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

[A Roc 23]

Neither.

I choose Falkor!

Solid reference

Kobe>>>>Lebron
Kobe is
the better ball handler
better on-ball defender
better post game
better scorer
just as good a rebounder
much better FT shooter
much better mid range shooting
better 3 point shooter
more clutch
more feared
wider ofenssive repertoire

The bold are the ones that simply aren't true and the underlined ones are the ones that can easily be argued. Also you left out a lot of stuff Lebron does better such as getting to the basket, passing, fast breaking, etc...

[Emile]

I still think the number 1 reason why people hate Kobe are the early MJ comparisons and the fact that Kobe embraced them.

Of course, it is a combination of things but that I think is how it all started, bombastic media hypie headlines such as "this guy will make us forget all about Michael" have contributed to the Kobe hate more than anything and him actually coming off as if that's exactly what he wanted to do.
Michael being the most loved and celebrated athlete of all time, of course the colony of his fans would want Kobe to fail.
I think other things added to the overall volume of hate but that was the initial thing that ticked people off so there immediately was an anti Kobe party and a huge one, as much as the media was hyping up, there also was always a negative steam that just culminated later on but it was always there, the Kobe hate was always there, IMO because of the MJ comparisons and Kobe's demeanor.

Another thing everyone forget is how many star swingmen Kobe's been compared with throughout his career.
AI fans...hate Kobe. T Mac fans...hate Kobe. VC fans...hate Kobe. Wade fans....hate Kobe. LBJ fans...hate Kobe..

It's hard to say really, an essay could be written on this, there are dozen of reasons but KObe's always been questioned and hated, people never wanted to fully accept him and embrace him.
I remember for example when the main argument against him was that he wasn't hood enough AI fans couldn't associate with him.

It's not the Lakers thing. He's just Kobe. A very unique personality and all. Not many people can associate with him or understand where he's ever coming from. He's just different, an enigma to a common man and rubs people the wrong way.

[gts]

Would Kobe be more likeable if he were drafted to another team

he was..charlotte hornets... then traded

[Noob Saibot]

I guess people don't give LeBron any real respect cuz he's so ugly.

He doesn't have the sex appeal like Kobe Jordan.

[Lamar Doom]

relevant thoughts on kobe hating and how i came to understand kobe's superiority.

the kobe hating situation just got out of hand, i grew up loving the show time lakers but the shaq and kobe lakers made my blood boil, i mean i absolutely hated the guy for years. it's a combination of things with kobe

*the evil empire - like the yankees, the lakers are going to have a share of haters just because they're the lakers- one thing i always hated about the lakers too was their fan base, they are the least home-towny team i can think of, the knicks fans are d*cks but at least they're new yorkers and there's this salt-of-the-earth element to them, so many Laker fans are just at games to be seen, nobody in LA is from LA, it's just a plastic bandwagon fan base

*overstocked talent- 18 year old kid comes to the league and gets to win 3 championships shortly thereafter, it's hard to root for goliath

*early kobe- man he was such a little hot head arrogant smug prick when he was younger, anyone else remember that commercial where he's sitting on some italian villa looking thoughtful and composing his poetry about his psyche? god i hated that kid

*the rape thing- kobe was trying so hard to be the face of basketball, mr. do-right, he said all the right things, talked like jordan, gave bland ass vanilla answers to every question (still does for the most part, i think kobe would find so many more fans if he was more willing to show true joy, despair, or anger... he so often gives cliche politician-esque answers, <<i swear if i hear one more player talk about "focus on defense night in and night out, take it one game at a time" i'll start lobbying for only artest/marbury/sheed interviews>> just comes off robotic, but i have to say i think he's been better this year about being himself), and then it turns out he cheated on his wife and had rough sex with some girl, a lot of people still think he's guilty of rape, it's hard to live that sort of charge down, once it's public that you're "charged with rape" you're going to fall out of favor with a lot of people


for me there were two things that changed my mind on him- the rape thing was part of it, cheating on your wife or girlfriend is for jerks, but i know lots of people i care about who have cheated, I did not and do not think kobe bryant raped that girl, i thought it was a desperate and pathetic money or attention scheme by a screwed up girl, i hate to use "kobe bryant doesn't have to rape girls" as an argument, there are so many points here on a touchy subject, but my heart tells me kobe bryant did not rape her, and i'm not one of these men who assumes innocence in rape allegations, usually the opposite, but it just seemed like bullsh*t and it made me feel bad for him and dammit if sympathy doesn't soften me up.
Second- my favorite player (Doom/stardom/the big intangible/daddy long/the goods) went to the lakers and I have since seen every game for four seasons. Kobe Bryant? this guy is the absolute highest truth. Watching this guy will leave you in awe. This guy is the best player in the league, bar none. The complete lack of objectivity of kobe haters became what inevitably led me to switch over from being a die hard kobe hater to a kobe "fan". Do i want to hang out with him? no. But it is michael jordan and kobe bryant and that's where the argument stops. I love lebron, I love KG, but kobe bryant is no worse than the second best player i've ever seen. Listening to and reading people who have such unforgiving, unobjective criticism and hate for kobe-- about him not being the best player-- is really a sign of basketball ignorance or pure bias.


