NBA: If Kobe isn't a top 10 player then why is Lebron?

[313]

A lot of you guys put Lebron in your top 5 no questions asked, but the is 2/5 in the finals and needed a miracle for the second one. Meanwhile Kobe is 5/7 but ST considers him(and rightfully so) a 10-15 player of all time.

Why does LeRoids get so much favoritism on here? I thought we were more objective than the mainstream media

[sook]

If Lebron wins with the Cavs (unlikely) he'll be back on top but right now Kobe is clearly ahead of him imo.

If not for an Allen 3, Bron would have been 0-3 vs the spurs..

Kobe has no shame...more than any player I have ever seen...but that trait can be good sometimes and he's clearly benefited from it early on and had it hurt his reputation later (like this season).

Lebron is an appeaser, he gives too much of a probably because he's actually a good guy (Cleveland move..). That will always hold him back compe ively tbh

[100%duncan]

Lebron aint on anyone's top 5

[Chris]

If not for Duncan and Dirk, Lebron would probably have at least 2 more rings. Lebron also carried his teams to the Finals, unlike Kobe who was a role player on his.

[313]

If not for Duncan and Dirk, Lebron would probably have at least 2 more rings. Lebron also carried his teams to the Finals, unlike Kobe who was a role player on his.

If not for Shaq, Duncan probably has a couple more too, but they were there. Also at least Kobe played in the West. Bron could play in "chill" mode every year and still get a top seed .

[Infinite_limit]

Few thoughts

- Agreed, no one has James in the Top 5. Since the 2000's...sure

- The best team James defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals was the Boozer Bulls. So "carrying his team to the Finals unlike Kobe" isn't saying much in the EC

- Cavs better reach atleast the EC Finals this season (probably not) or the guys reputation is sinking fast

[Kidd K]

LeBron is not top 5 and likely never will be at this rate. Top 5 includes people with 5+ rings. Jordan, Kareem, Russell, Magic, Duncan (whatever order you like). After that you have Shaq with 4, Bird with 3, Wilt's gotta be up there somewhere. Then you go to 2 ringers. . Hakeem was arguably a better player. How about Big O? Dr J? Even Kobe since he has 5 rings.

Top 10, it's possible but I don't have him there over Hakeem tbh. He was better. Anyone old enough to remember his prime likely agrees.

As for him compared to Kobe. . .quite frankly he's better than Kobe overall imo. Kobe is a better scorer of all time. LeBron's a better player. Kobe's 5 rings gives him edge in the accomplishments debate though. We can't deny that. Even if 3 were as 2nd fiddle. That's still 3 more than LBJ.

If LeBron ever rings again as a top guy, we can revisit this.

[Raven]

because he is flat out better, no need to look at achievements when something is so painfully obvious.

[romain.star]

LeBron is not top 5 and likely never will be at this rate. Top 5 includes people with 5+ rings. Jordan, Kareem, Russell, Magic, Duncan (whatever order you like). After that you have Shaq with 4, Bird with 3, Wilt's gotta be up there somewhere. Then you go to 2 ringers. . Hakeem was arguably a better player. How about Big O? Dr J? Even Kobe since he has 5 rings.

Top 10, it's possible but I don't have him there over Hakeem tbh. He was better. Anyone old enough to remember his prime likely agrees.

As for him compared to Kobe. . .quite frankly he's better than Kobe overall imo. Kobe is a better scorer of all time. LeBron's a better player. Kobe's 5 rings gives him edge in the accomplishments debate though. We can't deny that. Even if 3 were as 2nd fiddle. That's still 3 more than LBJ.

If LeBron ever rings again as a top guy, we can revisit this.

Kobe is a better scorer?

Let's see about that:
Lebron career average: 27,5 pts per game at .497
Bryant career average: 25.4 pts per game at .451

And Lebron does that while rebounding more (7,2 vs 5,3), assisting more (6,9 vs 4,8) and overall defending more

[Brazil]

Lebron aint on anyone's top 5

some were popping threads arguing he was better than Dad Killer like a certain poster likes to call him

[100%duncan]

some were popping threads arguing he was better than Dad Killer like a certain poster likes to call him

He had the chance but it's impossible now.

