Kobe's 61 was better than Lebron last night

[endrity]

DrHouse and other laker fans who keep mentioning the fact that LeBron played 10 minutes more, don't forget pace. It's the one variable which gave Nash two MVPs. Kobe had about 13 more possiesons to work with than LeBron did, so it's not as clear cut to say that Kobe was more productive.

Nonetheless two impressive performances, with LeBron clearely falling for the media hype and trying to outdo what Kobe did two days ago.

[JoeTait75]

I'm a Cavs fan, but without even watching Kobe's 61 I can tell you that it was better than what Lebron did last night. All Lebron did last night was hog the ball and shoot stupid shots. He kept the Knicks in the game because he was trying to put on a show. If they played Cavs basketball they would have beat the Knicks by 25- but they played Lebron ball where he holds onto the ball outside the 3 point line for 23 seconds, then tosses up a fade away. Lebron could have easily scored 70 points last night because he could have taken David Lee every single time down the court and had a layup- but he was trying to make headlines to overshadow Kobe and layups don't make highlights.

Yep, LeBron pounded the ball too much last night, grinding the Cavaliers offense to a halt and reducing Mo Williams to a one-dimensional jump shooter, not the best way to utilize his talents. I was surprised MB put him back in the game so quickly early in the fourth. I was hoping he'd sit longer so other guys could get more involved and the offense could un-stagnate without him, like what happened in the fourth quarter @ Detroit.

And waaaaaay too many jump shots, especially when he had David Lee on him. Too much improvised offense at the end of the shot clock, which is what happens when LeBron pounds the ball.

Plus the offensive fireworks took away from LeBron's defense. He should have been the one covering Harrington, not Wally or Andy, and he did for short stretches (was very effective when doing so) but mostly he was kept off Harrington to save energy for the offensive end. Without Sasha, we had no one besides LeBron with even a prayer of checking Harrington, and he just went off.

I know the line is what it is, and I can't make comparison's to Kobe's 61 since I didn't watch that game. All I know is that impressive as LeBron was last night, I've seen better, more complete games out of him this season, games in which he scored less and did more of everything else. Like a great big man or a great point guard, LeBron is capable of dominating a game on nights where he isn't scoring much. Those games when he only takes 10-15 shots but distributes beautifully and plays great defense are my favorite performances from LBJ.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Yeah Kobe's was probably more impressive. He did it simply because that's what he needed to do to get the W. It looked like LeBron was forcing the issue too much.

[Brazil]

I'm a Cavs fan, but without even watching Kobe's 61 I can tell you that it was better than what Lebron did last night. All Lebron did last night was hog the ball and shoot stupid shots. He kept the Knicks in the game because he was trying to put on a show. If they played Cavs basketball they would have beat the Knicks by 25- but they played Lebron ball where he holds onto the ball outside the 3 point line for 23 seconds, then tosses up a fade away. Lebron could have easily scored 70 points last night because he could have taken David Lee every single time down the court and had a layup- but he was trying to make headlines to overshadow Kobe and layups don't make highlights

I fully agree with you ! I like LBJ a lot (and I think LBJ>Kobe) but against the Knicks I didn't like his performance, he made some really really stupid shots especially some 3s. It's painful to watch a superstar throwing ugly air balls.

[JoeTait75]

I'm more down with LeBron's line from December 5 vs. the Pacers: 12 shots, 11 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, while holding Danny Granger to 4 points on 2-of-7 shooting in a game the Cavaliers won by 24 points. Didn't shoot well (4-of-12) but didn't shoot much, got everyone else involved (six players in double figures) and played a beautiful floor game.

[SenorSpur]

I'm sick of both these guys. It's clear they both are playing a compe ive game of "one-upsmanship" even though they're playing different opponents.

Don't get me wrong, both feats are incredible accomplishments and only the great ones can achieve such a level. However, if these stats came in the absolute, unquestioned pursuit of winning, that's fine. However, these guys are simply and selfishly trying to send messages to one another and put on a show for the Garden faithful, at the expense of their teammates. They're purusing their own statistical agendas.

