Kobe is not........no wait.......Kobe is.............I don't know how to say this. Well, there's no way in hell Kobe's better than Jordan.
After securing his fifth championship Thursday night against the Celtics Kobe Bryant pulled within one championship of the immortal Michael Jordan. Needless to say, the conversations on who's better have been firing since the final buzzer sounded. Let me just clear this up.
Michael Jordan is so much better than Kobe Bryant that it's almost comical. Jordan has the upper hand in championships, in classic moments, in scoring, and really any other category you could think of.
1. Jordan has 10 scoring titles, Kobe has 2
2. Jordan has never lost in the Finals, Kobe's lost twice
3. Jordan has 5 MVP awards, Kobe has 2
4. Jordan won a 3peat, RETIRED then came back and won another 3peat. I'm sorry but that's just unfair. Good luck to Kobe trying to do something that could beat that.
5. Jordan has a Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kobe doesn't.
6. Jordan retired for 3 full years, came back on the Wizards at age 40, and was still a scoring force in the league.
7. Kobe got to play with Shaq and still doesn't have as many titles as Jordan.
8. Jordan has 6 Finals MVP trophies, Kobe has 2 (because Shaq facilitated the first three championships Kobe got on his resume)
9. Kobe has been in the league for 13 seasons (as many years as Jordan was in Chicago) and his achievements are nowhere near Jordan's. So unless, in the next two seasons, Kobe manages to win 8 scoring titles, 3 MVPs, a defensive player of the year award, two more championships, win three straight titles....retire....come back and win three more then he is not on Jordan's level.
Kobe is a fantastic player, the best of his time. But in no way, shape, or form does he even approach Jordan's plateau. Sometimes he does things that are Jordanesque but that's considered a big occurrence for him. It's described as Jordanesque because Jordan did it all the time.
In game 6 of the Western Conference finals Kobe went berserk in the final quarter scoring in jaw dropping fashion pouring in 30 points to put away the Phoenix Suns on the road. That was the best playoff game of Kobe's career. In the 1993 NBA finals Jordan averaged 41 a game. Coincidentally that was also against the Suns. And he also beat them in 6 games. The point is that whatever Kobe does, Jordan did it better.
The highest scoring average Kobe's ever had is 35.4 PPG, a pretty amazing number. Jordan's highest average was 37.1, almost two whole points above Kobe. Kobe's best record in a season is 65-17, Jordan's is an NBA record 72-10. In fact, Jordan won over 65 games three times in his career.
Jordan was a better scorer but scoring isn't everything. Let's look at assist numbers. Jordan's career assist average is 5.3 APG, with his highest mark in a season at 8 APG. Kobe's career assist average is 4.7 APG and his best season was 6 APG back in the 04-05 season.
Jordan was a better scorer and was more unselfish but points and assists aren't everything. Let's look at rebounding numbers. Jordan's career rebounding average is 6.2 RPG and his best single season rebounding average was 8 RPG. Kobe's career rebounding average is 5.3 RPG with his best season at 6.9 RPG.
But points, assists, and rebounds aren't everything. Let's look at steals. Jordan's career steals per game (SPG) average is 2.3, Kobe's is 1.5. Jordan's best single season SPG average was 3.2 in the 87-88 season. Kobe's was 2.2 in the o2-03 campaign.
Let's be fair to Kobe. Points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, and steals per game aren't everything. Let's look at their efficiency. Jordan's career shooting percentage is .497 to Kobe's .455. And best single season? Kobe can't even come close. Jordan's best single season shooting percentage was a whopping .539 in his first championship season back in 90-91. Kobe's was .469 in 01-02.
Well numbers aren't everything. It doesn't matter that Jordan has higher numbers in points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, steals per game, and shooting percentage. What really needs to be examined are classic moments.
Jordan has his 63 point masterpiece against the Celtics, his two dunk contest duels, the shot over Craig Ehlo to knock the Cavaliers out of the playoffs, his switching from right to left in mid air against the Lakers in the 91 finals, his shrug after hitting his 6th three in the first half of game one in the 92 finals, and the pose after hitting the game clincher of game 6 of the 1998 finals in Utah.
Kobe has his game 6 scoring barrage against the Suns in the 2010 playoffs, his 81 point dismantling of the Toronto Raptors, you're going to be hard pressed to come up with many more after that.
Hopefully you get the point. Jordan is ahead of Kobe in every statistical category, in every award count, and in classic moments. Kobe has had a 13 year career which is as long as Jordan was in Chicago. Kobe's had the time to compile the accolades. They don't add up or really even scratch the surface of Jordan's. If this article doesn't solidify Jordan's dominion over Kobe then I don't know what will.