[Brazil]

4 simple facts

Kobe is not a top 10
Lebron has still a shot to be
Lebron is already above Kobe
None of them are close to MJ


I'm not even a Kobe hater tbh... he was the best player of 2 rings (I do like the mvpau schtick and all but this team was Kobe's team like it was Shaq's team before) but he was nothing close to be as dominant as Lebron. Besides Lebron never missed the POs, has better stat on every possible lines and is twice the defender Kobe never was. Not sure it's even arguable fwiw

[scanry]

3 simple facts

Kobe is not a top 10
Lebron has still a shot to be
Lebron is already above Kobe
None of them are close to MJ


I'm not even a Kobe hater tbh... he was the best player of 2 rings (I do like the mvpau schtick and all but this team was Kobe's team like it was Shaq's team before) but he was nothing close to be as dominant as Lebron. Besides Lebron never missed the POs, has better stat on every possible lines and is twice the defender Kobe never was. Not sure it's even arguable fwiw

I think Lebron's Cavs missed the playoffs twice.

[Franklin]

name another top 10 player who has done it twice leaving friends behind for the greener lawn?

[RsxPiimp]

Lebron aint on anyone's top 5

@Clipper_nation

[Jenks]

- The best team James defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals was the Boozer Bulls.

No, it was the 2007 Pistons.

[Brazil]

I think Lebron's Cavs missed the playoffs twice.

You are right

I stand corrected but it is still 2 times less than Kobe

[Brazil]

name another top 10 player who has done it twice leaving friends behind for the greener lawn?

how is it a criteria for being top 10 ?



name another top 10 player whose mother has been ed by a teammate...

[RD2191]

Lebron aint on anyone's top 5

[unleashbaynes]

lebron is fringe top 10 for me like Kobe..... has the MVPs and a couple of rangs, Kobe just benefitted from playing with a top 10(maybe top 5?) player of all time in his absolute prime.....

[RsxPiimp]

They're both in, you can't ignore two transcendent players of this caliber out. No pundits would leave them out of their list right now. Lebron is likely to stay in that list as advance metrics continues to grow and is implemented on many applications today and this favors him highly.


Kobe represents the traditional way of player evaluation. He's highly regarded for his work ethic, intangibles and raw numbers + ring count. This is why you see Kobe high on many of his peers and former greats lists.

[ambchang]

First Lebron is not top 5, he's borderline top 10.
Second, Lebron > Kobe, and it's not even close. Rings as the 2nd best player on 4, or even all 5 of his les isn't as impressive as the clear cut best player on 2 les. 1 MVP is less than 4 MVPs.

Lebron is the better offensive player and defensive player, to wit:
ORtg of 116, high of 125 and low of 99 (as a rookie), and this is without Shaq and MVP to pass to.
DRtg of 97, high of 92 and low of 102. Again, without players like Shaq, MVPau and Bynum protecting the paint. He didn't even have perimeter defenders of Ariza or MWP to offset his weakness.
WS/48 of .248, high of .322. FOUR seasons of .298 or higher. Led the league in WS/48 and WS 5 times, OWS 4 times, and had DWS of > 5 4 times.
Led the league in OBPM AND BPM8 times, with 5 seasons of > 10.
Led the league in VORP 8 times, with 5 seasons of > 8.

Kobe?
Ortg of 111, high of 115 and low of 96 (this year, not including the injured year last year).
Drt of 105, high of 98 and low of 111

Never led the league in ANY advanced stats other than usage rate.
Kobe's WS/48 high of .224 isn't even close to Lebron AVERAGE, in fact Lebron topped that 8 out of 12 seasons. His average of .178 is lower than Lebrons worst season (this year) outside of his rookie year.
One of the greatest offensive players in league history? He never even led the league in OWS, OBPM, or ORtg, and this is playing his entire prime in the most perimeter friendly era in NBA history. OBPM high of 7? Lebron bested that in 7 seasons, and the only reason it wasn't 8 seasons was because of the lockout year.
One of the greatest perimeter defenders? Kobe had a DBPM of less than zero in 13 out of his 19 seasons.
His best OPM was 5.9 (note that is less than his OBPM of 7, meaning that he put up a NEGATIVE in DBPM that year, which means that he can't defend when he has to score a lot)? Lebron bested that in EVERY SINGLE YEAR except his rookie season.
VORP high of 6.8? Lebron bested that in every single year except his rookie year, and this year, which isn't even finished and Lebron has a chance of surpassing it if he starts trying.

