Lebron Is No Kobe... That's For Sure

[Buddy Mignon]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

[DMC]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

Kobe couldn't have taken that team to the playoffs, much less the Finals.

[midnightpulp]

Prime Kobe has been shut down by Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Eric Snow, Tayshaun Prince, Ray Allen and has been outplayed by all his SG counterparts in the Finals aside from Kerry Kittles :lol.

I do agree that Lebron needed to have better shot selection. He tried to hero it. Unacceptable.

[DPG21920]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

Neither does Kobe. Kobe has missed so many game winners. Lebron is so much better than Kobe it's not even funny. And Kobe was great.

[UZER]

Kobe is no Kobe. That's for sure.

[Buddy Mignon]

Kobe couldn't have taken that team to the playoffs, much less the Finals.

Are you fucking kidding me... I could run through the East with that team.

[midnightpulp]

And where's my 4 bills, big homie?

[Buddy Mignon]

Neither does Kobe. Kobe has missed so many game winners. Lebron is so much better than Kobe it's not even funny. And Kobe was great.

So I guess next you're going to try to see me 2/6 is greater than 5/7.

[Buddy Mignon]

And where's my 4 bills, big homie?

I told you already. Get the say from the old man.

[Arcadian]

Prime Kobe has been shut down by Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose, Eric Snow, Tayshaun Prince, Ray Allen and has been outplayed by all his SG counterparts in the Finals aside from Kerry Kittles :lol.

I do agree that Lebron needed to have better shot selection. He tried to hero it. Unacceptable.

:lmao Thread backfired...

Kobe fags can just sit down and shut up.

[midnightpulp]

So I guess next you're going to try to see me 2/6 is greater than 5/7.

Ring argument is so 80's, bro.

[DMC]

Are you fucking kidding me... I could run through the East with that team.
Bullshit. No way you lose Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving and sweep the team with the best record in the conference, no way.

[Thebesteva]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

Without the refs he's shit. Kobe never got calls like that, never, hard earned 5 chips. Don't let these faggots tell u otherwise.

[Thread]

Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

[Thread]

Luva

[Thread]

Kobe couldn't have taken that team to the playoffs, much less the Finals.

Kobe: 5

the tired old shit bag Duncan: 2nd 5th

[midnightpulp]

I told you already. Get the say from the old man.

Cub will do me right. I'm the only one besides DMC willing to talk movies with him.

And I also RELENTED.

[UZER]

So I guess next you're going to try to see me 2/6 is greater than 5/7.

5/6 is better than 5/7...that's for sure. Do the math.

[HI-FI]

Cub will do me right. I'm the only one besides DMC willing to talk movies with him.

And I also RELENTED.
I talk movies and politics with him often. It's the other stuff where he gets annoying, albeit sometimes funny.

[Buddy Mignon]

Ring argument is so 80's, bro.

Its all that counts.

[Buddy Mignon]

5/6 is better than 5/7...that's for sure. Do the math.

Not if I had to go through you to get to 7.

[Buddy Mignon]

Cub will do me right. I'm the only one besides DMC willing to talk movies with him.

And I also RELENTED.

Let me know.

[BatManu20]

Lebron is a significantly better all-around basketball player than Kobe was, and Kobe was great.

[Buddy Mignon]

Lebron is a significantly better all-around basketball player than Kobe was, and Kobe was great.

Then it should equate to titles, right. He's playing against scrubs... Barnes and Iggy. Need I post videos of Kobe destroying niggas?

[daslicer]

Without the refs he's shit. Kobe never got calls like that, never, hard earned 5 chips. Don't let these faggots tell u otherwise.

Looks like you are growing old and senile. Kobe got plenty of bs calls. Lol at the hard earned 5 rings. 3 out of 5 of his rings should have asterisks on it.

[Buddy Mignon]

Looks like you are growing old and senile. Kobe got plenty of bs calls. Lol at the hard earned 5 rings. 3 out of 5 of his rings should have asterisks on it.

Kobe went through for all five of his. If there's an asterisk to be had... it should be for owning a Cuck.

[Thread]

Luva goin' in with a 14 incher tonite.

[Franklin]

Lebron ain't kobe but they have one thing in common, they both need superstar teammates to win championships.

[unforeseen]

Luva goin' in with a 14 incher tonite.

Bend over, I'll go in you with a 14 incher.

[midnightpulp]

Luva goin' in with a 14 incher tonite.

Hey, Cub. You gonna let Luva release the funds to yours truly?

