Can we please stop with the Kobe Bryan/Michael Jordan comparisons? If MJ were the Disneyland then Kobe would be the Six Flags. Good, but not Disneyland good.
On paper, there’s no comparison, so why make the argument? Looking back on Jordan’s career, he averaged 30.1 points per game during the regular season, and raised that total to 33.4 during the playoffs. Kobe, by comparison, has averaged 25 during the regular season, but his numbers have actually lowered to 24.3 in the playoffs.
MJ averaged more rebounds per game, more assists per game, more steals per game and shot a better free throw percentage than Kobe did in both the regular season and playoffs.
So, statistically speaking, while MJ is on Mars, Kobe is still hovering around the moon. Both out of this world, but Kobe still has quite a bit of ground to make up on Jordan.
Jordan has five NBA regular season MVPs to his name; Kobe has one. Jordan led the NBA in scoring 10 times; Kobe has only twice. Jordan was a 10-time NBA First Team player; Kobe is a six-time First Team member.
And it’s not only offense.
Jordan has an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award on his shelf; Kobe does not.
Then there are titles.
Jordan was the key player during each of his six championships, winning the Finals MVP in all six. Kobe has three championships to his name, but no Finals MVPs due in large part to not even being the most dominant player on his team during those championship seasons. No, the most dominant center of our generation—Shaquille O’Neal—always left Kobe standing cold in Shaw’s large shadow.
In fact, it was Kobe’s ego that drove Shaq out of town, along with the title hopes of the Lakers until this season when they acquired All-Star center Pau Gasol for 25 cents on the dollar.
Jordan also put the team first. He was known for yelling at teammates when they messed up, but never to the point that Kobe has. Not only has Kobe thrown teammates under the bus, he got behind the wheel to ran them over a few more times to add insult to injury.
Every way you slice it—and many people are getting creative in the way they slice it—Jordan is and was the better player. When Kobe’s Lakers let a 24-point lead slip away at home in the Finals last night, some people were talking about how Jordan would never have let that happen. And they’re right.
While Kobe is a great player, he’s no Jordan so let’s stop pretending he is. They are both in the Top 20 players of all time, and that’s where the comparisons end.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wow, I'm bad at keeping up with this...
But I'll try to be better. A few big things have happened in sports since I last wrote, and a few big things are currently happening too. Let's recap a few things first:
-Detroit Red Wings win Stanley Cup. The Wings, who were never really threatened during the playoffs, never facing an elimination game. In fact, they beat Nashville 4-2, Colorado 4-0, Dallas 4-2, and Pittsburgh 4-2. That's a combined 16-6 record in the playoffs, folks. Not too shabby. The Wings rightfully rewarded head coach Mike Babcock (who is the former coach of the Spokane Chiefs) with a three-year deal. Babcock is 231-118-19 in just five years in the NHL, leading two different teams to the Stanley Cup Finals (Mighty Ducks in '03, Red Wings in '08). Pretty solid start to his coaching career.
-NBA Playoffs are winding down. The Lakers and Celtics are currently battling it out for supremacy, with the Celtics holding a 2-1 lead heading into Game Four. I watched Game 3 and was not too impressed by Kevin Garnett. The reality is, he needs this series more than anyone else on the court to prove he is legitimately one of the 25 best players ever.
Say what you want about the NBA and their image problems off the court (case and point: Seattle Supersonics situation), but their biggest problem may be with referees on the court. Ref Tim Donaghy was arrested on charges that he fixed games for gambling purposes, and now Donaghy is coming out to say that some games in the past have been fixed -- including the fishy 2002 Game Six between the Sacrament Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, called by many the worst officiated game ever. Commissioner David Stern is covering it up to be something that Donaghy would say to get his sentenced reduced. At this point, I really thing Stern needs to step down. He's losing control of the game; his image is being tarnished more and more every day. For the Sonics moving to Oklahoma thanks to a buddy-buddy agreement with Clay Bennett, to the conspiracy theories about the NBA's officiating, to the controversy of expansion overseas (which, by the way, his comparison of Miami to Paris being shorter than Miami to Portland is, is flat out wrong...Miami to Portland is 2700 miles; Miami to Paris is 4500 miles...so about twice as far), to the fishy trades allowed by the league earlier in the season made by the (gasp!) Lakers and Celtics -- both of whom greatly improved thanks to one-sided trades and are now in the finals. By the way, the potentially highly-rated Lakers-Celtics finals is shady for a few things: the one-sided trades, the officiating in the Lakers-Spurs series, and many more things.
