Lebron James vs Kobe Bryant, in the season, in MVP talk, more

[BIGSHOT]

Whose better at 23 Kobe or Lebron? I actually think 2001 Kobe at 23 yrs old was the best Kobe we have ever seen...I'd probably go with LBJ but it's relatively close.

[RedBlackAttack]

Whose better at 23 Kobe or Lebron? I actually think 2001 Kobe at 23 yrs old was the best Kobe we have ever seen...I'd probably go with LBJ but it's relatively close.

Personally, I think the LeBron James that we are seeing this season (and the end of last season) is better than any version of Kobe, any year. He is playing at THAT high of a level this year.

It is pretty amazing, because I have a ton of respect for Kobe and I didn't think it was possible for LeBron to catch him this early in his career, but I think he has.

You put THIS LeBron alongside a prime Shaq and all of those great role players the Lakers had that year.... That is downright scary to even think about.

[BIGSHOT]

Personally, I think the LeBron James that we are seeing this season (and the end of last season) is better than any version of Kobe, any year. He is playing at THAT high of a level this year.

It is pretty amazing, because I have a ton of respect for Kobe and I didn't think it was possible to LeBron to catch him this early in his career, but I think he has.

You put THIS LeBron alongside a prime Shaq and all of those great role players the Lakers had that year.... That is downright scary to even think about.

True true. Kobe has never done 31/8/7. I'd say they are on the exact same level. I'm not ready to say LeBron is better then Bryant quite yet but neither do I think Kobe is superior to Bron. They are, however, clearly on another level in terms of peremiter players in the NBA.

[RedBlackAttack]

True true. Kobe has never done 31/8/7. I'd say they are on the exact same level. I'm not ready to say LeBron is better then Bryant quite yet but neither do I think Kobe is superior to Bron. They are, however, clearly on another level in terms of peremiter players in the NBA.

I won't argue with you, though I do think that LeBron has slid by Bryant this season in terms of impact on a game.

But, the most important thing is that we are even having this discussion...

The guy JUST TURNED 23 and he is, at least, on par with the greatest basketball player in the world.

Scary.

[jo3y91]

Lebron is the best player in the NBA Season, but he will not win the MVP this year because he doesn't have a great supporting casts to win 60 games in the regular season.

kobe wont win 60 games either book it. bynums gna be back chemistry's gna be choppy.

[catquickspider]

I won't argue with you, though I do think that LeBron has slid by Bryant this season in terms of impact on a game.

But, the most important thing is that we are even having this discussion...

The guy JUST TURNED 23 and he is, at least, on par with the greatest basketball player in the world.

Scary.

lol @ on par

lebron is not the scorer kobe is yet nor the defender

"but but look at his assists and fg %"

[LakerDynasty00]

kobe wont win 60 games either book it. Bynums gna be back chemistry's gna be choppy.

Wow, Book It! You are going out on quite a limb saying the Lakers won't win 16 of their remaining 20 games! Are you serious? That's supposed to be a big bold prediction, considering that the end of the season is Conference-heavy?

Dude, 60 wins doesn't mean anything anyway, as Dallas has proved. They just need to have a top 2 seed and I'm pretty certain that'll happen. Would 56 or 57 games not be good enough to give Kobe strong consideration for the MVP when that will likely be the highest or second highest win total in the West?

And if you haven't been paying attention Bynum likely won't be back until April sometime, which means he probably won't play more than a handful of games before the playoffs, and at that they will all be in limited minutes; I highly doubt it will effect "the chemistry."

I really can't argue with either CP3, Kobe, or Lebron winning the MVP this year. Unless the Cavs don't win 50, then I think it would be unwise to give it to him And, between Kobe and CP3 it should probably go to the one with the most victories at season's end. Although, I would argue CP3 has been more "valuable" to his team than Kobe has been to the Lakers, that's not because Kobe hasn't done much, its just he doesn't have to do AS MUCH as CP3. That is inherent in the role of a point guard. I think they always have the advantage in MVP voting because they control the ball and get assists which people call "making others better." In reality, the attention Kobe gets from the defense is just as "valuable" as if he was making passes directly. Not to mention his defense.

[Brunch@Five]

Also, LeBron really isn't a BAD shooter. His eFG% on jumpers is 40.1%. That certainly isn't great, but it isn't bad, either.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07CLE13A.HTM

To put it in perspective, Arenas was shooting 37.6% on his jumpers before his injury.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07WAS1A.HTM

Antawn Jamison is shooting 38.9% on his jumpers for the season.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07WAS9A.HTM

Dwyane Wade is shooting 39% on his jumpers for the season.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07MIA5A.HTM

Tony Parker is shooting 40.0% on his jumpers for the season.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07SAS1A.HTM


All of these guys are shooting a lower percentage on their jumpshots than LeBron, but if I made the statement that LeBron is a better jumpshooter than these players without backing it up with facts, I would be scolded and laughed at.

I think a lot of people are probably surprised at some of the names I listed that are shooting a lower percentage on their jumpshots than LeBron.

Since when are those players you listed known for having great jumpers? Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade regularly get criticized for their lack of a jumper. Arenas is a volume shooter who's prone for shooting bad percentages. Antwan Jamison doesn't even have a midrange game.

