When it comes to the fact that LeBron James is by far the best player on the planet, it seems like a lot of ignorant Lakers fans try to argue that Kobe Bryant is at least on LeBron’s level, if not better. However, when asked to explain his reasoning, the only answer Lakers fans can come up with is that Kobe has won 5 championships. So let’s take a look at the flaws in this argument.
Kobe Bryant was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft. Now, if Kobe had done the honorable thing, the respectful thing, he would have shown gratitude to the Hornets for showing faith in his abilities, and he would have been worked hard to help the franchise turn things around, and possibly make a decent run in the playoffs. But no, Kobe displayed all the sleazy characteristics of a spineless snake, and demanded that he be traded to the title contenders Lakers, where he could play under the greatest coach in the game’s history, Phil Jackson.
So the smug kid got away with it, betrayed the faith the Hornets had instilled in their draft pick, and headed West. Kobe saw little playing time in his first two seasons with Phil Jackson, though he did work his way into the Lakers’ starting lineup for their title run in 2000.
Playing alongside league MVP Shaquille O’Neal and veteran superstars Glen Rice and Ron Harper, Kobe’s number was very low at a dismal 35% during his first Finals series against the Indiana Pacers. He managed to average a below-average 15 points per game, just slightly more than Rice and Harper, despite Bryant taking twice as many shots as the two combined. Fortunately for Kobe, Shaq, the undisputed superstar of the Lakers, carried him on his shoulders, leading the Lakers to the championship with 38 points and 17 rebounds per game.
The 2001 final series against the Philadelphia 76ers was the same old story: Kobe played Robin in Shaq’s Batman, leading the big boys to a second straight title. Shaq leads all players with his 33 points and 16 rebounds per game.
A year later, the Lakers were faced with a daunting task: how to beat the Sacramento Kings. After being outworked, pressured and played by their California neighbors, the Lakers found themselves in an unfamiliar situation, losing 3 games to 2 in their Western conference final matchup. This time, Kobe not only trusted Shaq to get the job done, but he acquired the services of NBA commissioner David Stern, who, along with the referees in charge, orchestrated one of the most disgusting displays of game-fixing in the league. sport history. In what is now commonly referred to as the “greatest tragedy in the NBA,” Commissioner Stern ordered the umpires in charge “to send the series to Game 7, no matter what.” The commissioner was concerned that the prospect of a Kings v Nets final series would be terrible for television ratings, and he was determined to have at least one marketable franchise playing for the title in June… that marketable franchise he chose was the lakers. Simply YouTube the highlights of this game to see for yourself. Former NBA referee and convicted game fixer Tim Donaghy was the scapegoat the NBA used to sweep the scandal under the rug: Donaghy went to prison, the Lakers won the title…that’s sweet American diplomacy! for you!
Even though the Lakers shouldn’t even have been playing in the 2002 Finals, Shaq did what Shaq always does and led the Lakers to a 4-0 sweep of the New Jersey Nets. His 37 points and 13 rebounds earned him his third straight Finals MVP award. By betraying the Hornets all those years before, Kobe was able to sit back and bask in Shaq’s glory.
After a very successful season with the Lakers, Shaq decided it was time to move on: he had done everything he could for that franchise, single-handedly leading them to 3 straight titles, reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s impact with the Bulls in the ’90s. In his first season without the big man, Kobe led the Lakers to an amazing 34-48 record, pretty embarrassing for a team that had just won 3 championships, but hey, I guess that’s what happens when a team loses. to his Batman. A Robin team just can’t compete.
So the evidence is clear: Kobe’s contribution to the Lakers’ championships is far from great: he played second fiddle, just as Scottie Pippen played second fiddle to Jordan all those years before. Without Shaq’s influence, the Lakers would have been a mid-table team struggling to make the playoffs, and Kobe would have had no rings.
The difference between Kobe and LeBron is not the number of rings, but the options they chose to take. Kobe chose the easy path, the weak path: betraying the team that gave him a chance, simply to become a role player on a championship team. LeBron chose the hard way, the honorable way taken by some of the best to ever play the game, including Jordan and Larry Bird. They were recruited by struggling teams, who relied on these young stars to turn their franchise around: Jordan did it for the Bulls, Bird did it for the Celtics and LeBron did it for the Cavs.
LeBron could have gone Kobe’s way: He could have stabbed the Cavaliers in the back and demanded a trade to a title contender like the Detroit Pistons, to be coached by one of the greats: Larry Brown. But instead, he showed that he had a backbone. He showed that he is a man of integrity, a man who can be trusted and respected. He stayed with the Cavs and agreed to play under little-known coach Paul Silas.
One can only imagine how many championship rings LeBron would have had he taken the ‘Kobe’ approach. Playing alongside Rip Hamilton, Chauncy Billups, Rasheed and Ben Wallace, coached by Larry Brown, The King probably would have won 5 straight games in his first 5 years, easily surpassing anything Kobe was capable of.
LeBron’s stats speak for themselves: he annihilates Kobe in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals, shoots a much better field goal percentage and higher 3-point percentage, is the 2nd Defensive Player of the Year and 2x MVP So, the only argument any Kobe fan can make is the rings, but hey, we just disproved that argument too!
