Rank Kobe, Lebron, Melo, Durant offensively

[Brick Rick]

I think we can all unanimously agree Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo and Durant are currently the top 4 offensive players in the game. How would you rank them against each other when you consider all the relevant criteria as it pertains to offense:
- Mid-range shooting
- Long-range shooting
- Slashing ability
- Post moves
- Off the ball movement
- First step
- Strength/Speed/Overall Athleticism
- Free throw shooting
- Footwork

Here's how I rank them considering all the variables:

1) Durant - He's great at everything. I see no weaknesses in his offensive game other than his playmaking ability which wasn't taken into account in this ranking. It's not a landslide victory considering the strength of his competition, but he edges out Kobe by a kunt hair.

2) Kobe - Best footwork and mid-range out of the 4. His long range is just as good as Melo and Durant. Even in his prime, not as fast as Durant or as natural a scorer, but who is other than MJ? But it's so close, it might as well be 1A and 1B.

3) Carmelo - Natural born scorer. Can put the ball in the hoop in every which way. Mid-range, long-range, drive and absorb contact, post play, no weaknesses and in any other era that doesn't have MJ or Wilt he might be the league's best scorer but he's going up against Durant and Mamba, so I have him at 3.

4) Lebron- I'm not taking into consideration passing ability otherwise I would rank Lebron higher as he's a better playmaker than the other 3. Although his shooting has improved, it's not as consistent and buttery smooth as the others and his footwork and off the ball play still leaves something to be desired. The post work is still somewhat raw too. Still, a great scorer, one of the best of all time, but not the best of the bunch here. The strongest and most athletic in the group though and in the open court there is nobody better.

[9erempiree]

Kobe has to be all over this list by the criteria you listed. Here's my list:

1. Kobe

2. Durant
3. Melo


4. Lebron

[dabulls23]

Kobe has to be all over this list by the criteria you listed. Here's my list:

1. Kobe

2. Durant
3. Melo


4. Lebron

this

[chazzy]

Playmaking is part of offense

[BEAST Griffin]

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3/4. Carmelo Anthony
3/4. Kobe Bryant

[selrahc]

1. melo - most complete offensive game in the league. a great shooter, has a powerful and quick first step. can post up if he wants to.
2. kobe - also has a very complete offensive game like melo, except he doesnt quite have the power and strength that melo has. he has also lost a little bit in his first step.
3. durant - the best shooter. his ability to get to the hoop is somewhat dependent on his shooting ability... as in if he couldnt shoot at all he would be considered somewhat average at driving to the basket. also cannot post up.
4. lebron - the weakest shooter of the four. the best passer, but just cannot compete with the other three purely in terms of scoring.

[9erempiree]

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Carmelo Anthony
4. Kobe Bryant

Troll or doesn't watch basketball.

From the criteria that the OP mentioned, Kobe is like top 2 in every category except for a few and I can't say that about the other 3 players.

[Brick Rick]

Playmaking is part of offense

I thought about it, but then it would make the number 1 too easy. It would go something like:

1) Lebron







2) whatever
3) whatever
4) whatever

[BEAST Griffin]

Troll or doesn't watch basketball.

From the criteria that the OP mentioned, Kobe is like top 2 in every category except for a few and I can't say that about the other 3 players.

I considered all the relevant criteria. Clearly there is more relevant criteria than what OP listed.

[Fudge]

1. Kevin Durant
2. Carmelo Anthony
3. Kobe Bryant
4. LeBron James

[9erempiree]

I thought about it, but then it would make the number 1 too easy. It would go something like:

1) Lebron







2) whatever
3) whatever
4) whatever

No.

Let's breakdown the criteria you mentioned, in no particular order:

- Mid-range shooting: Kobe and Melo
- Long-range shooting: Durant and Kobe
- Slashing ability: Lebron and Durant
- Post moves: Kobe and Melo
- Off the ball movement: Kobe and Durant
- First step: Lebron and Durant
- Strength/Speed/Overall Athleticism: Kobe and Lebron
- Free throw shooting: Kobe and Durant
- Footwork: Kobe and Melo


7 categories that Kobe falls into and 5 categories Durant falls into. Makes my list pretty legit that was previously posted.

