Kobe is Mismatch for Lebron 1-on-1: Video

[stephanieg]

Weird thread, since LeBron has generally outplayed Kobe in their matchups over the years. I like how they both shoot 29% from three.

I'm not a fan of either player's games. Kobe is an egomaniac who plays selfishly and stupidly, LeBron is unpolished and carried by preferential ref treatment. But it seems Kobe could never deal with LeBron's combination of size and athleticism, despite the skill gap in ball handling and footwork. I remember a lot of times LeBron would zoom down the court while Kobe was lagging behind. If LeBron had a reliable post game back then it'd be even more lopsided.

It might be more interesting now, if LeBron's athleticism is declining. Kobe's game never revolved around athleticism much.

[stalkerforlife]

Kobe has always owned Lebron.

Kobe loved guarding him, but Lebron would mostly shy away.

Lebron treated the games like Kobe did vs Jordan.

[tmacattack33]

The creator of the video's screen name is "Kobe Can".

There might have been a little bias here.

[Dragonyeuw]

Young and not so experienced Kobe destroyed Jordan in couple of matchups.] Jordan was obviously shooked on so many ocassions when Kobe was playing vs him and dont even try to deny it.

And I thought Jordan and Pippen were playing together?

That's a slight exaggeration. Were there some plays where Kobe got the better of MJ? Of course, even by his second season Kobe was offensively gifted, if raw and undisciplined. There were also plenty of occasions where MJ got the better of Kobe too, including as a Wizard when MJ was 40 and Kobe was coming into his own as a superstar.

[3ball]

That's a slight exaggeration.

actually it's a huge exaggeration.. kobe is always treated with kid gloves in the jordan comparison - few people are willing to admit what the stats prove definitively - that kobe was worse in every way.

here's an example of the kid gloves that i'm talking about - people actually think the kobe-jordan matchup was close when they matched up in their careers, but the reality is that kobe scored on Jordan a grand total of two times in their entire careers, including Jordan's Wizard years.

whereas Jordan has scored on Kobe over a dozen times - GIFs are ready to go - Jordan actually MURDERED Kobe in head-to-head matchups and scored on Kobe repeatedly, but somehow kobe is perceived as being close to Jordan.

for example, in the 1998 all-star game, people think kobe played jordan well, but Jordan scored on Kobe 5 times, and Kobe didn't score on Jordan even once!!!!!!!!... Jordan DESTROYED kobe in the 1998 all-star game, but people actually think it was close... this is the type of overrating kobe gets in comparison to Jordan.
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[3ball]

derails aside, the OP's video showing kobe scoring at will on lebron demonstrates that kobe's quickness makes him a mismatch for lebron, just like any quick guard is for a forward - kobe is a bigger mismatch for lebron than vice versa, largely because lebron's quickness deficit guarding kobe makes his team's defense vulnerable.

and since we know from the video that kobe takes lebron at will, this lets us know that jordan would score on lebron even easier, especially considering how jordan was able to blow by better defenders like Rodman much easier, more frequently, and more spectacularly than Kobe did Lebron.
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[Dragonyeuw]

the reality is that kobe scored on Jordan a grand total of two times in their entire careers
.

The times that come immediately to mind:

-1997, Kobe posting MJ and dropping a fadeaway

-same game, making a backdoor cut and finishing with a two handed dunk

- 2002, Kobe shoots over Wizards MJ after a few between the legs, finishes with a 20 foot jumper

Thats what I recall as far as straight up, mano a mano times that Kobe scored directly against MJ 's defense.

[3ball]

The times that come immediately to mind:

-1997, Kobe posting MJ and dropping a fadeaway

-same game, making a backdoor cut and finishing with a two handed dunk

- 2002, Kobe shoots over Wizards MJ after a few between the legs, finishes with a 20 foot jumper

Thats what I recall as far as straight up, mano a mano times that Kobe scored directly against MJ 's defense.

that's two if you don't count the backdoor, which i hadn't...

the truth is that MJ didn't want to act like he was playing hard against the young upstart.. and yet kobe could not muster more than a couple scores on him, while Jordan has over a dozen on Kobe.

Jordan was just that much better... Kobe takes Lebron at will, but that just lets us know Jordan would score on Lebron even easier, especially considering how Jordan was able to blow by better defenders like Rodman much easier, more frequently, and more spectacularly than Kobe did Lebron.