That, my friends, is selfish basketball. I hope neither one makes it to the NBA Finals.

[Rapper]

Kobe's 61 is definitely better

[TheNextGen]

Kobe's 61 is definitely better

Kobe's footwork is amazing...those moves just to get a jumper off is crazy.

[RedsLakers24]

The cavs are better when lebron lets his teamates make plays, lebron was trying to set up his teamates, when theres ball movement by the cavs not just lebron the Cavs are really good

[pauls931]

The cavs are better when lebron lets his teamates make plays, lebron was trying to set up his teamates, when theres ball movement by the cavs not just lebron the Cavs are really good

That's how the Lakers and Cavs beat themselves, when their star tries to take over the game letting the defense shut down their role players. That's how the suns beat the lakers in the playoffs a couple years back. Kobe would sense they're in trouble, then try to take over, but so much so that the rest of the team would be underutilized. I see the same problem with the Cavs potentially if this becomes a habit for Lebron.

[DPG21920]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

NEW YORK – As the clock was bleeding to 0:00, the final Knicks’ shot bounced off the rim, into the air and sped swiftly toward the row of photographers on the baseline. The ball hung for a moment, just waiting on the hands of history. Out of nowhere, LeBron James – dehydrated and cramped, legs losing hops – made one final leap at Madison Square Garden and snatched his triple-double out of the sky. He crashed into the photographers, banged his head on a lense and clutched the ball, laughing and laughing and laughing.

“I never thought you could look at the box score and see somebody with 50 points and a triple-double,” James marveled. “But it’s happened.”

It hadn’t happened since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it 34 years ago, but in those final, frantic seconds, James had 52 points, 11 assists and needed that 10th rebound to push past the boundaries, even within a beautiful basketball mind that sees the limitlessness of possibility. James would’ve chased that rebound into the Hudson River to make sure he upstaged Kobe Bryant at the Garden and delivered a genius performance that was a little Michael and Magic, a little Big O and Kareem.

“You saw every phase of my game tonight, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists,” James said.

Mostly, LeBron reached up to the Garden marquee on 7th Avenue, and ripped down Kobe’s name. James and Bryant are locked in a ferocious back-and-forth to be the best player on the planet. They’re chasing everything now – MVPs and championships, endorsements and popularity. As much as ever, they’re chasing the sport’s standing as the game’s truest heir to Michael Jordan.

So, James watched on television as Bryant obliterated the Garden scoring record with 61 points and everyone knew – just knew – James was bent on raising the ante. And he did. James beat Bryant. LeBron’s night was bigger, better and bolder. James lives for the dramatic. He’s the showman of his generation. “The sad thing is that I’m sure LeBron said that it’s no big deal to get 61 points,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I’ll just get a triple-double. [Kobe] didn’t do that.”

As much as the Garden is still the Mecca of basketball, the Knicks still play the part of crash-test dummies for the NBA’s royalty. Not even Isiah Thomas has the indignity of surrendering back-to-back 50-point games on his tombstone, but these defenseless Knicks do now. The Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce is on deck Friday.

Only Michael Jordan and James have ever come into the Garden twice and dropped 50 points.

“It’s an honor that you’re in the same breath as Kareem and Mike,” James said. “Two of the baddest guys that ever did this game, that ever played this game, that ever walked on the face of the Earth and carried a basketball.”

Someday, James could surpass Jordan in every way, but he’s still six les behind him, still three behind Bryant. For James, he’s closed the gap on Kobe – maybe erased it – and this was a night when it was so easy to see the differences in disposition of these two stars. When Bryant scored his 61 on Monday, he was stone-faced sober. No joking, no laughs. That’s how he lives, too.

All night, LeBron was gabbing and laughing and smiling. He fist-pumped with e Lee. He walked out of the final timeout playing air guitar to the music on the public-address system.

“I think Kobe is much more focused than LeBron, much quieter,” said an NBA executive who knows both well. “He doesn’t party. He doesn’t hang out. It isn’t that LeBron doesn’t approach the game in a high-end, professional way, but he’s much more carefree and fun, much more of a showman. Off the court, he’s joking and laughing. I think that, in part, each one wants to be a little like the other.