If you want to add playmaking, Lebron will be in the playmaking category and that is one category that doesn't offset his other deficiencies.

[G-Funk]

Kobe

Melo
Durant


Lebron

[tmacattack33]

I'm just going to pretend that you said "everything on offense besides passing (and offensive rebounding)", because i think that's what you are trying to get at.

1. Durant
2. Kobe
3. Melo
4. Lebron

[9erempiree]

I considered all the relevant criteria. Clearly there is more relevant criteria than what OP listed.

Like what?

Kobe is one of the greatest and most complete players in basketball history. There is a reason why he's in the top tier of basketball immortality. Not because of his accomplishments but his overall skill and talent.

Look at the other guys like Durant, Melo and Lebron who have deficiencies in their games. I'm not talking about prime vs prime. I'm talking about all of those guys just this year and Kobe beats them all.

Imagine if the ranking was based off of prime vs. prime....Kobe would be top 2 in EVERY category.

[Brick Rick]

No.

Let's breakdown the criteria you mentioned, in no particular order:

- Mid-range shooting: Kobe and Melo
- Long-range shooting: Durant and Kobe
- Slashing ability: Lebron and Durant
- Post moves: Kobe and Melo
- Off the ball movement: Kobe and Durant
- First step: Lebron and Durant
- Strength/Speed/Overall Athleticism: Kobe and Lebron
- Free throw shooting: Kobe and Durant
- Footwork: Kobe and Melo


7 categories that Kobe falls into and 5 categories Durant falls into. Makes my list pretty legit that was previously posted.

If you want to add playmaking, Lebron will be in the playmaking category and that is one category that doesn't offset his other deficiencies.

The ability to set others up, pass the ball, get assists and make your teammates better has more weight than any single criteria there. It's not like they're all equally worth a point and you add them up and whoever has the most wins you Kobe Stan.

[NumberSix]

LeBron
KD
Kobe
Melo

[PyrrhusX]

Durant
Kobe
Melo
James

If we take playmaking into consideration:
Lebron
Durant
Kobe
Melo

[KOBE143]

Mid-range shooting - Kobe 10, LeBron 4, Melo 8, Durant 9
Long-range shooting - Kobe 8, LeBron 4,Melo 8, Durant 8
Slashing ability - Kobe 7, LeBron 8, Melo 7, Durant 7
Post moves - Kobe 10, LeBron 4, Melo 8, Durant 5
Off the ball movement - Kobe 10, LeBron 4, Melo 8, Durant 8
First step - Kobe 7, LeBron 6, Melo 6, Durant 8
Strength/Speed/Overall Athleticism - Kobe 7, LeBron 10, Melo 8, Durant 8
Free throw shooting - Kobe 10, LeBron 4, Melo 10, Durant 10
Footwork - Kobe 10, LeBron 4, Melo 8, Durant 7

So here's my list base on above criteria:

Kobe
Melo
Durant




LeBron

[Kews1]

Not taking playmaking into consideration i would have to say

1. Durant
2. Melo

3. Kobe
4. Lebron

[G-Funk]

Kobe has absolutly no weakness at all, dude can even split a double team and get a better look than Lebron.

Melo will just punish you on the post with his overwhelming strengh closest to Kobe as far as arsenal goes.

Durant has a lethal shot, but ge still lacks foot work and post moves and im not roo sure how well he candles double teams, what makes gim successfull is his height, he can get a shot off on most players.

Lebron is nice but not on the level of the top rhree

[9erempiree]

The ability to set others up, pass the ball, get assists and make your teammates better has more weight than any single criteria there. It's not like they're all equally worth a point and you add them up and whoever has the most wins you Kobe Stan.

