The reason LeBron will NEVER be as good as Kobe or Jordan.

[AirFederer]

Kobe is more skilled than Lebron. But the only purpose of offensive skill is generating a good shot.

Lebron can get a good one easier than Kobe.

A faceup drive for a layup isnt as iconic as a fadeaway...but it gets the job done at a higher rate.

Jordan had the benefit of getting the layup at a better rate than Lebron(on command at least) and being more capable than Kobe of getting the position he wants for a jumper.

Kobe might be(is) better making an equally difficult shot.

Jordan and Lebron are forced into less of them due to physical talent.

Kobe makes admirable shots and struggles to get easy ones.

Lebron makes easy ones and struggles on the hard ones(relative to Kobe and Jordan).

Jordan does whatever the defense makes the right decision.

He walks the line between worlds both of them are for the most part a prisioner in.

He has nothing you can take away.

Great post

[Cold soul]

I wonder if there's a competent person (bball related) left who thinks Kobe is/was better than Lebron.

Actually there quite a few out there that believe Kobe was better than Lebron at his best and not just Laker fans believe that. I have no problem with people that say Lebron peak was better than Kobe peak, but my god those that say it isn't even close are way off base and wrong.

[guy]

Lebron isn't on Jordan's level......and neither is Kobe. They are much closer to each other then they are to Jordan, so people sound completely stupid when they try to lump Kobe with Jordan and try to separate him from Lebron. They both have their fair share of embarrassing performances where they didn't come close to expectations, both have a relative lack of accomplishments in some category (Lebron - rings, Kobe - MVPs/FMVPs), and both fall short of Jordan in the majority of categories. So just stop it.

[ArbitraryWater]

LeBron is much closer to MJ than Kobe...

Comparing Kobe to LeBron is pretty insulting.

[unbreakable]

Comparing Kobe to LeBron is pretty insulting.

youre right. comparing the 2 is very insulting to Kobe, who has almost THREE TIMES as many championships as Lebron

[Warfan]

LeBron is much closer to MJ than Kobe...

Comparing Kobe to LeBron is pretty insulting.

[The_Pharcyde]

An insulted fool

[Dragonyeuw]

Kobe was too stubborn to make stuff work with Dwight, which would've allowed him to still compete for championships. As well as taking a max deal, that removed LA's chances for building a roster around him to compete for championships. It leads me to believe Kobe isn't about winning at this point. He's content with his 5 rings, and just wants max money per year, and to gun his way without much team resistance for the 2nd, or All-Time scoring leader. It's a legacy move.

Good overall post, but on the bolded point... if this is the case, then Kobe has it wrong in terms of what's best for his GOAT legacy. If the objective at this point is gunning for the all-time scoring record, that's not going to do as much for his legacy as winning another ring, IF the goal is to have a career on-par with him. Kareem has more points than MJ, so does Karl Malone, so clearly MJ isn't *generally* considered GOAT on the basis of having more points than anyone else. Winning a 6th ring as the man makes the MJ/Kobe conversation WAY more intriguing.