Michael Jordan: "I would beat Kobe in my prime"

[Andrew]

Kobe has more offensive weapons than Jordan. All Jordan really had was the fade away.

I'm sorry, but that's just complete and utter nonsense. Name all these weapons that Kobe had that Jordan did not. Apart from the three pointer - which Jordan still had, albeit not as effectively - there are none. Jordan only had the fadeaway? Rubbish.

Kobe Dropped 81 points in a game lol.

David Thompson scored 76 points in a game. I guess that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could beat Jordan, Pippen, David Robinson, Olajuwon, Kareem, Magic and Bird in a game of one-on-one? Again, since when does one game prove anything conclusively?

Kobe can score at will, doesn't matter what the defense gives him

Whereas Jordan was consistently shut down? And as for Kobe being able to score at will, what of Ben's question? Did he just decide to take it easy on those teams? Or maybe they found a way to contain him?

[NovU]

these kobe nut huggers are saying same shits over and over, all based on stupid assumptions. the funny thing is most of these kobe kids never seen mj playing at all, but yet talk like they king of know-all about mj & kobe. this mj vs kobe discussion just shouldn't exist at all. bottomline is that kobe isn't even near the greatests when jordan is THE greatest.

[adv1s5]

Let's have someone ask Phil Jackson.

[benji]

Done.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_WNTx3gG_s[/youtube]

[Andrew]

Strange, at first he seems to be saying that he agrees that Kobe has better skills than Jordan but then goes on to talk about skills and attributes that Jordan had which Kobe doesn't. Or perhaps he just meant in certain areas since he noted outside shooting which I certainly agree with.

[RKO]

Michael Jordan is the best basketball player in NBA History and in history if basketball, just by saying his name is legendary.

Michael Jordan
1981 Breaks record at McDonald's All-American game by scoring 30 points
1982 Scores winning points in NCAA championship game
1984 Named college Player of the Year
1984 Wins Olympic gold medal with U.S. basketball team
1985 Named NBA Rookie of the Year
1986-87 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1987 Winner, Slam Dunk Contest
1987-88 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1987-88 Named NBA Defensive Player of the Year
1987-88 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1987-88 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1988 Wins Slam Dunk Contest
1988 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1988 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player
1988-89 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1988-89 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1989-90 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1989-90 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1990-91 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1990-91 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1990-91 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1991 Leads Chicago Bulls to their first NBA title
1991-92 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1991-92 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1991-92 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1992 Wins Olympic gold medal with U.S. basketball team
1992-93 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1992-93 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1995-96 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1995-96 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1995-96 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1996 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History
1996 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player
1996-97 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1996-97 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1997-98 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1997-98 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1997-98 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1998 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player Awards
Kobe Bryant: 1
Michael Jordan: 6

Also let's keep in mind that Kobe came out of high school and Jordan actually went to college for 3 years. Kobe will play more years in the NBA which might boost up his All-Star appearances, All-Team defensive, etc. But I highly doubt that Kobe will ever get 6 regular season MVP's. Kobe is a tremendous athlete and is the best at what he does right now and is comparable to MJ, but there has only been one Michael Jordan and will never be another. Quote that sentence and put it up in 10 or 20 years.

[Sauru]

at this point i think people are either trying to start an arguement by saying kobe, or maybe they are infact kobe hanging around this forum trying to boost his ego. any real basketball fan knowns that jordan is the best. the man just did the most amazing things ever, his will to win the game was unreal. now kobe has almost everything jordan has, just not on the same level. imo kobe is not even the second best player ever so the entire topic is really worthless. all i hear is 81 this or 81 that, if thats the limit of your arguement then the answer should really be obvious to you who was indeed better.

[Carmo]

but Kobe scored 81....

[deihatein]

but Kobe scored 81....

In my opinion. He managed to did that because of some ball-hogging, a crap defensive made by Toronto, his teammates just let him have the ball.

[shadowgrin]

In my opinion. He managed to did that because of some ball-hogging, a crap defensive made by Toronto, his teammates just let him have the ball.

How is it ball-hogging when your teammates let you have the ball, that's some sort of conradictory sth.

[hova-]

In my opinion. He managed to did that because of some ball-hogging, a crap defensive made by Toronto, his teammates just let him have the ball.

How is it ball-hogging when your teammates let you have the ball, that's some sort of conradictory sth.

They give you the ball and then you start ballhogging.

@dei
But I think scoring that high is always some sort of this. When Jordan scored 69 do you think he did not ballhog ? When David Robinson scored 72 even the opponent team did not defend him well enough in order to get him the scoring crown and not Rookie shaq O'Neal (according to anecdotes)
Single game scoring records are always a bit of an ego thing.

[Glen]

even "the greatest" thinks mj is the greatest. unless... mj just forced him to wear a bulls jacket and is actually just poking him with a sharp metal object behind his back.

