Kobe vs LeBron 2007-08 season

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

I've seen both these individual seasons discussed in various threads for the last few weeks, and in particular, debates on who had the better year.

Its actually close. Kobe had more skills and better teammates while LeBron had better production and did more with less.

Here are the regular-season and playoff numbers (most are rounded):

Bron
30/8/7/2/1 on 57%TS
28/8/8/2/1 on 53%TS

Kobe
28/6/5/2/1 on 58%TS
30/6/6/2/>1 on 58%TS

Here are the combined RAPM's for the year (impact, non box-score):

Bron
4.82

Kobe
4.51

Like I said, very close. To me they're practically 1A/B. Garnett had a great individual season that year too, BTW.

[Dray n Klay]

30/8/7 >> 28/6/5


LeBron was better

[Akrazotile]

Lebron's stats tend to have a lot more impact than Kobe's stats which are frequently accrued in garbage time.

Also, even if we do grant their offensive production as similar, Lebron's defensive impact FARRRRRRR exceeds Kobe's, literally every single season of his career.

I mean, quite frankly with stephen a smith, I don't even need to see the stats. I can just tell by looking at their packages. The BODY of work. And Lebron's got a big one.

No homo.

[Bankaii]

A lot of fans brush this year off because Kobe won MVP but everyone that watched this entire season knows this was a very close year.

Stats are pretty close but Bron has the advantage.
In terms of impact Lebron was pretty superior. Look at the roster he carried.

I use to give Kobe the nod because his team went deeper in the playoffs, but looking deeper into it I might change my stance.

[Jacks3]

I have different RAPM numbers.

Kobe: 6.58
LBJ: 6.33


Pretty close, but Kobe was making his impact on one of the strongest non-champions in recent history and on a team that was amazing offensively, while LBJ was doing his thing on a Cavs team that had a -0.53 and was ranked 20th in ORTG. Obviously Kobe had the much better supporting cast, but I also think his game meshed better with other great talent at that point...mainly because he completely destroys that version of LeBron as a shooter and off-ball player. The way Kobe just meshed perfectly with Pau and immediately developed great synergy with him is something that doesn't get talked about enough.

I remember thinking that Bryant was better back then because frankly 08 LBJ had some significant holes in his game. One, he was insanely ball-dominant and had virtually no trace of any type of off-ball game. Two, he was a terrible shooter. 31.5% from three, 30% from 10-16 feet, and 37% from 16-23 feet. I mean, he was just awful. When you have two guys whose primary impact comes overwhelmingly from the offensive side of the ball, yeah, I find it hard to ignore that one of them is awful at perhaps the single most important offensive skill.

[NBAGOAT]

who did you think was better defensively that year?

[BeastMode24]

who did you think was better defensively that year?

kobe was by far the better defender. kobe was on the all nba first team defensively while lebron didn't make the all defense team. Kobe always guarded the opposing team's best player and was the one guy in the starting lineup who was actually considered a good defensive player.

[Micku]

kobe was by far the better defender. kobe was on the all nba first team defensively while lebron didn't make the all defense team. Kobe always guarded the opposing team's best player and was the one guy in the starting lineup who was actually considered a good defensive player.

Being in the all defense team doesn't make you the better defensive player all the time. Tony Allen, Iggy, Wade got snub some years when they were better than Kobe.

With that said, 2000 and 2008 are the years that Kobe might've been his peak defensively imo.

LeBron didn't get great defensively until 2009.

[Suguru101]

I have different RAPM numbers.

Kobe: 6.58
LBJ: 6.33


Pretty close, but Kobe was making his impact on one of the strongest non-champions in recent history and on a team that was amazing offensively, while LBJ was doing his thing on a Cavs team that had a -0.53 and was ranked 20th in ORTG. Obviously Kobe had the much better supporting cast, but I also think his game meshed better with other great talent at that point...mainly because he completely destroys that version of LeBron as a shooter and off-ball player. The way Kobe just meshed perfectly with Pau and immediately developed great synergy with him is something that doesn't get talked about enough.

I remember thinking that Bryant was better back then because frankly 08 LBJ had some significant holes in his game. One, he was insanely ball-dominant and had virtually no trace of any type of off-ball game. Two, he was a terrible shooter. 31.5% from three, 30% from 10-16 feet, and 37% from 16-23 feet. I mean, he was just awful. When you have two guys whose primary impact comes overwhelmingly from the offensive side of the ball, yeah, I find it hard to ignore that one of them is awful at perhaps the single most important offensive skill.

Great post. Kobe had a complete skill-set and was defensively still very good. LeBron, while his driving game and his sheer athleticism made him very effective, had some areas of his that could be exploited by a defense (no post game, not a consistent mid range shooter, bad 3-point shooter).

LeBron was also not that great defensively, he hadn't made the leap he made in 2009 after being on the Olympic team with Kidd and Kobe and learning how to apply himself defensively.

It's a comparison that only makes sense in the numbers... actually having watched the games and knowing the context, Kobe was quite clearly better.

[NBAGOAT]

Being in the all defense team doesn't make you the better defensive player all the time. Tony Allen, Iggy, Wade got snub some years when they were better than Kobe.

With that said, 2000 and 2008 are the years that Kobe might've been his peak defensively imo.

LeBron didn't get great defensively until 2009.

K I was thinking Kobe on defense too but was wondering what kuniva thought. However Lebron always had that versatility by being able to switch onto 4's so that helps. That athleticism didn't hurt either.

[chazzy]

Lebron didn't truly separate from Kobe until the year after when most of the holes in his game were filled. Kobe was better this year

[DMAVS41]

Kobe deserves the nod here.

He had the more polished offensive game and his defense was smarter/better than Lebron's imo.

[Prime_Shaq]

At that point LeBron wasn't totally locked in on the defensive end yet. On the other hand, 2008 Kobe was the most poised I've seen him.

[JohnnyA]

Whats going on here? Reasonable discussion from people with opposing views. Shocking!

I'm a LeBron fan from way back but I definitely give Kobe the nod in that year. LeBron was fun to watch but as noted above, Kobe had the 'poise'.

[ArbitraryWater]

Great post. Kobe had a complete skill-set and was defensively still very good. LeBron, while his driving game and his sheer athleticism made him very effective, had some areas of his that could be exploited by a defense (no post game, not a consistent mid range shooter, bad 3-point shooter).

LeBron was also not that great defensively, he hadn't made the leap he made in 2009 after being on the Olympic team with Kidd and Kobe and learning how to apply himself defensively.

It's a comparison that only makes sense in the numbers... actually having watched the games and knowing the context, Kobe was quite clearly better.

its not that fairy tale-y in rl breh.. he didnt play alongside Kobe and suddenly learned to play defense lol

Cavaliers were 0-7 that year without LeBron

Carried the team more than Kobe did.

Neck to neck man...