Magic Johnsons biggest rival was Larry Bird. What player was Kobe Bryant biggest Rival?

They were the two most successful players of the 2000s.

Sure, they played different positions – but so did Magic and Bird.

And they are almost polar opposites of each other in terms of style – just like Magic and Bird. In this case, Kobe was the flashy scorer, the guy that lit up the crowd with his entertaining shot making, known for playing ‘hero’ ball, telling his teammates to get out of the way while he does his thing – while Duncan was the quiet and efficient guy that was known to be completely selfless doing whatever his team required of his whether it be scoring rebounding or defense.

The debate between Kobe and Duncan all time is somewhat clouded by the fact that Kobe has a much much bigger fanbase and thus his overzealous fans always rank him a lot higher than he should be ranked. Kobe is a lot closer to Duncan in terms of resume than he is to Jordan – yet casuals online often put him right next to Jordan and in the GOAT convo based just on his playstyle (which is patently ridiculous).

I personally would pick Duncan – he elevated his game in the playoffs while Kobe’s game remained the same, he was a better defender and a better teammate and has more MVPs and FMVPs. Sure, Kobe beat him more in the playoffs – but we have to keep in mind some of those wins Shaq was the main character on the Lakers whereas Duncan has always been the main character for the Spurs. And Duncan’s 2003 playoff run (going through Shaq and Kobe) was one of the greatest ever. But I’ll let people be the judge here – I think Kobe vs Duncan is a debate. I don’t think Jordan vs Kobe or Lebron vs Kobe is a debate at all.