most skilled player to ever play.

From a leadership standpoint, Kobe and LeBron have different styles. LeBron is known to be passive-aggressive, whereas Kobe was often confrontational and held teammates accountable.

When looking at the competitive framework of both guys, it’s clear that both have held a strong commitment to the game of basketball. Nevertheless, according to Stephen Jackson⁠—who played against ⁠both— Kobe was the superior competitor.

Finally, as far as who is the most clutch player, LeBron is credited as being one of the most clutch players among the active players in the league. However, Kobe has the second most game-winning buzzer-beaters in  NBA history with eight, falling just short of Michael Jordan who has nine.

LeBron, meanwhile, only has seven. Furthermore, LeBron also recently drew criticism for failing to take a layup in a close matchup against the Houston Rockets a few weeks ago, which has furthered the narrative that LeBron has a tendency to choke in big moments.

In my opinion, Kobe is a superior player.

LeBron has the advantage over him in overall statistics.

But I attribute that to two factors: LeBron is the most gifted player to ever enter the NBA and Kobe tore his ACL in 2013 which invariably kept him from being the same player that he was in his last few seasons.

Ultimately, however, what separates Kobe from LeBron is his mentality. Kobe never let the big stage cause him to shrink. He cared more about beating the best players in the NBA, whereas LeBron has built a reputation for wanting to play with the best players.

Kobe had to overcome adversity in ways that LeBron never did. For years, he didn’t get along with Shaquille O’Neal but he was forced to try to mend that relationship as long as he could so that the two could continue winning championships. LeBron, on the other hand, would seem to just go to another team every time he faced a setback.

Admittedly, I am just a fan of the old-school NBA – when rivalries and intense competition still existed. When Kobe was the face of the NBA, players were focused on beating each other instead upper management, ala the LeBron regime. There were no jersey swaps between players and guys weren’t campaigning through the media to receive recognition.

They just let their play do the talking.

And, with the exception of MJ, no one did that better than Kobe.