[Infinite_limit]

CLASSIC JAMES

Got them to that point and then he resorted to passing in the final 2 minutes

[Koolaid_Man]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

This should explain it....this contains the answers to all of Spur fan nightmares.,:lmao

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/Koolbreezey/Mobile%20Uploads/download%202_zps3lf6zczn.jpg

[Chris]

Kobe was cold blooded in his prime. Lebron is always looking to set up his teammates, especially when the game is on the line :lol Kobe is a chucker, everyone knows that. Lebron has become a deferrer. It's hard to argue that Lebron is better than Kobe at all tbh, but he still has time to prove otherwise.

[Koolaid_Man]

Kobe was cold blooded in his prime. Lebron is always looking to set up his teammates, especially when the game is on the line :lol Kobe is a chucker, everyone knows that. Lebron has become a deferrer. It's hard to argue that Lebron is better than Kobe at all tbh, but he still has time to prove otherwise.

Chris my man...you keep talking like that and I wil personally ship you a replica of the gold medal

[Infinite_limit]

Kobe was cold blooded in his prime. Lebron is always looking to set up his teammates, especially when the game is on the line :lol Kobe is a chucker, everyone knows that. Lebron has become a deferrer. It's hard to argue that Lebron is better than Kobe at all tbh, but he still has time to prove otherwise.
No-way Kobe with James size, doesn't barrell into the paint over and over drawing fouls

But that's the whole beauty of it. James was ALWAYS the biggest/most athletically gifted until Season 3,4 of the NBA. He's mentally soft

[Buddy Mignon]

This should explain it....this contains the answers to all of Spur fan nightmares.,:lmao

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/Koolbreezey/Mobile%20Uploads/download%202_zps3lf6zczn.jpg

That's like adding a silencer on a shot gun right there. Not to mention Kobe has closed out more teams on the road than any of the guys on that list.:wow

[Koolaid_Man]

That's like adding a silencer on a shot gun right there. Not to mention Kobe has closed out more teams on the road than any of the guys on that list.:wow

ESPN wont touch this..neither will DMC, Infinite Limit, DMC, Amchang, Lefty, Elnono, or Midnight Gulp...this is a killer....to Deny this is to denigrate how good the Spurs were...Lebron has and had it easy..he always has....:toast

This proves Kobe is tougher and better than Lebron in almost every way imaginable....in a tough West no less...

[Thread]

^ Kool Aid Man

[Thread]

Hey, Cub. You gonna let Luva release the funds to yours truly?

What funds, Midst?

[ambchang]

ESPN wont touch this..neither will DMC, Infinite Limit, DMC, Amchang, Lefty, Elnono, or Midnight Gulp...this is a killer....to Deny this is to denigrate how good the Spurs were...Lebron has and had it easy..he always has....:toast

This proves Kobe is tougher and better than Lebron in almost every way imaginable....in a tough West no less...

Because this is irrelevant to the greatness of the individual, and is an evaluation of the competition of a team. The chart absolutely disregarded the contributions of Shaq and MVPau, not to mention Odom, Fisher, Horry, Bynum and Jackson. If anything, it shows how much help Kobe had during his career, and whoever came up with that graphic, and think that it is some sort of "proof" that Kobe is better than the other still hasn't gotten around the fact that basketball is a team game, which explains why they are Kobe fans to begin with.

For example, in 1998, the Lakers (not Kobe) eliminated the 61 win Sonics, and Kobe averaged 3.7 points in 10 mpg, yet he got credit.
In 2000, the Lakers eliminated the 50+win teams in Suns, Blazers and Pacers, yet Shaq was by far the leading scorer in those series. Shaq averaged 30.7ppg and 16 rpg in the playoffs, and Kobe? 21/4/4
And on and on ...
You know how many 50-win teams Kobe eliminated without the most dominating frontline in the league? 0. That's right, 0.
Lebron? 7, because you know what? He never had even a decent inside player on his team, in a way that he had to develop his post moves and moved the PF, whereas Kobe was developing his low post game because he could score points despite the fact that MVPau was already owning the opposition in the post. Kobe just want a bigger piece of the scoring pie instead of helping the team with his "game development". Lebron? He was all team.

Second, a perennial 50 win team has one less 50-win team to eliminate, because you can't eliminate your own team (unless you are Tony Parker and the Spurs).

Third, a 50-win teams means little in post season. The team could be hit with untimely injuries, it could be due to playing in a conference with a few very weak teams, thus inflating the records of everybody else.