[Prometheus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jUPtfJjwX4

The above video is not as specific to this debate as the one posted in the OP, but it still features dozens of plays in which Kobe is guarding LeBron and vice versa. This time, the maker of the video is a bran stan, and so it appears from this footage that LeBron is a huge mismatch for Kobe and not the other way around.

I am not arguing for LeBron > Kobe (although it's true) here, I'm just pointing out that a compilation video made by a biased fan proves nothing.

[3ball]

I'm just pointing out that a compilation video proves nothing.

It proves a ton.. the video proves that Kobe can take Lebron at will, which lets us know Jordan would take Lebron ever easier.

Not only was Jordan better than Kobe, but we have actual footage of Jordan blowing by better defenders like Rodman much easier, more frequently, and more spectacularly than Kobe did Lebron.

[Prometheus]

It proves a ton.. the video proves that Kobe can take Lebron at will, which lets us know Jordan would take Lebron ever easier - it's not only that Jordan was better than Kobe, but we know Jordan was able to blow by better defenders like Rodman much easier, more frequently, and more spectacularly than Kobe did Lebron.

If your video proves that Kobe can take LeBron at will, my video proves that LeBron can take Kobe at will. And since my video features LeBron blocking Kobe at the rim, taking the ball right out of his hands on a drive, and forcing him into bad fade-away jumpers that miss horribly, it proves that Kobe can't score on LeBron.

So in this thread we learned that Kobe can take LeBron at will and score on him easily, but we also learned that Kobe can't score on LeBron at all.

Biased highlight videos that only show one kind of result prove nothing.

[Prometheus]

It proves a ton.. the video proves that Kobe can take Lebron at will, which lets us know Jordan would take Lebron ever easier.

Not only was Jordan better than Kobe, but we have actual footage of Jordan blowing by better defenders like Rodman much easier, more frequently, and more spectacularly than Kobe did Lebron.

Also, if your point is that MJ > LeBron, then you're 100% correct. Jordan was better than LeBron. It's hard to see why you're so passionate... so obsessed... with proving this... since there's really no one to prove it to. Everyone pretty much agrees with you already, you strange, strange person.

[3ball]

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MJ GOAT Posters on Patrick Ewing

[3ball]

If your video proves that Kobe can take LeBron at will, my video proves that LeBron can take Kobe at will.

Highlights are important.

kobe's best plays against lebron provide important revelations - his best plays are done with less ease, less frequency and are less spectacular than Jordan's best plays against a better defender (Rodman).

of course, we already know Jordan would do better than Kobe against Lebron because Jordan is better than Kobe... but with the Rodman footage, we can deduce that since Rodman is a better defender than Lebron, Jordan would be more spectacular against Lebron than he already was against Rodman..

[Hey Yo]

You think it's just my opinion that Jordan scored better on Rodman, than Paul George, Kawhi and others scored on Lebron?

The eyetest of watching MJ's FG's on Rodman shows that Jordan scored more frequently and spectacularly on a better defender (Rodman), than inferior scorers (Paul George, Kawhi, etc) scored on a worse defender (Lebron).

As easy as Kobe scores on Lebron in OP's video, does it compare to the more spectacular plays and higher frequency that Jordan had on Rodman?

Point me to where Kobe, Kawhi, or any of these guys' highlights compare - Have any of these guys ever hit a game-winner on lebron, had a GOAT hangtime finish on a jumpshot, or dunked on 3 guys after the blow-by like MJ did on Rodman below?.. How about all three?










Lebron is an inferior defender to Rodman, and Jordan scores much better than Kobe, Kawhi, and the like: that means Jordan would destroy Lebron.

Jordan scored better against a better defender, than inferior scorers scored on a worse defender.

in b4 someone posts something inferior to the plays above
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First GIF shows time running out (more than likely in 4th with Bulls trialing considering how crowd reacted) and Daly probably instructed team not to foul. So Rodman didn't play close D in order not to foul.

Second GIF shows Mark Aguirre guarding MJ.

Third GIF shows Rodman coming over to help on D and MJ gets him in the air with a small pump fake. Then MJ goes to the hole and dunks on lead footed James Edwards.

Not the best of examples for you to use considering the point you're trying to make.