[shadowgrin]

When David Robinson scored 72 even the opponent team did not defend him well enough in order to get him the scoring crown and not Rookie shaq O'Neal (according to anecdotes).

Shaq was hardly a rookie back then when that happened, but he may still be considered a noob.

[hova-]

Ye he was a sophomore back then and the Coach of the Clippers did not want him to gain the scoring title so they allowed David Robinson to score 71 points.

Sorry for my mistake but I guess you understand what I mean ...

[Sauru]

i think jordans 63 vs the celtics in the playoffs is far superior to the 81 kobe scored.

[cyanide]

i think jordans 63 vs the celtics in the playoffs is far superior to the 81 kobe scored.

Absolutely. Against Larry Bird's Boston Celtics in the playoffs. Quite a challenge there.

[Alejandrov011]

Yes thats true...

When Kobe scored 81 he did it in the regular season and Toronto played ugly... And were ugly...

MJ scored 63 in the playoffs and in Bird's prime... And he did it in the Celts Arena if I'm not wrong!

[Andrew]

Kobe's 81 points is still a tremendous accomplishment, but the suggest that it alone proves Kobe's the greatest ever, surpassing Jordan or whomever is the ultimate Homer argument. It doesn't make sense, either. If Jordan is to be considered the greatest ever having not scored the most points in an NBA game, then how does surpassing his total make Kobe a better player? If points in a single game is all it takes, then Wilt is undeniably first and David Thompson is third, ahead of Jordan, Bird, Magic and Russell.

But if one game is irrefutable evidence, then one could easily suggest Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals as undeniable proof that Kobe can't score at will and is lacking in clutch ability.

[benji]

I believe it's already been established that Kobe can score at will and no one can stop him, but sometimes he just doesn't want to score. To make it fair for others probably. (Let's ignore Wilt's example of actually doing this (after his pre-game orgies) against lousy teams during the regular season.)

[Billie]

The new debate is about a Jordan led Dream Team versus the Kobe led Redeem team. Of course, our pals here will definitely choose the dream team but because I assumed that they will pick the dream team, they may go the other way around.

[NovU]

Kobe led Redeem team

hahaha. is this one of your asian jokes again...

[RKO]

Michael Jordan is the best basketball player in NBA History and in history if basketball, just by saying his name is legendary.

Michael Jordan
1981 Breaks record at McDonald's All-American game by scoring 30 points
1982 Scores winning points in NCAA championship game
1984 Named college Player of the Year
1984 Wins Olympic gold medal with U.S. basketball team
1985 Named NBA Rookie of the Year
1986-87 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1987 Winner, Slam Dunk Contest
1987-88 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1987-88 Named NBA Defensive Player of the Year
1987-88 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1987-88 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1988 Wins Slam Dunk Contest
1988 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1988 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player
1988-89 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1988-89 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1989-90 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1989-90 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1990-91 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1990-91 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1990-91 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1991 Leads Chicago Bulls to their first NBA title
1991-92 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1991-92 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1991-92 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1992 Wins Olympic gold medal with U.S. basketball team
1992-93 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1992-93 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1995-96 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1995-96 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1995-96 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1996 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History
1996 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player
1996-97 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1996-97 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1997-98 Named NBA Most Valuable Player
1997-98 Named to the All-NBA First Team
1997-98 Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team
1998 Named NBA All-Star Games Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player Awards
Kobe Bryant: 1
Michael Jordan: 6

Also let's keep in mind that Kobe came out of high school and Jordan actually went to college for 3 years. Kobe will play more years in the NBA which might boost up his All-Star appearances, All-Team defensive, etc. But I highly doubt that Kobe will ever get 6 regular season MVP's. Kobe is a tremendous athlete and is the best at what he does right now and is comparable to MJ, but there has only been one Michael Jordan and will never be another. Quote that sentence and put it up in 10 or 20 years.

Enough said. MJ is better than Kobe. Saying Kobe is better than MJ is plain out retarded. Come on man!

[benji]

Most of those, nearly all, are just media opinions though, which are proof of nothing. And the slam dunk contest and all-american game things are even less than proof of nothing.

[Sauru]

The new debate is about a Jordan led Dream Team versus the Kobe led Redeem team. Of course, our pals here will definitely choose the dream team but because I assumed that they will pick the dream team, they may go the other way around.

you better believe i would pick the dream team, easily the best team ever put together. its just too bad bird was at this end then and didnt get to play as much as i would have liked

[cyanide]

you better believe i would pick the dream team, easily the best team ever put together. its just too bad bird was at this end then and didnt get to play as much as i would have liked

Agreed. His back was so bad at that time, but when he did get on the court, there were flashes of brilliance. The dude's the most skilled player who can't "run" or "jump."