And :lol at Thread for the hypocrisy again, you either win it all or you don't. What good does it do to beat 3 50-win teams then lose to a 49 win team in the finals?

[DMC]

That's like adding a silencer on a shot gun right there. Not to mention Kobe has closed out more teams on the road than any of the guys on that list.:wow

Exactly like putting a "silencer" on a shotgun, idiot. It doesn't work. I'd like to see you try though.

[Koolaid_Man]

Because this is irrelevant to the greatness of the individual.

whoever came up with that graphic, and think that it is some sort of "proof" that Kobe is better than the other still hasn't gotten around the fact that basketball is a team game.



:lmao

[Koolaid_Man]

It's nice to see ambootychang hurt this morning

[Thread]

And :lol at Thread (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=19320) for the hypocrisy again, you either win it all or you don't. What good does it do to beat 3 50-win teams then lose to a 49 win team in the finals?

Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

[Thread]

It's nice to see ambootychang hurt this morning

He's mighty bitter. tee, hee.

[Koolaid_Man]

That's the way I like em bent over and bitter

[ambchang]

:lmao

What is so funny? Fisher had somewhere around 24 of these, so? Is Fisher one of the greatest of all time?


It's nice to see ambootychang hurt this morning

About what? The Lakers being the lottery again?


Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

Amy's got 2 by herself, according to your TMZ-loitering Laker fans. SO James & Amy: 4


He's mighty bitter. tee, hee.

Again, about what?

[Thread]

Amy's got 2 by herself, according to your TMZ-loitering Laker fans. SO James & Any: 4

No, it's my calculation, get your own, motherfucker:::

Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

[Rummpd]

Kobe shot 6-24 and got a finals MVP -by far the most over-rated superstar in NBA history who was not clutch and the stats prove it (go to link):

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time

[Thread]

Kobe shot 6-24 and got a finals MVP -by far the most over-rated superstar in NBA history who was not clutch and the stats prove it (go to link):

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time

Kobe: 5

the tired old shit bag Duncan: 2nd 5th

[Koolaid_Man]

What is so funny? Fisher had somewhere around 24 of these, so? Is Fisher one of the greatest of all time?



About what? The Lakers being the lottery again?



Amy's got 2 by herself, according to your TMZ-loitering Laker fans. SO James & Amy: 4



Again, about what?


So should we throw Tammy's Media awards *aka* mvps out since those are clearly team awards?

Or how about we throw NBA titles out since those are also team awards...better yet how bout they just play for free...you're a lame butthurt jackal who makes zero sense :lol

[Silver&Black]

Kobe shot 6-24 and got a finals MVP -by far the most over-rated superstar in NBA history who was not clutch and the stats prove it (go to link):

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time

Rummpd...

My nigga.

[Thread]

Yet another Finals where there is no loser, everybody gets a bumper sticker. The injury card is now SOP. If it ain't perfect, it don't count. No judgment, just appraisal & praise to the winner & loser.

"If Irving doesn't get injured and if Shump's shot goes we have a series." - Cowherd. ---nary a word how James let himself get stuck out there pinned to the side line 25 feet from it.

Pussies, motherfuckers, & company men.

[whitemamba]

Tbh if the games on the line I'm taking Kobe he's not scared. Lebrons dicks morphs into a vagina the second the clocks its 2 minutes. He was dominTing that game last night, he was going to the post and doing what ever he wanted, yet still when the clock starting winding down, he rolled out that tampons. At least Kobe is willing to take the criticism, and still compete at the same high level every night. Kobe is a killer and I want that.

[Thread]

Tbh if the games on the line I'm taking Kobe he's not scared. Lebrons dicks morphs into a vagina the second the clocks its 2 minutes. He was dominTing that game last night, he was going to the post and doing what ever he wanted, yet still when the clock starting winding down, he rolled out that tampons. At least Kobe is willing to take the criticism, and still compete at the same high level every night. Kobe is a killer and I want that.

Whites

[whitemamba]

Kobe shot 6-24 and got a finals MVP -by far the most over-rated superstar in NBA history who was not clutch and the stats prove it (go to link):

http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/24200/the-truth-about-kobe-bryant-in-crunch-time
kobe also grabbed 18 rebounds that game, for u stat cock suckers rebounding won every game that series.

[Thread]

kobe also grabbed 18 rebounds that game, for u stat cock suckers rebounding won every game that series.

Whites

[ambchang]

No, it's my calculation, get your own, motherfucker:::

Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

You got it wrong, and I showed you. You can continue in your cone of ignorance like you always do, and man up and admit to your mistakes.