Ok....let's add those criteria that you mentioned, no particular order:

Set others up: Kobe and Lebron
Pass the ball: Kobe and Lebron
Assists: Kobe and Lebron

Make teammates better: Kobe and <insert name> ...... a lot of players had career years with Kobe...Pau, Odom, Fisher and Drew. Melo, nope. Durant, he has Westbrook and he is just as responsible as Durant. Lebron, Wade and Bosh aren't as good as they once were with their own teams.

Kobe still gets the edge.

[PyrrhusX]

Kobe has absolutly no weakness at all, dude can even split a double team and get a better look than Lebron.

Melo will just punish you on the post with his overwhelming strengh closest to Kobe as far as arsenal goes.

Durant has a lethal shot, but ge still lacks foot work and post moves and im not roo sure how well he candles double teams, what makes gim successfull is his height, he can get a shot off on most players.

Lebron is nice but not on the level of the top rhree

Durant gets double teamed on pretty much any shot that isnt a catch and shoot/curl. You complement Melo on how good he is in the post when the reality is he is shooting better outside than he is inside. And shooting worse inside compared to the other 3.

[Fudge]

Ok....let's add those criteria that you mentioned, no particular order:

Set others up: Kobe and Lebron
Pass the ball: Kobe and Lebron
Assists: Kobe and Lebron

Make teammates better: Kobe and <insert name> ...... a lot of players had career years with Kobe...Pau, Odom, Fisher and Drew. Melo, nope. Durant, he has Westbrook and he is just as responsible as Durant. Lebron, Wade and Bosh aren't as good as they once were with their own teams.

Kobe still gets the edge.
I'm sorry but :roll:

[BEAST Griffin]

I'm sorry but :roll:

We've all seen a great sample of that with Nash out. :roll:

[9erempiree]

I'm sorry but :roll:

Thanks for the informative response. It really shows that your list is legit.:facepalm

Anyways, you should laugh at yourself because out of the 4 players...Lebron and Kobe lead in assists.

There's a reason why I'm one of the most highly respected posters on here.

[PyrrhusX]

We should add another criteria, significance of offense corresponding to wins.

[TerranOP]

The ability to set others up, pass the ball, get assists and make your teammates better has more weight than any single criteria there. It's not like they're all equally worth a point and you add them up and whoever has the most wins you Kobe Stan.


Agreed. The title should be rank them in terms of SCORING, not offensively. If you take offense as a whole then I'd say Lebron and Durant are at the top. Lebron is by far the best of the four at playmaking and setting up his teammates, and playmaking is much more important than any of the other categories. Durant is better than all of the other three at free throw shooting and three point shooting. Mid-range is close with him and Kobe, I can't say who's better. Durant and Lebron are the best slashing, with Carmelo close behind. Kobe takes the post-up category handily.

Overall, I'd say Durant is the best scorer by a good margin. In terms of total OFFENSIVE ability, I'll give it to both Lebron and Durant. It's too close to call.

[Kews1]

There's a reason why I'm one of the most highly respected posters on here.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/pinocchio1.gif

[9erempiree]

Also, Kobe and Durant's teammate, Westbrook and Howard are leaders in the league in scoring.

Bosh and Wade, teammates of Lebron, fall below Kobe and Durant's teammates.

Lebron shouldn't be mentioned as getting teammates better. I gave him the nod but I may have to change it.

I'm practically destroying posters on here.

ISH = Too Easy.

[Micku]

I guess I would just discuss the weakness of them all.

Durant:

Mid-range

It's actually the weakness this year in terms of shooting. His 16-3pt ft area has been off. He has been shooting 38.7% there. While not bad, it hasn't been up to par to his other years. But his game tonight will change that. Either way, he virtually can hit anywhere from the floor.

Strength and post

His post game has improved from what I saw. But he takes a bunch of fadeaways from the post. He is not exactly strongest SF, and ppl who get physical on him could throw him off a bit. However, I think I read he is the most efficient in the post out of all of them. I guess the weakness is really strength of backing people down?