But I digress. The reason I bring this up is because I'm pseudo-boycotting the finals. Yes, I broke down and watched Game Three, but only because my roommates and I went out to eat and it was on.
-Whitworth won the NWC All-Sports award for the second time in four years. So congrats are in order for that. The Bucs won championships in Football, Men's Soccer, Men's Basketball, Men's Swimming, Women's Swimming and Men's Track and Field, while finishing second in Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Men's Golf and Women's Golf. Out of 18 sports, the Pirates won championships in six, while finishing second in four more.
-The French Open is over, and Rafael Nadal easily won. In fact, he did not lose a set in the tournament, and beat the No. 1 player in the world (and perhaps best player ever) Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the finals. Great showing for Rafa, who has now proven to me he's the best clay court player ever.
-The Seattle Mariners are in last place...again. Once again showing how inept their front office is with picking up key players. The M's have wasted Ichiro's prime, surrounding him with has-beens. It's a shame. They really need help everywhere, and it's pretty hard to deny that. ESPN even named them the "Biggest Disappointment" in 2008. So congrats to the M's for that.
-Big Brown failed to make history. So what happened? Norman Chad has insight.
-Detroit Red Wings win Stanley Cup. The Wings, who were never really threatened during the playoffs, never facing an elimination game. In fact, they beat Nashville 4-2, Colorado 4-0, Dallas 4-2, and Pittsburgh 4-2. That's a combined 16-6 record in the playoffs, folks. Not too shabby. The Wings rightfully rewarded head coach Mike Babcock (who is the former coach of the Spokane Chiefs) with a three-year deal. Babcock is 231-118-19 in just five years in the NHL, leading two different teams to the Stanley Cup Finals (Mighty Ducks in '03, Red Wings in '08). Pretty solid start to his coaching career.
-NBA Playoffs are winding down. The Lakers and Celtics are currently battling it out for supremacy, with the Celtics holding a 2-1 lead heading into Game Four. I watched Game 3 and was not too impressed by Kevin Garnett. The reality is, he needs this series more than anyone else on the court to prove he is legitimately one of the 25 best players ever.
Say what you want about the NBA and their image problems off the court (case and point: Seattle Supersonics situation), but their biggest problem may be with referees on the court. Ref Tim Donaghy was arrested on charges that he fixed games for gambling purposes, and now Donaghy is coming out to say that some games in the past have been fixed -- including the fishy 2002 Game Six between the Sacrament Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, called by many the worst officiated game ever. Commissioner David Stern is covering it up to be something that Donaghy would say to get his sentenced reduced. At this point, I really thing Stern needs to step down. He's losing control of the game; his image is being tarnished more and more every day. For the Sonics moving to Oklahoma thanks to a buddy-buddy agreement with Clay Bennett, to the conspiracy theories about the NBA's officiating, to the controversy of expansion overseas (which, by the way, his comparison of Miami to Paris being shorter than Miami to Portland is, is flat out wrong...Miami to Portland is 2700 miles; Miami to Paris is 4500 miles...so about twice as far), to the fishy trades allowed by the league earlier in the season made by the (gasp!) Lakers and Celtics -- both of whom greatly improved thanks to one-sided trades and are now in the finals. By the way, the potentially highly-rated Lakers-Celtics finals is shady for a few things: the one-sided trades, the officiating in the Lakers-Spurs series, and many more things.
But I digress. The reason I bring this up is because I'm pseudo-boycotting the finals. Yes, I broke down and watched Game Three, but only because my roommates and I went out to eat and it was on.
-Whitworth won the NWC All-Sports award for the second time in four years. So congrats are in order for that. The Bucs won championships in Football, Men's Soccer, Men's Basketball, Men's Swimming, Women's Swimming and Men's Track and Field, while finishing second in Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Men's Golf and Women's Golf. Out of 18 sports, the Pirates won championships in six, while finishing second in four more.
-The French Open is over, and Rafael Nadal easily won. In fact, he did not lose a set in the tournament, and beat the No. 1 player in the world (and perhaps best player ever) Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the finals. Great showing for Rafa, who has now proven to me he's the best clay court player ever.
-The Seattle Mariners are in last place...again. Once again showing how inept their front office is with picking up key players. The M's have wasted Ichiro's prime, surrounding him with has-beens. It's a shame. They really need help everywhere, and it's pretty hard to deny that. ESPN even named them the "Biggest Disappointment" in 2008. So congrats to the M's for that.
-Big Brown failed to make history. So what happened? Norman Chad has insight.
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