[ambchang]

So should we throw Tammy's Media awards *aka* mvps out since those are clearly team awards?

Or how about we throw NBA titles out since those are also team awards...better yet how bout they just play for free...you're a lame butthurt jackal who makes zero sense :lol

Why are MVPs team awards? They are called Most Valuable Player awards, not Most Valuable SideKicks. Whether you agree with the selection of each year is another matter.

And titles shouldn't have so much weight in evaluating an individual, it's a good indicator, and if a great player got zero rings (like Barkley), you'd have to question why (limited defensive abilities, ball dominant, slow to run his offense in the post, things of that nature usually comes up).

You know what makes zero sense? Saying player A is greater than player B looking at titles and titles alone in a team sport.

[ambchang]

kobe also grabbed 18 rebounds that game, for u stat cock suckers rebounding won every game that series.

Show me a game where the rebounds determined the winner.

[whitemamba]

Show me a game where the rebounds determined the winner.

Is that a serious question?

[ambchang]

Is that a serious question?

Yeah, show me.

[Koolaid_Man]

Why are MVPs team awards? They are called Most Valuable Player awards, not Most Valuable SideKicks. Whether you agree with the selection of each year is another matter.

And titles shouldn't have so much weight in evaluating an individual, it's a good indicator, and if a great player got zero rings (like Barkley), you'd have to question why (limited defensive abilities, ball dominant, slow to run his offense in the post, things of that nature usually comes up).

You know what makes zero sense? Saying player A is greater than player B looking at titles and titles alone in a team sport.


:lol so what's the criteria for an MVP? :lol

You will lose this argument...no matter how you answer lol.

[whitemamba]

Yeah, show me.

Absolutley, allow me to educate you. Lets reminisce shall we? Lakers and Celtics 2010 NBA Finals. The Infamous 6-24 Shtick yall love to jerk of so much.

Game 1

LAL 42
BOS 31

Game 2
BOS 44
LAL 39

Game 3
LAL 43
BOS 35

Game 4
BOS 41
LAL 34

Game 5
BOS 35
LAL 34

Game 6
LAL 52
BOS 39

Game 7
LAL 53
BOS 40

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201006030LAL.html And i will add that i was mistaken Kobe had 15 rebounds in that game 7, pau had 18. So here u go amb, i thought u knew ball better than that.

[ambchang]

N
Absolutley, allow me to educate you. Lets reminisce shall we? Lakers and Celtics 2010 NBA Finals. The Infamous 6-24 Shtick yall love to jerk of so much.

Game 1

LAL 42
BOS 31

Game 2
BOS 44
LAL 39

Game 3
LAL 43
BOS 35

Game 4
BOS 41
LAL 34

Game 5
BOS 35
LAL 34

Game 6
LAL 52
BOS 39

Game 7
LAL 53
BOS 40

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201006030LAL.html And i will add that i was mistaken Kobe had 15 rebounds in that game 7, pau had 18. So here u go amb, i thought u knew ball better than that.

I swear the respective team won because they scored mre, not rebounded more.

[ambchang]

:lol so what's the criteria for an MVP? :lol

You will lose this argument...no matter how you answer lol.

There is no set criteria. But we do know it's an individual award.

And what argument? That championships are team accomplishments?

[Sean Cagney]

Kobe is 0-7 in the final 20 seconds of the game since 2007 in the playoffs a stat showed a few years back. Altogether I think he was 6-26.

[whitemamba]

N

I swear the respective team won because they scored mre, not rebounded more.
you are a retard.

[Splits]

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/l/t1.0-9/314081_367214263349630_812543446_n.jpg?oh=32574b05 5b39562c935a3dc4b19cc4bb&oe=560B71D9

[Koolaid_Man]

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/l/t1.0-9/314081_367214263349630_812543446_n.jpg?oh=32574b05 5b39562c935a3dc4b19cc4bb&oe=560B71D9

The problem with your chart is Lebronze and MJ haven't played and beat nearly as many 50 win teams as Kobe..this means Kobes faced better competition so of course his percentage would be lower..its called strength of competition....refer back to the most 50 win teams beat pictoral...ok :lol

[Koolaid_Man]

Koolaid Man

[Splits]

The problem with your chart is Lebronze and MJ haven't played and beat nearly as many 50 win teams as Kobe..this means Kobes faced better competition so of course his percentage would be lower..its called strength of competition....refer back to the most 50 win teams beat pictoral...ok :lol

That's the best spin job you can come up with? He sucks in the clutch because the other team won some arbitrary number of games in the regular season? C'mon son, you can do better than that.

