Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordon – Is There Even A Comparison?
In a basketball scorboards feature, we look and compare the legend of the past Jordon, with the legend of the present Bryant. For starters, let us begin by acknowledging the fact that nobody can compare to Michael Jordon, more commonly known as His Airness, in terms of the boost he gave to the games popularity, and how he completely transformed how the game was played. However, that being said, someone someday had to become good enough to be worthy of comparison with Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant seems to have reached the point where we can all admit grudgingly that “Yes, there might just be a comparison!”
So, where do we even begin? First off, Kobe Bryan’s superb performance in the recent NBA Championships, in which he led the LA Lakers to a 5th win against their arch rivals the Boston Celtics, is where we can at least begin to contemplate such a comparison. The basketball scoreboards show that Kobe is now only one win away from matching His Airness’s 6 title milestone.
*Michael Jordan won 6 NBA titles over the span of just 8 years, and it probably would have been 8 out of 8 had he not decided to take a hiatus from basketball for a stint at minor league baseball. Kobe on the other hand won his 5th title this year at the age of 31, while Jordan won his 3rd when he was 34. Kobe won his first title when he was 22, while Jordan won his first title when he was 28.
*However, Jordon scored around 32,000 points in 15 seasons, while Kobe has only scored 25,000 in his 14. Jordan has a per game average of 30.1 points as compared to Kobe’s 25.3 points average.
*When it comes to defensive tactics, it’s very difficult to decide who is the best. Jordan has won 9 First Team All-NBA Defensive Awards, with Kobe right on his tail with 8. Kobe will probably make it to 9 in the next year, making him Jordan’s equal in this area.
*When it comes to game finishers, both Kobe and Jordan execut their clutch shots with finesse. We may have some reservations in declaring that Kobe is better than Jordan, but he certainly is his equal in this respect.
*The aspect where both the players are completely equal is the coaching factor. Both of them had the same coach Phil Jackson.
*To be a great player you need the support of the entire team, or at least have another player with whom you share impeccable on-court chemistry. In this instance, Kobe with Shaquille O’Neal had better luck than Jordan.
Looking at all the above areas of comparison we can see that Michael Jordan still reigns supreme, but if Kobe continues the way he’s going he might end up being just as big a legend as Michael Jordan is, if not bigger.
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