No surprise here. For Bron even to be in that kind of company is a bad sign.

LeBron's 45.4% on jumpers in the clutch is actually pretty damn good.

Damn good? no. Damn good is Dirk shooting 49% on jumpers, Rip Hamilton shooting 50%, Billups shooting 51%, Chris Paul shooting 49%.

[Created Player]

The thing about this whole Kobe vs LeBron MVP debate, is that very lttle of the debate is actually focused on the MVP discussion between these two people.

This cannot be proven anymore vividly than the fact the MVP discussion seems to be focused on only LeBron and Kobe in the first place, and not Paul as well. That proves right there that the element of 'favoritism' is very strong on the behalf of Kobe Bryant. Realistically, his season has neither been profound or overly impressive. Especially in direct comparison between LeBron and Paul.

So why is everyone talking about Kobe? And as a frontrunner, no less?

What, is it because he's played well enough in his career to 'deserve' a MVP?

Right, just give him the damn award then. I'll just add his name to the likes of Nash, Nash, Dirk, and Malone as some of the most eregious MVP winners in the history of all Sport.

Go ahead and 'give' him the award, I say. In some way, poetic justice be served as this will be the only MVP this guy EVER receives.

And what better way to assign the 'Kiss of Death' to any supposed "All-time Great Player" than to award him with NOT MORE than one career MVP award.

How pathetic is that?

Kobe Bryant is an alleged Great of the Great NBA players, and the best he can produce for his career is one MVP award on a 27/6/5 46% shooting season.



Okaaaaay then, Kobe. Do what you have to do, man. You and your fans are the Hillary Clinton of basketball. Why do anything if it's not by 'Any Means Necessary'?

Remember this: Jordan's WORST MVP year, at 35-years old +, was far and away better than what Kobe's doing now. If anything, 'giving' Kobe MVP award will only illustrate the separation between Kobe and the real GOAT candidates that much more.

What a f*cking joke this award, and the people who vote for it, have become.

[konex]

I won't argue with you, though I do think that LeBron has slid by Bryant this season in terms of impact on a game.

If you're only looking at stats, I guess you can make that claim. But it's quite obvious that he's toned down his game since he trusts his teammates more. When he wants to go off, he still does (see the Mavs game)

The difference in the their stats is mainly minutes and ball domination..

[gts]

Originally Posted by Lebron23
Lebron is the best player in the NBA Season, but he will not win the MVP this year because he doesn't have a great supporting casts to win 60 games in the regular season.

50 games is the cut off for MVP, win 50 games play in at least 75... iverson is the only player in the recent past that won the award and didn't play more than 75 games..i think iverson played in 72 games the year he won it

[Kobe4MVP]

How many games did LeBron sit with a finger owie? 5? And they lost all 5 right? So if he had played through it like a man, they might have a 49-22 record right now instead of a 36-27. That right there should take him out of MVP contention immediately considering Kobe has played over a month with a much much worse injury and his team is 14-2 since the injury happened and in the month of february, Bryant led the Lakers to a 13-2 mark, averaging team highs in points (27.2 ppg), assists (5.9 apg) and steals (2.07 spg). Bryant, who shot .507 from the field, scored at least 30 points on eight occasions and netted more than 40 points twice.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, LeBron's finger injury was on his NON-SHOOTING HAND!!!

What a baby. Until he learns that an MVP means being there every single game for your team, he doesn't deserve the award.

[Created Player]

If you're only looking at stats, I guess you can make that claim. But it's quite obvious that he's toned down his game since he trusts his teammates more. When he wants to go off, he still does (see the Mavs game)

The difference in the their stats is mainly minutes and ball domination..

Well, he's not the MVP then. If your team is good, then sorry for you. Especially when you have guys putting up 31/8/8/2/1 seasons.

[gts]

If you're only looking at stats, I guess you can make that claim. But it's quite obvious that he's toned down his game since he trusts his teammates more. When he wants to go off, he still does (see the Mavs game)

The difference in the their stats is mainly minutes and ball domination..

exactly.. this year kobe is doing a better job of picking his moments...
last year kobe would keep playing even in blow out games deep into the 4th padding his stats..

this year he is on the sidelines watching and cheering the guys on... when they need his dominance to win a game he dials it up and goes, but he's not as interested this year in dominating games as he is in winning them, he's done a good job of keeping everyone involved..
we all know kobe in the past dominated the ball to much even to the point of being a detrement to the team...
but this year he's been much more involved with keeping within the system, and keeping the games pace to phils liking and it's showing...
right now they lakers are on top of the west (at this moment) and winning games in a season that may go down as the most competitive ever for the western conference...

[SoCalMike]

Well, he's not the MVP then. If your team is good, then sorry for you. Especially when you have guys putting up 31/8/8/2/1 seasons.

So wait, now that he's bringing out the best in his team members, thats not good enough now either?

What do you want from the guy? He's the leader of his team both statistically and on/off the court. He's learned to bring the best out of his teammates and its translated to an incredible season so far in a very competitive western conference. Seems pretty MJ-like to me.

I could care less who gets the MVP, but I do find it funny that some people like to use arguments to their convenience and not with consistency. Its hypocritical.