[Koolaid_Man]

That's the best spin job you can come up with? He sucks in the clutch because the other team won some arbitrary number of games in the regular season? C'mon son, you can do better than that.


Come up with an answer or go suck an egg...

Again
The problem with your chart is Lebronze and MJ haven't played and beat nearly as many 50 win teams as Kobe..this means Kobes faced better competition so of course his percentage would be lower..its called strength of competition....refer back to the most 50 win teams beat pictoral...ok :lol

[Buddy Mignon]

Come up with an answer or go suck an egg...

Again
The problem with your chart is Lebronze and MJ haven't played and beat nearly as many 50 win teams as Kobe..this means Kobes faced better competition so of course his percentage would be lower..its called strength of competition....refer back to the most 50 win teams beat pictoral...ok :lol

Not that im trying to add insult to injury, my friend... but Kobe has more player of the weeks and months than Duncan and Lebron combined. He has more 30 point, 40 point, 50 point, 60 point, 70 point, and 80 point games than Jim and James combined.

[Koolaid_Man]

Not that im trying to add insult to injury, my friend... but Kobe has more player of the weeks and months than Duncan and Lebron combined. He has more 30 point, 40 point, 50 point, 60 point, 70 point, and 80 point games than Jim and James combined.

Word?

Good looking out big homie...more than them niggas combined and still basically has no MVPs...lol..the fact that Lebron is winning MVPs in a weak conference but not winning titles speaks volumes

[Buddy Mignon]

Word?

Good looking out big homie...more than them niggas combined and still basically has no MVPs...lol..the fact that Lebron is winning MVPs in a weak conference but not winning titles speaks volumes

I hold Kobe's allstar mvp's in higher regard. I already smashed the theory that regular season mvp's mean shit.

[Splits]

I hold Kobe's allstar mvp's in higher regard. I already smashed the theory that regular season mvp's mean shit.

Yes, we know Kirbystan cares more about exhibition and amateur accomplishments. We get it. Make another FIBA thread or something.

[Malik Hairston]

If you want to prop up Kobe, using the Finals is one of your worst options, tbh:lol..

[Infinite_limit]

Kobe switched to #24 after the 7-game series lose to Suns right?

[Splits]

Another reason Lebron is no Kobe: he will not finish his career playing his last playoff game at age 33.

33

[Splits]

The truth about Kobe Bryant in crunch time

1/29/2011

At the end of Game 2 of the 2009 Finals, the Magic knew who to guard, and got the block.


Ask pundits. Ask general managers. Ask players. Ask almost anybody.


Who would you like to have take the last shot with the game on the line?


Kobe Bryant wins by a country mile. Every time. (In a general-manager poll this season, he earned 79 percent of the vote, his ninth consecutive blowout.)


There is not really any other serious candidate.


Ask me, though (as Ryen Russillo did last week and Mike Trudell the other day), and I'll tell you I don't know who's the best, but with all due respect to Bryant's amazing abilities scoring the ball, there's zero chance he's the king of crunch time.


The sin of predictability
Bryant makes crunch-time defense easy for opponents by shooting just about every time he touches the ball (over a five-year period, he mustered 56 clutch shots, to go with one assist).


Fans of his raw machismo howl that such criticism misses the point, but the point is that when Bryant gets the ball in crunch time, it's a virtual certainty that he'll shoot it, and it's better than 2-1 odds that he'll miss.


In 1997, he famously air-balled two shots that could have beat the Jazz; instead, the Jazz won the series. In 1999, he whiffed on a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied Game 2 against the Spurs. In Game 4 against the Kings in 2002, he missed a 2-pointer that would have tied the game (before the ball was tipped out to Robert Horry for the winning 3). In Game 7 of that same series, Bryant missed a tip that would have won the game in regulation. In Game 3 against the Timberwolves in 2003, he missed two key shots in the last seconds of overtime, and the Lakers lost.


I'll spare you the entire list, but it's long. In the final 24 seconds of playoff games, Bryant has racked up almost as many air balls as makes, making just below 30 percent of game-tying or go-ahead shots. He hasn't hit such a shot in a playoff game, in fact, since 2008, including key misses in the closing moments against the Jazz and Magic in 2009, and the Thunder and Suns last spring. He made one of his four shots in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of last year's Finals.


No matter how you define crunch time -- from the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime to the last 24 seconds -- and no matter how you define production -- field goal percentage, offensive efficiency, David Berri's Wins Produced, the results tell the same story: Bryant is about as likely to hit the big shot as any player.