in short (heh) i don't know if kobe would have been so hated if he'd gone to the charlotte hornets, i can't help but think those rings are part of what makes him so hated, but surely not all of it.

god i love lebron, he might get there, i hope he does, i hope we always have a clear cut "best" player in the league.

[Magic_Johnson]

I'm a lakers fan since forever and i don't like him since the 2004 finals

[Jimmy2k8]

I'm a lakers fan since forever and i don't like him since the 2004 finals

nice grammar there.

[WeJustNeedaRing]

I don't think it really matters if he was somewhere else.. the man has that fire to be the best at what he does, and he's always going to think he's the best at it.. even if he did play for another team... playing for one of the biggerst franchises if not the biggest there is just makes the situation even bigger than it is.

[Make It Rain]

that's actually an interesting question.
I say, no, he would not be more likeable. He is too introverted, too determined, to be the charming jolly class clown that everyone likes.

Now, it doesn't help that he is on the Lakers, which probably has both the largest fan base and the largest hater base.

I agree that he would not be more likeable but not for those reasons. Duncan is introverted, determined, and not goofy. But people love Duncan. The reason people hate Kobe is because he has been arrogant and selfish from Day 1 in the league when he had no right to be. He has since however worked on changing his image. It also didn't help for Kobe to start a verbal war with Shaq, one of the most likeable personalities in the NBA, and the league's best player (at the time). I dislike Kobe for those reasons to, but I also dislike him for his unoriginality. I found it very disturbing that a person would go so far as to copy another person's persona and mannerisms. Copying a great player's game is one thing (but really you should copy other players, not just one), but copying a player's personality is another. That was really annoying about Kobe when he was young in the league. Then he started disrupting the team's offense (from my point of view) because really you should be dumping the ball inside every time down the court and play off of Shaq. If they started doubling it'll open things up for everyone else. I disliked that a lot about Kobe. I don't like the fact that winning wasn't enough for him. He had to be "the man". Also, there were several comments he made during the Shaq-Kobe feud that seemed egotistical and selfish. He said things like he shouldn't have to sacrifice his game. He wants to show everyone what he could do even though they were already winning with the current system in place. He also was unwilling to say it was Shaq's team. (But Shaq was willing to say it was Wade's team right when he got to Miami). Why isn't winning enough? Eventually Shaq would get old and he'd be "the man". Now, Shaq was a baby during the feud too, but I could see where he's coming from. He's the veteran. He's earned his dues. Kobe's the young guy. He should show some respect. Now Shaq deserves a lot of the blame too. But he deserved it. When you did it Shaq's way, you won titles. But Shaq did cost them the year after they won their 3rd title when Shaq had surgery during "company time" because he got hurt during "company time". However, it was rumored that Shaq did this because he wanted to teach Kobe a lesson. Something like: "you think you can be the man? here, prove it". Sure enough, the Lakers lost A LOT of games. Another reason why I dislike Kobe Bryant is because he went from this great clean-cut player to an all-of-a-sudden bad-boy type player with tats all over the place. It's hard to respect a guy trying to act hard when you know he grew up comfortably and in a good neighborhood.

Now, keep in mind, this is my opinion. I'm not declaring them as facts. So, Kobe fans, don't have a heart attack. I'm stating the reasons why I don't personally like Kobe. Great player. Just can't root for him because of what he's done in the past.

[Noob Saibot]

can we not talk about Kobe for one day?

no Kobe wouldn't be more likeable playing somewhere else, cuz he's too bratty.

[KeylessEntry]

I like Kobe's attitude. Kobe is a competitor at heart, and he expects the same of everybody on the court. I think Kobe's attitude makes his teamates elevate their own game to keep up.

[mika]

would he be more likeable if he wasn't accused of rape?

[m1sterb]

.

I can't say how much I agree with this. But good post Make it Rain.

[m1sterb]

And to answer the OP's question. I'd say that 95% of the hate is due to his personality with the other 5% due to his laker status. People hate him for who he is, not for the team he belongs with.

[amfirst]

People hate Kobe because he's better than their favorette player. Plan and simple. U don't need to go any deeper than that. :)