“LeBron has the ability to be a guy’s guy, the life of the party. Kobe just doesn’t have that.”

When they were together at the Olympics in Beijing over the summer, the two politely tugging to make Team USA his own, those differences played out to teammates and coaches. When LeBron was planning team breakfasts, Kobe would be lifting alone in the weight room. With his 61 points, Kobe had just three assists and no rebounds on Monday night. He almost looked like he was all alone out there. Nevertheless, there are lessons of seriousness of task that James has taken from Bryant, lessons over two consecutive summers at his side. Nevertheless, LeBron never needed Kobe to teach him the importance of New York and Madison Square Garden.

Kobe has never flirted about coming to play here, as LeBron has about 2010, but both understand: Respect must be paid.

“I can’t say that this is the same as any other road game,” James said. “It’s not, because it’s the Mecca of basketball. Like Kobe said, this is the last building that’s still alive. And it’s just a different feeling when you come in this building.”

Maybe it had never been as different as this week, when James touched down in Manhattan on Tuesday with the city still buzzing over Bryant’s 61 points. The Super Bowl had ended, and Bryant had turned America’s consciousness toward him within the first 24 hours of most of America awakening to the NBA season. LeBron refused to let it last on Wednesday, and David Stern’s wildest dreams had played out within 48 magnificent hours at the Garden. If the Knicks can’t make New York matter again, Kobe and LeBron had come to town to validate the greatness of the Garden all over again.

Yes, James and Bryant chase everything together now – maybe mostly immortality – and it turns out these past two days have been a prelude to LeBron and Kobe meeting over the weekend in Cleveland. “It’ll be a good show on Sunday in Cleveland,” James said late Wednesday.

LeBron James had reached high in Madison Square Garden, and snatched that final rebound, snatched Kobe Bryant’s name off the marquee lights, and finally, legs aching, disappeared into a New York night.

[RedsLakers24]

Yea lebron has a good team Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson and Big Z aren't scrubs, he should let them get in the flow of the game, when Lebron has the ball in his hands almost the whole time its hard for his teamates to get into the flow of the game

[DrHouse]

“I never thought you could look at the box score and see somebody with 50 points and a triple-double,” James marveled. “But it’s happened.”

“You saw every phase of my game tonight, the scoring, the rebounding, the assists,” James said.

I think if Kobe ever said those things the rabid haters on this site would be on him like white on rice. And yet when the self-proclaimed King James, who had the audacity to declare himself leader of team USA, says them it's somehow OK? I love the hypocrisy.

[DPG21920]

Great article though.

[lefty]

Lebron had 52 points, along with a Triple Double.


Thread

[DrHouse]

Great article though.

So then you agree you are a hypocrite for chastising Kobe for being arrogant when James is FAR worse with no rings to show for?

[Cry Havoc]

I think if Kobe ever said those things the rabid haters on this site would be on him like white on rice. And yet when the self-proclaimed King James, who had the audacity to declare himself leader of team USA, says them it's somehow OK? I love the hypocrisy.

There's no hypocrisy here. LeBron James has never alienated his teammates. He's never run a fellow hall of famer out of town because he couldn't stand to share the limelight. He's never had massive controversy of his off-court life that called his ability to lead a team or even participate in society as a law-abiding person into question. LeBron has been, for the entire course of his short NBA career, the consummate teammate. He has led his team from the dregs of the NBA, to the Finals, and now to a truly elite position in the league. Now that Jameer Nelson is out, we're looking at an almost lock for the ECF with the Cavs and Celtics, barring any injuries.

Kobe Bryant gets constantly bashed because it took him a decade in the league just to figure out how to live with the fact that he needs to involve other teammates in the game to win consistently. And even then, we see statlines like 61 points with 3 assists. Can you Lakers fans comfortably say that you hope he puts up points like that every night? Will that get the Lakers to the Finals?