ESPN Stats & Information's Alok Pattani dug through 15 years of NBA data (see table below) -- Bryant's entire career, regular season and playoffs -- and found that Bryant has attempted 115 shots in the final 24 seconds of a game in which the Lakers were tied or trailed by two or fewer points. He connected on 36, and missed 79 times.


One shot for all the cookies. And the NBA is nearly unanimous that this is the guy to take it, even though he has more than twice as many misses as makes?


His crunch-time production is slightly higher in the first half of this season, but still certainly not the best in the league. And analyzing any large number of games, one year, five years or 15 years, and defining crunch time a number of different ways, shows the same pattern. (There are many ways this has been sliced.)


Bryant shoots more than most, passes less and racks up misses at an all-time rate. There is no measure, other than YouTube highlights and folklore, by which he's the best scorer in crunch time.


The un-clutch Lakers
One of the key arguments in his favor is that he draws double-teams, which allows other Lakers to score. But that doesn't seem to happen much. Over Bryant's 15-year career, the Lakers have had the NBA's best offense, and second-best won-loss record. No other team can match their mighty 109 points per 100 possessions over the entire period.


You'd expect Los Angeles to also have one of the league's best offenses in crunch time, right? Especially with the ball in the hands of the player most suited to those moments.


That's not what happens, though. In the final 24 seconds of close games the Lakers offense regresses horribly, managing just 82 points per 100 possessions. And it's not a simple case of every team having a hard time scoring in crunch time. Over Bryant's career, 11 teams have had better crunch-time offenses, led by the Hornets with a shocking 107 points per 100 possessions in crunch time, a huge credit to Chris Paul.


The Lakers are not among the league leaders in crunch-time offense -- instead, they're just about average, scoring 82.35 points per 100 possessions in a league that averages 80.03. They are, however, among the league leaders in how much worse their offense declines in crunch time.


When Bryant is on the floor in crunch time, Bryant's Lakers are actually outscored by their opponents.


A great offensive team performing at average levels, with a star setting records for number of shots attempted. Teammates left wide open. Evidence, even, that Bryant's play puts his team into nailbiters that needn't be so close.


That, my friends, is a ball hog.


The makes
Nobody playing today has a crunch-time résumé with half the excitement, or sheer bulk, of Bryant's: A banked 3 against Miami in 2009. Two ridiculous plays in Game 4 in that 2006 playoff series against the Suns. Making the Celtics' great defense look meaningless. Those four shots would make a career for most All-Stars. They are a mere eighth of Bryant's best moments.


Respect the brute force of numbers. If you want to see someone who has proved he can hit big buckets, nobody can rival his collected works. That speaks to his preparation, his dedication, the trust his teammates have in him, and more subtle things like how his training regimen has kept him healthy and productive for such a long time.


At all times he's cool as hell. At all times he's polished, fearless, ruthless even. Most of the time he's double-teamed. The shots are impossibly difficult. It's intimidating. He looks like a robot of crunch-time destruction, if robots could jump really high, shoot really well and scowl really hard.


Nobody can match that. So we live in a world in which Bryant has been appointed king of all crunch time, and it's not hard to see why.


And well worth noting is that over that period he has clearly been one of the best players in the world, period, leading a team that has won five championships and has the potential to win more.


Bryant's absolutely the best in the world at the game of winning the hearts and minds of crunch time. A lot goes into it: creating shots against any defense, staying calm, ignoring fear and more. It's about who most has the rest of the league by the throat. In that game, it's cowardly to pass the ball, and misses are merely the cost of doing business. In that game, degree of difficulty counts.


That game, though, is not basketball.


In basketball, entrusting the ball to the open teammate really does benefit the team. Remember when Jordan passed to a wide-open Bill Wennington in the lane? Or to Steve Kerr or John Paxson in the Finals?


Can all those players, GMs and Phil Jackson be wrong?
TrueHoop reader Terence speaks for many when he writes:


Correct me if I am wrong but I believe in most recent GM and player polls Kobe ranked number one when asked who the best clutch player was? What does this mean? The majority of the GMs in the NBA are wrong? The people that get trusted by very powerful and wealthy owners to run their teams are completely out in left field? The players that go head-to-head with Kobe Bryant on a nightly basis are just misinformed and are not qualified to answer this question? Phil Jackson, arguably the greatest coach in NBA history, trusts Kobe enough to give him that same clutch shot every single time, despite the fact that Kobe "shoots way too much," and has a "judgment problem?" That coach Jackson must be one terrible coach, he's very lucky to win those 11 titles.