Everything else is great though. He is the most efficient scorer out of the bunch. Durant is also the best off the ball movement out of the bunch. His playmaking has improved.

Kobe:

Athleticism

He is weakness out of the bunch. He makes up for that by his shot selection and his mid-range game. He is also surprisingly having a career high at finishing at the rim with 69% which is probably why he is so efficient this year. Percentage wise, he is better at it than Durant.

Off ball movement

It is a bit off too. While in the past it isn't bad, but he perfers to do isos and take his man off the dribble than actually do catch and shoot or set himself up int he post. This has to do with the offensive change. But he always been that type of player that take his man off the dribble and iso. It seems like he needs the ball to be effective.

But really his only weakness is his athleticism. He has the best mid-range out of the group.


Carmelo:

Finisher

He sucks. In his career he has never been a great finisher, but this year he is shooting a career low at 53%. If he improves this area, he would be more efficient.

Overall, he has been shooting a career high with his mid-range game and long shooting. He is a natural born scorer, but I think he is overrated when ppl call him the best scorer in the game. But if he finish at the rim, then he would virtually have no weakness because he is the best jumpshooter out of the bunch this year. He also have the weakness playmaking ability out of the bunch.


LeBron

Mid range

He is streaky and it kind'a sucks this year so far. His 16-3pt ft is only 36.6%. His 10-15 ft is only 38.1% Combination, it's not good. But his 3pt shot is great, go figure.

Off the ball

While he has improved a bit, his game just relies him to have the ball to be effective. He is the weakest out of the bunch.

He is by far the best finisher out of all of them. He is shooting 79.2% at the rim. He is the best at the open court, and the most athletic. His playmaking ability is the best of the them all too.


There are other weakness that you can probably mention about them too. But these players are the best scorers. If you want talk about offensive players, then the combination of scoring/playmaking ability and anything that will help the team would be more important. LeBron and Durant probably will be the best at it.

[KG215]

Durant has a lethal shot, but ge still lacks foot work and post moves and im not roo sure how well he candles double teams, what makes gim successfull is his height, he can get a shot off on most players.

It would've just been easier to say you haven't watched Durant play this year.

[red1]

It would've just been easier to say you haven't watched Durant play this year.
that guy is always wrong

[9erempiree]

I have already gave my reasons why Kobe gets the top spot.

Nobody has given any real reasons for their pick. Typical.

[plowking]

9erempiree is right in this case. But that's if everything is considered equal. In the real world it isn't. Since one of Lebron's strengths make up enough that he ends up being the best offensive player overall, even excluding his playmaking ability.

[bdreason]

Right now?


LeBron
Durant
Melo
Kobe

[DatAsh]

Currently

Offense
Lebron
Durant
Kobe
Anthony

Scoring
Durant
Kobe
Lebron
Anthony

Best at the skills listed
Kobe
Anthony
Durant
Lebron

[funnystuff]

I guess I would just discuss the weakness of them all.

Durant:

Mid-range

It's actually the weakness this year in terms of shooting. His 16-3pt ft area has been off. He has been shooting 38.7% there. While not bad, it hasn't been up to par to his other years. But his game tonight will change that. Either way, he virtually can hit anywhere from the floor.

Strength and post

His post game has improved from what I saw. But he takes a bunch of fadeaways from the post. He is not exactly strongest SF, and ppl who get physical on him could throw him off a bit. However, I think I read he is the most efficient in the post out of all of them. I guess the weakness is really strength of backing people down?

Everything else is great though. He is the most efficient scorer out of the bunch. Durant is also the best off the ball movement out of the bunch. His playmaking has improved.

Kobe:

Athleticism

He is weakness out of the bunch. He makes up for that by his shot selection and his mid-range game. He is also surprisingly having a career high at finishing at the rim with 69% which is probably why he is so efficient this year. Percentage wise, he is better at it than Durant.

