Prime Kobe Bryant vs. Prime LeBron James

[kaiiu]

I diidnt know beatin the Wizards and crab dribbling on evry play = better with scrubs.

The last 2 Cavs team were stacked

[LEFT4DEAD]

[ShaqAttack3234]

Lebron just had the 3rd best season of his career(after '09 and '10), I'd say that still qualifies as his prime. Kobe's prime was long, you could argue that he entered his prime as early as 2001 or at the latest, 2003, and it lasted until '09, arguably '10, but that's when the injuries really started taking away from his level of play, though his playing the first 2 months of 2010 and the Utah/Phoenix series was every bit at his prime level. Though the 2004 and 2005 seasons weren't typically at his prime level so it's hard to say.

Lebron has been in his about 3, maybe 4 seasons if you really want to stretch it then you can start at '06, though '07 was below his typical prime level for whatever reason, so it's tough to compare over the long stretches.

As far as 1 year peak('09 Lebron vs Kobe any single season from '06-'08, the exact year is debatable) goes to Lebron, imo.

But as far as their best 3 year stretch('06-'08 Kobe vs '09-'11 Lebron), I'd pick Kobe.

[GS1905]

I'd take prime Iverson and McGrady over both of them any day.

[zay_24]

I'd take prime Iverson and McGrady over both of them any day.

The same iverson kobe held to zero points?

[Indian guy]

Lebron just had the 3rd best season of his career

That's highly debatable. I would take '08 LeBron over '11 without hesitation.

I'd say that still qualifies as his prime.

Prime to me would be a period where you can say a player is playing the best ball of his career. 10-11 LeBron is significantly inferior to his '09 and '10 self.

To answer the OP's question, you can't go wrong either way. LeBron's the more dominant statistically, but Kobe has the skill-related intangibles on his side. You're getting equal value either way.

[ShaqAttack3234]

That's highly debatable. I would take '08 LeBron over '11 without hesitation.

I don't think so, he's not as athletic as he was in '08, but he's a much better shooter and significantly better defensively.

Lebron was shooting 71% from the line back in '08 and his jumper was very erratic. Hence his horrible play for most of the series vs Boston.

Prime to me would be a period where you can say a player is playing the best ball of his career. 10-11 LeBron is significantly inferior to his '09 and '10 self.

Fair enough. Though a 2 year prime seems pretty short, but I get where you're coming from.

[GS1905]

The same iverson kobe held to zero points?

Which game would that be?

According to this there is not a single game Iverson scored 0 points against Kobe and the Lakers in his career.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...1&p2=iversal01

Maybe you meant the game Kobe scored 0 points, huh?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...612290LAL.html

[tpols]

I'd probably take Lebron at his peak by a hair. But Kobe seemed to have a longer and better prime so far, so.. Kobe.

[Indian guy]

I don't think so, he's not as athletic as he was in '08, but he's a much better shooter and significantly better defensively.

The way I see it, if we switched '08 and '11 LeBron, I'd always see the '08 version's team doing better. His playmaking ability(ability to make something happen) was just superior back in '08. '11 LeBron, despite being more skilled, is much less....dynamic, for lack of a better word. He has to play more within his limits. '08 LeBron was everywhere on the other hand.

As far as the D's concerned, I'm telling you, LeBron played the best D of his career in the first 20-odd games of the 07-08 season. He couldn't keep up that level of effort for obvious reasons, but the difference between this LeBron and Heat-LeBron is minimal to the point of being insignificant. In general I also believe a perimeter player's impact on the game defensively is very limited. Miami's defensive ranking, for instance, remained unchanged in 10-11 compared to the prior year.

Hence his horrible play for most of the series vs Boston.

Well, it's not like '11 LeBron didn't have a horrible series too, and he was never the defensive attention of the opposition the way '08 LeBron was.

[ShaqAttack3234]

The way I see it, if we switched '08 and '11 LeBron, I'd always see the '08 version's team doing better. His playmaking ability(ability to make something happen) was just superior back in '08. '11 LeBron, despite being more skilled, is much less....dynamic, for lack of a better word. He has to play more within his limits. '08 LeBron was everywhere on the other hand.

Yeah, and his regular season was incredible, but he just wasn't skilled enough for me to take that version, too many weaknesses, imo. Still a top 2-3 player in the league in 2008, though.

As far as the D's concerned, I'm telling you, LeBron played the best D of his career in the first 20-odd games of the 07-08 season. He couldn't keep up that level of effort for obvious reasons, but the difference between this LeBron and Heat-LeBron is minimal to the point of being insignificant. In general I also believe a perimeter player's impact on the game defensively is very limited. Miami's defensive ranking, for instance, remained unchanged in 10-11 compared to the prior year.

I disagree to some extent, I think that a perimeter players defense won't be able to match an elite defensive big man in terms of impact, but I saw Lebron making a pretty big impact at that end, imo. If your team defense is average or not worth mentioning then your impact won't be that great on nights when you're not facing a big scorer even if your man defense is elite, imo, but Lebron's team defense was very good last season as well as his man defense.

Well, it's not like '11 LeBron didn't have a horrible series too, and he was never the defensive attention of the opposition the way '08 LeBron was.

Yeah, but Lebron's struggles in the finals this year were more puzzling to me when watching him play, while I can see why he struggled more in 2008 due to his skill set. I think that's the difference for me.

I guess this could be worse depending on your point of view, but I think that Lebron's struggles were more mental in the finals, especially when you consider how well he played vs the 2 best defensive teams in the ECSF and ECF(though those weren't his best series despite what some were saying).

[chips93]

id take lebron

To answer the OP's completely original question, prime LeBron James is better than prime Kobe Bryant, although I'd much rather have Kobe on my team.

care to elaborate? since its the lockout and theres nothing to discuss

[Jacks3]

LeBron for his ridiculous G.O.A.T type peak (08-10).

Kobe never quite reached that tier.

[Clippersfan86]

Wow people are silly to even be debating this. Let's see.... the guy who won 5 rings this decade AND put up legendary, consistent stats... or the guy with stats a tad better all around but 0 rings.

Kobe is HANDS DOWN better because in his prime he won rings, Lebron hasn't.

[chips93]

Wow people are silly to even be debating this. Let's see.... the guy who won 5 rings this decade AND put up legendary, consistent stats... or the guy with stats a tad better all around but 0 rings.

Kobe is HANDS DOWN better because in his prime he won rings, Lebron hasn't.

so billups > barkley ?