It's not just players and GMs, it's almost everybody. What we see with our eyes and feel in our hearts is impossible to ignore, even when it's misleading.


With the game on the line
Trailing by one or two points, or tied, in the final 24 seconds of regular-season and playoff games since 1996-97, with a minimum of 30 shots. From Alok Pattani of ESPN Stats & Information.


Yet we get things wrong all the time anyway, for the simple reason that a lot more happens in the NBA than anybody can catalog in any objective way.


In that same GM survey, for instance, John Wall was a heavy favorite to beat Blake Griffin for rookie of the year. Kevin Durant was a slam dunk to win this year's MVP.


In that player poll, Chauncey Billups got the second-most votes as the preferred go-to crunch-time scorer. Billups is 3-of-27 with the game on the line over the past five seasons. Dead last in the NBA among those who have attempted at least 15 shots.


None of that means anyone is dumb. Instead, it means that reputation is a huge factor, and it's beyond anyone to remember and catalog 7,000 or so shots in your head.


And as for Jackson, he wants the same kind of hit-the-open-man team play every coach wants. We know this because back when he was free to speak frankly on the topic, he could not have been more clear.


"I sometimes think Kobe is so addicted to being in control that he would rather shoot the ball when guarded, or even double-teamed, than dish it to an open teammate," Jackson wrote in his 2004 book "The Last Season." "He is saying to himself: how can he trust anyone else? Well, he should learn to trust ..."


Jackson published that book in the interlude when he was not coaching the Lakers. That he doesn't talk that way is hardly bizarre -- it's admirable for a coach to keep his criticism of a colleague "in the family."


However, don't confuse Bryant's domination of the ball with Jackson's endorsement of the plan. In the same book, Jackson tells of his annoyance at Bryant's ball-hogging in crunch time. In one instance, he describes drawing up a play with multiple options, in crunch time of a 2004 playoff series against Houston. Bryant destroyed all the options; instead of setting a baseline screen for Shaquille O'Neal he ran straight to the ball. "With the twenty-four-second clock winding down," writes Jackson, "Kobe forced a long jumper, a horrible shot in the game's most critical possession. The ball did not reach the rim..."


Jackson also tells of marching, more than once, into Mitch Kupchak's office to demand that the Lakers trade Bryant. He writes things like:


"Kobe tends to hold on to the ball longer than necessary causing the offense to stagnate."


"He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid."


"As usual, Kobe seemed intent on taking over."


More recently, Jackson's long-time assistant Kurt Rambis, when he still worked for the Lakers, was clear that the coaching staff preferred the team run their ruthlessly efficient triangle, with its passing and cutting, "at all times."


I see lots of evidence that Bryant dominates Lakers possessions in crunch time. But I see no evidence that it's part of Jackson's plan.


Should stats even be part of this conversation?
Yes.


But not because stats are better. But because this is a tricky -- and at least in terms of sports, important -- question. We should answer this with the best evidence we can get our hands on. In my mind, the final analysis would come from video, which captures the full complexity of the game. But that video should be of good and bad plays. And that video should consider many candidates, including Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and the like -- not just the assumed king.


Remember when SUVs first came into existence? People went crazy for them. They were, it turned out, what a huge percentage of drivers felt they had been waiting for.


Malcolm Gladwell explains more than anything people liked how these big strong trucks, riding up high, slathered in airbags, made everybody feel safe. You go out there, on those crowded, scary roads, and very little can hurt you. Everyone just knew that. The SUV matched a picture in our brains: This is how a safe automobile feels.


Only it was a crock. There were real reasons, many having to do with design, why SUVs were actually surprisingly unsafe. A minivan, for instance, at the time of Gladwell's writing, was far safer. Gladwell cites safety statistics compiled by Tom Wenzel, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Marc Ross, a physicist at the University of Michigan, which found, essentially, that little nimble cars with good visibility -- the precise cars people were abandoning for SUVs -- were safer still.


How did we learn that? With a commonsense look at some stats, specifically by comparing the number of fatalities to the number of cars of a certain model on the road. A safe car is one you don't die in, right? That's useful.


Similarly, Bryant looks like a great crunch-time scorer. He has the right skills, the right demeanor, the right highlights, the right jewelry. But as it turns out, Bryant's clutch like an SUV is safe.


There are a lot of misleading things in this world.