Off ball movement

It is a bit off too. While in the past it isn't bad, but he perfers to do isos and take his man off the dribble than actually do catch and shoot or set himself up int he post. This has to do with the offensive change. But he always been that type of player that take his man off the dribble and iso. It seems like he needs the ball to be effective.

But really his only weakness is his athleticism. He has the best mid-range out of the group.


Carmelo:

Finisher

He sucks. In his career he has never been a great finisher, but this year he is shooting a career low at 53%. If he improves this area, he would be more efficient.

Overall, he has been shooting a career high with his mid-range game and long shooting. He is a natural born scorer, but I think he is overrated when ppl call him the best scorer in the game. But if he finish at the rim, then he would virtually have no weakness because he is the best jumpshooter out of the bunch this year. He also have the weakness playmaking ability out of the bunch.


LeBron

Mid range

He is streaky and it kind'a sucks this year so far. His 16-3pt ft is only 36.6%. His 10-15 ft is only 38.1% Combination, it's not good. But his 3pt shot is great, go figure.

Off the ball

While he has improved a bit, his game just relies him to have the ball to be effective. He is the weakest out of the bunch.

He is by far the best finisher out of all of them. He is shooting 79.2% at the rim. He is the best at the open court, and the most athletic. His playmaking ability is the best of the them all too.


There are other weakness that you can probably mention about them too. But these players are the best scorers. If you want talk about offensive players, then the combination of scoring/playmaking ability and anything that will help the team would be more important. LeBron and Durant probably will be the best at it.
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: That's so sad. :applause:

[pauk]

You seem to be talking about strictly scoring........... not OFFENSE, which is much more than just scoring.... it includes also stuff like court vision, passing ability, ballhandling, IQ, decision making, intangibles, versatility of playing different roles/positions and so on..........

Huge difference...

[francesco totti]

if we are talking just scoring, I would go with 3 time scoring champ durant.He has as many scoring championships as the other 3 combined.

[Blue&Orange]

The ability to set others up, pass the ball, get assists and make your teammates better has more weight than any single criteria there. It's not like they're all equally worth a point and you add them up and whoever has the most wins you Kobe Stan.
Lebron makes teamates better? So going from "we da bess", "8 championshiops" to "Lebron's teammates are crap", Lebron is playing alone "it's cleveland all over again" is making teammates better? Ok. :rolleyes:

[Chrono90]

1) Mr. 81 points


2) 3 time scoring champ
3) Power and speed and good passing


4) Inconsistent and underachiever scorer but still a good scorer nonetheless

[Segatti]

1. Durant
2. Lebron
3. Kobe
4. Melo

[Rysio]

kobe






















melo
durant















lebrick

[EnoughSaid]

I got:

1) Melo
2) LeBron
3) Durant
4) Kobe

[White Mamba]

1. Kobe, he is the only offensive player in this league who can get "triple team" by the opponent coach.

2. Melo (this season)

3. Durant (great 4th quarter player)

[Da KO King]

Off the criteria given...

Carmelo Anthony
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Durant
LeBron James

[arifgokcen]

I don't understand you say offense then exclude passing off
ensive rebounding.You should have said scoring ability.If scoring is my only concern I would pick Durant every day over any player at this point.

[pegasus]

Kobe
Melo

Durant

Lebron

[Nash]

Offensively its Lebron and not even close. Lebron averages the same amount of points those other guys do while averaging 7apg and being a quality playmaker. He's the best offensive threat by a long mile. Do not kid yourselves people.

Scoring ability its Kobe. But don't get offense and scoring ability mixed up.

[red1]

This is a no brainer. Not only does lebron score on a similar level to these guys on a high efficiency, he also turns the ball over less while setting his teammates up for easy threes and layups.

If we are talking today then it would look like this

Lebron
Durant
Kobe/Melo

[RoundMoundOfReb]

today:
lebron
kd
melo
kobe

[jjayfive]

base on OP's criteria,

Kobe/durant
melo

lebron

[lilgodfather1]

Really this is quite simple based on your criteria. Basically you are asking who can score in the most ways, and that's Melo/Kobe.