Kobe still gets oodles of love from analysts and highlight shows. It's not like you're going to flip on Rome is Burning and see a bunch of anti-Kobe sentiment. But when you spend an off-season criticizing your 19 year old center and telling your friends that management needs to ship him out, you set yourself up for this hate. It is just not in Kobe's character to innately trust his teammates. Meanwhile LeBron has never had an issue getting the final assist rather than the final field goal, as long as it means a win.

LeBron is 24, Kobe is 30. If there is one of them that should have long since ceased the chase of personal glory and accolades, it should be Kobe. Most of the NBA is willing to give a pass to LeBron because even though he's young and he's going to chase the spotlight like last night, he's already become more of a team player than Kobe ever has been. He has an ego, but I seriously doubt you'll ever hear LeBron talk such pointless garbage about another player on his team like we've heard from Kobe for so many years.

[lefty]

There's no hypocrisy here. LeBron James has never alienated his teammates. He's never run a fellow hall of famer out of town because he couldn't stand to share the limelight. He's never had massive controversy of his off-court life that called his ability to lead a team or even participate in society as a law-abiding person into question. LeBron has been, for the entire course of his short NBA career, the consummate teammate. He has led his team from the dregs of the NBA, to the Finals, and now to a truly elite position in the league. Now that Jameer Nelson is out, we're looking at an almost lock for the ECF with the Cavs and Celtics, barring any injuries.

Kobe Bryant gets constantly bashed because it took him a decade in the league just to figure out how to live with the fact that he needs to involve other teammates in the game to win consistently. And even then, we see statlines like 61 points with 3 assists. Can you Lakers fans comfortably say that you hope he puts up points like that every night? Will that get the Lakers to the Finals?

Kobe still gets oodles of love from analysts and highlight shows. It's not like you're going to flip on Rome is Burning and see a bunch of anti-Kobe sentiment. But when you spend an off-season criticizing your 19 year old center and telling your friends that management needs to ship him out, you set yourself up for this hate. It is just not in Kobe's character to innately trust his teammates. Meanwhile LeBron has never had an issue getting the final assist rather than the final field goal, as long as it means a win.

LeBron is 24, Kobe is 30. If there is one of them that should have long since ceased the chase of personal glory and accolades, it should be Kobe. Most of the NBA is willing to give a pass to LeBron because even though he's young and he's going to chase the spotlight like last night, he's already become more of a team player than Kobe ever has been.

I agree on everything here

Great post

[DPG21920]

So then you agree you are a hypocrite for chastising Kobe for being arrogant when James is FAR worse with no rings to show for?

Please show me where I chastise Kobe, link? How long has James been in the league? Has he had Shaq?

[Showtime24 LAKERS]

Kobe > LeBron period.

[DrHouse]

Except Kobe won 3 rings with Shaq during those years when you said he couldn't be a good teammate. Kind of nullifies everything you're trying to say.

If he was a ball hog who didn't want to pass the ball the Lakers wouldn't have won 3 rings period. The bottom line is he knew that the offense needed to run through Shaq and he fed the Big Dog. You're trying to justify your hate by blowing things out of proportion but the bottom line is you just hate the guy because he's torched the Spurs so many times and dashed their championship hopes.

[Cry Havoc]

Except Kobe won 3 rings with Shaq during those years when you said he couldn't be a good teammate. Kind of nullifies everything you're trying to say.

If he was a ball hog who didn't want to pass the ball the Lakers wouldn't have won 3 rings period. The bottom line is he knew that the offense needed to run through Shaq and he fed the Big Dog. You're trying to justify your hate by blowing things out of proportion but the bottom line is you just hate the guy because he's torched the Spurs so many times and dashed their championship hopes.

[DrHouse]

There is an argument to be made that Kobe did not know how to lead after Shaq left, I'm not disputing that. But no leadership would have made those teams winners, half of those guys aren't even in the league anymore or are playing 3rd string minutes.

[DrHouse]

It's simple. You hate Kobe because he has stopped the Spurs from becoming NBA Champions 4 times this decade. Your justifications are just your BS way of hiding this fact.

[lefty]

Lebron > Kobe period.