And let's be clear: The numbers that doom Bryant's campaign as the king of crunch time are not really statistics. They're not formulas, or algorithms. They're really just counting -- both makes and misses for the player and the team.


If you're asking me to pick one guy to make a shot with the game on the line, there's nothing complex about peeking at the record to see how well he has done that job in the past. Every number in that chart is a real moment of NBA basketball, with ten players on the court, and Bryant in a Lakers uniform, rising, firing, and -- most of the time -- missing. These things really happened, and as much as you might want to ignore opinion, or theory, there's no real reason to ignore 79 misses, broken plays, a shocking lack of passing, a coaching staff eager for more team play, and an elite team that gets below-par results with the game on the line.


As long as your mind is open to all that, it has to be closed to the idea that Kobe Bryant is the king of crunch time.

[Thread]

Another reason Lebron is no Kobe: he will not finish his career playing his last playoff game at age 33.

33

Kobe: 5

James & Amy: 2

[Budkin]

This nigga couldn't muster up one single point when it mattered. Imagine these scrubs trying to guard a prime Kobe. Lehype is done... its over.

Game 7 of the 2010 Finals comes to mind.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0618/ny_g_artest1x_576.jpg

[Thread]

^A Kobe disciple.

[ambchang]

you are a retard.

I can be smarter one day when I finally realized the NBA is a rebounding contest. Genius.

[LkrFan]

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/l/t1.0-9/314081_367214263349630_812543446_n.jpg?oh=32574b05 5b39562c935a3dc4b19cc4bb&oe=560B71D9

How about Finals records?

[LkrFan]

Another reason Lebron is no Kobe: he will not finish his career playing his last playoff game at age 33.

33
It depends on if they actually test for HGH or roids.

Notice he was rather pedestrian before taking 2 weeks off earlier in the year. I wonder what changed? His play before and after that 2 week break was night and day tbh.

[whitemamba]

I can be smarter one day when I finally realized the NBA is a rebounding contest. Genius.

Jesus Christ

[Buddy Mignon]

I keep telling the truth

[DarrinS]

I keep telling the truth

:cry

[Buddy Mignon]

:cry

Go scratch your hemorrhoids.

[ambchang]

Jesus Christ

Well, if you insist rebounding really is that important in the series.

Rebounds per game.
MVPau: 11.6 rebounds per game
Kobe: 8 rebounds per game.

Total Rebounds %
MVPau: 16.5%
Lamar Odom: 14.3%
Andrew Bynum: 12.3%
Kobe Bryant: 11.3%

[whitemamba]

Well, if you insist rebounding really is that important in the series.

Rebounds per game.
MVPau: 11.6 rebounds per game
Kobe: 8 rebounds per game.

Total Rebounds %
MVPau: 16.5%
Lamar Odom: 14.3%
Andrew Bynum: 12.3%
Kobe Bryant: 11.3%

let it go, u got slapped

[Clipper Nation]

Well, if you insist rebounding really is that important in the series.

Rebounds per game.
MVPau: 11.6 rebounds per game
Kobe: 8 rebounds per game.

Total Rebounds %
MVPau: 16.5%
Lamar Odom: 14.3%
Andrew Bynum: 12.3%
Kobe Bryant: 11.3%
Amb

[ambchang]

let it go, u got slapped

How? Why would you want me to let go if I was getting slapped?

Wouldn't you relish in it?

I mean, we know rebounding win games in that series now, and yet MVPau led the lakers in rebounding in both traditional and advanced stats.

Could you care to explain where is the gap in logic instead of proclaiming things with no proof? I mean, I know that's the only thing Kobestans have now, just randomly throwing things out to back it up, but just try this one time? No?

[whitemamba]

How? Why would you want me to let go if I was getting slapped?

Wouldn't you relish in it?

I mean, we know rebounding win games in that series now, and yet MVPau led the lakers in rebounding in both traditional and advanced stats.

Could you care to explain where is the gap in logic instead of proclaiming things with no proof? I mean, I know that's the only thing Kobestans have now, just randomly throwing things out to back it up, but just try this one time? No?

random? I made a statement , u challenged it, I backed it up with facts and stats u love so much. Settle down now Chang.

[ambchang]

random? I made a statement , u challenged it, I backed it up with facts and stats u love so much. Settle down now Chang.

And you never did. This is the original statement:


Show me a game where the rebounds determined the winner.

You showed a bunch of games where the team that won also led in rebounds, but how did those rebounds determined the winner? They didn't.

You threw up a bunch of random numbers that had nothing to do with the original statement you challenged.