Melo/Kobe
Durant
LeBron

when you take out half of what offense is you reward lesser players like the three listed above LeBron.

[TheJuice31]

As others have mentioned, the topic covers maybe half of basketball's offensive criteria. No love for playmaking? Passing? Offensive rebounds? Ball security? Based on the pure scoring criteria, it's a toss-up between Durant and Kobe, with KD maybe getting a slight edge because of his athleticism and being a still-evolving product. In terms of the overall offensive repertoire, it's LeBron in a runaway.

[Mr. Jabbar]

at 34, its still kobe at #1 :bowdown:

[Segatti]

After watching this NY game I figured it out: Melo will never be as good as Lebron or Durant offensively. This guy just has low IQ and barely can drive. When his jumpshot is hot he can make 30 in a quarter, but when he faces a real good perimeter defense in the playoffs he is done.

Lebron and Durant are in another tier.

[secund2nun]

1. Lebron
2. Durant

3. Kobe




4. Melo

[LA Lakers]

What about just pure scoring ability, 4 years ago, no question Kobe Bean. Now, gotta be Durant... Melo like Kobe, very prolific scorer, but Durant is a machine. His length makes him unguardable. Kobe still with the prettiest jumpshot, Lebron I wouldnt put in based on criteria given, but scoring ability its Durant slight edge over Kobe and Melo.

[alleykat]

This is a no brainer. Not only does lebron score on a similar level to these guys on a high efficiency, he also turns the ball over less while setting his teammates up for easy threes and layups.

If we are talking today then it would look like this

Lebron
Durant
Kobe/Melo

This.

If talking strictly offensively. If talking about pure scoring then it would be different.

[TheBigVeto]

Durant
Melo
Lebron














































Kobe

[alleykat]

1. Kobe, he is the only offensive player in this league who can get "triple team" by the opponent coach.



:wtf: Lol.....people thinking help and zone defense is the same thing as triple teamed, which doesn't exist.

[bluechox2]

melo flat out burned the lakers in the first quarter and its cus of his scoring we won...without him we almost melted

[2swift4u]

I have a feeling that some guys here tend to overrate Melo because the Knicks are playing very well at the moment. As far as I know he hasn't achieved that much yet. And let's not forget that Melo takes a ton of shots every night! Lebron on the other hand plays more like a facilitator. So it's hard to compare these two guys.

Overall I'd still give it to Kobe. He's been a scoring machine for many many years. Durant has been the best scorer for the last 3 years, so Melo would be nr. 3 on this list although Lebron probably could be a better scorer than Melo if he wanted to be!

[The Mamba]

All as it pertains to who they are as players at this moment, not: peak etc

Mid-range:
Kobe 8
Melo 8
Durant 7
LeBron 7

Long-range:
Durant 9
Melo 8
Kobe 8
LeBron 7

Post Play / Footwork:
Kobe 10
Melo 8
Durant 6
LeBron 4

Off the ball / Slashing:
Durant 8
Kobe 7
Melo 6
LeBron 4

First Step:
Melo 8
Durant 7
Kobe 7
LeBron 6

Finishing Ability:
LeBron 9
Durant 8
Kobe 7
Melo 4

Strength/Speed/Durability/Dexterity/Hops/Overall Athleticism:
LeBron 10
Durant 7
Kobe 7
Melo 6

Free Throw:
Kobe 9
Durant 9
Melo 8
LeBron 7

Playmaking:
LeBron 10
Kobe 8
Durant 5
Melo 2

Court Vision / Passing:
LeBron 10
Kobe 7
Durant 5
Melo 2

[Blue&Orange]

lol Melo playmaking and courvision :lol

That's so incredibly ridiculous.

[dannywpt]

All as it pertains to who they are as players at this moment, not: peak etc


This makes it look like Kobe is a better player than KD :roll:

[Jax]

Lebron is the best offensive machine out there, he just doesn't care about scoring. Either that, or he's dumb because he scores whenever he wants to and drives to the basket.