Lebron also smokes Kobe in pretty much every single basic stat category, including scoring.

Kobe vs. Lebron is dead. Kobe is actually a LOT more comparable to Paul Pierce. Kobe is better offensively, Pierce better defensively.. Both remained productive until old age, but the main difference being Pierce spending most of his prime next to Antoine Walker, while Kobe get to spend his with Shaq.

[LkrFan]

If Lebron wins with the Cavs (unlikely) he'll be back on top but right now Kobe is clearly ahead of him imo.

If not for an Allen 3, Bron would have been 0-3 vs the spurs..

Kobe has no shame...more than any player I have ever seen...but that trait can be good sometimes and he's clearly benefited from it early on and had it hurt his reputation later (like this season).

Lebron is an appeaser, he gives too much of a probably because he's actually a good guy (Cleveland move..). That will always hold him back compe ively tbh

No he's not. He's a cowardly asshole.

[Cry Havoc]

First Lebron is not top 5, he's borderline top 10.
Second, Lebron > Kobe, and it's not even close. Rings as the 2nd best player on 4, or even all 5 of his les isn't as impressive as the clear cut best player on 2 les. 1 MVP is less than 4 MVPs.

Lebron is the better offensive player and defensive player, to wit:
ORtg of 116, high of 125 and low of 99 (as a rookie), and this is without Shaq and MVP to pass to.
DRtg of 97, high of 92 and low of 102. Again, without players like Shaq, MVPau and Bynum protecting the paint. He didn't even have perimeter defenders of Ariza or MWP to offset his weakness.
WS/48 of .248, high of .322. FOUR seasons of .298 or higher. Led the league in WS/48 and WS 5 times, OWS 4 times, and had DWS of > 5 4 times.
Led the league in OBPM AND BPM8 times, with 5 seasons of > 10.
Led the league in VORP 8 times, with 5 seasons of > 8.

Kobe?
Ortg of 111, high of 115 and low of 96 (this year, not including the injured year last year).
Drt of 105, high of 98 and low of 111

Never led the league in ANY advanced stats other than usage rate.
Kobe's WS/48 high of .224 isn't even close to Lebron AVERAGE, in fact Lebron topped that 8 out of 12 seasons. His average of .178 is lower than Lebrons worst season (this year) outside of his rookie year.
One of the greatest offensive players in league history? He never even led the league in OWS, OBPM, or ORtg, and this is playing his entire prime in the most perimeter friendly era in NBA history. OBPM high of 7? Lebron bested that in 7 seasons, and the only reason it wasn't 8 seasons was because of the lockout year.
One of the greatest perimeter defenders? Kobe had a DBPM of less than zero in 13 out of his 19 seasons.
His best OPM was 5.9 (note that is less than his OBPM of 7, meaning that he put up a NEGATIVE in DBPM that year, which means that he can't defend when he has to score a lot)? Lebron bested that in EVERY SINGLE YEAR except his rookie season.
VORP high of 6.8? Lebron bested that in every single year except his rookie year, and this year, which isn't even finished and Lebron has a chance of surpassing it if he starts trying.

Lebron also smokes Kobe in pretty much every single basic stat category, including scoring.

Kobe vs. Lebron is dead. Kobe is actually a LOT more comparable to Paul Pierce. Kobe is better offensively, Pierce better defensively.. Both remained productive until old age, but the main difference being Pierce spending most of his prime next to Antoine Walker, while Kobe get to spend his with Shaq.

Destruction.

[hitmantb]

If you use a simple rule of rings + MVP + FMVP, with hard requirement you must have at least one of each to qualify on all time great list to rule out the Robert Horry's of the world, both are clearly top 10, Duncan is #5.

LeBron has a chance to push out Duncan (a shame really, Duncan would have won more if he built super teams LeBron style) if he wins more rings in Cleveland. I have him tied with Kobe for now.

Yes LeBron can only win with stacked teams, but the same applies to Magic/Bird, they just didn't have to leave their big markets and everything fell into place for them. Of any one on top 10, Duncan definitely had the smallest market and weakest supporting cast.