Everything.
Lebron is a better scorer. No really – he is. He averages more PPG both in the regular season and playoffs on higher efficiency AND he’s scored more total points. The only reason why Kobe fans believe he’s a better scorer is because he’s more ‘skilled’ but that doesn’t really matter in a game. The basket doesn’t care how you get your 2 points. Kobe might be more flashy getting his. But Bron is better at getting his and that’s what matters.
Lebron is a better shooter. People have a hard time believing this. Well, Bron has a higher 3P% in his career than Kobe. He has also gotten much better over time. He averaged 41% shooting last season which is actually higher than Steph Curry’s 3P% last season.
Lebron is a better rebounder and passer. Don’t think this is debatable at all.
Lebron is a better defender at his peak. In recent years he’s trailed off on defense as he got older, but prime Cavs/Miami Lebron is a better defender than Kobe ever was. Kobe has more All-Def selections sure. But more All-Def selections only means he was a top defender for longer, it doesn’t mean at his peak he was better, that’s why Kobe was never in the convo for DPOY and Lebron was 2nd in DPOY voting at his peak.
Lebron has also had more impressive playoff runs, more impressive Finals performances, has more MVPs, more FMVPs, more All-NBA selections, more win shares, higher PER, does better head to head vs Kobe, does better in elimination games, has more playoff buzzer beaters etc
so with all that, why do so many fans still believe Kobe is better than Lebron?
It’s probably because of feelings and emotions.
-Kobe didn’t change teams
-Kobe didn’t flop (as much)
-Kobe didn’t call himself the GOAT (in a public way – though Kobe has referred to himself as the GOAT before it wasn’t as publicly)
-Kobe is renowned for his legendary work ethic (Bron’s work ethic is less relatable because of his superhuman physique)
-Kobe was more marketable
-Kobe is perceived as having a killer mentality (even though this is detrimental to team basketball, fans often perceive basketball as a 1v1 sport sometimes)
-Kobe is perceived as being more clutch (but this is based on the fact that Kobe isn’t shy about taking shots whereas Lebron makes the right basketball play more – statistically Bron has been more clutch but the eye test says Kobe is more clutch)
-Many former NBA players have a romanticized view of Kobe because Kobe’s skillset impressed them more
-Kobe has more rings
-Kobe has higher peak scoring (esp in regular season)
This leads to an incredible double standard between Kobe and Lebron .
-Kobe fans claim that the ‘eye test’ matters more because Lebron has a lot of gaudy stats.. yet they hype up and glaze Kobe’s regular season scoring peaks like crazy. Just look at the comments section to that 81 point game.
-Kobe beat all these 50+ win teams in the playoffs and they hype this up like crazy. He was the #1 seed beating lower seeds every time and he never won a series as an underdog yet just beating teams as the higher seed is treated like something godlike. Meanwhile Bron has beat a 62 win Bulls team, a 60 win Hawks team and a 73 win Warriors team and people try to discredit these as much as possible. ‘Draymond was out! Kyrie saved him! East was weak!’
-Kobe is given a mountain of excuses whenever he loses. 2004 Finals? that’s cause he had drama and a court trial and Malone was injured. 2006 blew a 3–1 lead? that’s cause his teammates sucked and nobody can be worse than Smush and Kwame. Kobe deserves an MVP just for carrying that shit to the playoffs! 2008? Celtics had a superteam that aint Kobe’s fault! 2011? Kobe was too fatigued from carrying teams to the Finals for 3 straight years (Bron went to 8 straight Finals why doesnt he get the fatigue excuse..?) Meanwhile the fault is always on Bron whenever he loses. Even as a 40 year old this past playoffs. All his fault. Luka has a bad game? Bron made him worse! Luka has a good game? Then he carried Bron!
-Kobe’s clutch shots and highlights are remembered for all eternity whereas Bron’s highlights are quickly forgotten. Meanwhile Kobe’s negative moments are never remembered but Bron’s negative moments are remembered for all eternity. Does anyone remember Robert Horry and Derek Fisher saving Kobe? Nope. Everyone remembers Ray Allen and Kyrie’s shot saving Bron tho! Does anyone remember Bron’s super clutch Game 7 vs the Spurs in the 2013 Finals? Nope. But everyone remembers Kobe stepping up in Game 4 in the 2000 Finals after Shaq fouled out! Does anyone remember Kobe scoring 8 points in Game 5 of the 2000 Finals (the game right after the one everyone talks about)? Nope. Everyone remembers Bron scoring 8 points in the 2011 Finals Game 4 though! Does anyone remember Kobe being outscored by JJ Barea in 2011 vs the Mavs Game 4 or Leandro Barbossa in 2006 vs Suns Game 7? Nope. But everyone remembers JJ Barea scoring the same amount of points as Bron in that 8 point game!
-Everyone blames Lebron for not reaching the 2009 Finals to meet Kobe. He averaged 38/8/8 against the Magic yet people say he ‘choked’ vs Dwight. What about Kobe in 2011? he was the defending champs and how come nobody says he should have beaten that Mavs team with his 57 win Lakers team to meet Bron in the Finals that year? The one where he averaged 22 PPG and clearly underperformed? nobody says a thing about that.
-Kobe gets put in the GOAT convo because ‘he’s the closest to Jordan’ and he has ‘mamba mentality’. That’s all Kobe needs to do to be the GOAT. Just have some regular season highlights and beat a bunch of lower seeded teams without a top 75 teammate and he’s the GOAT. Bron meanwhile? If he can’t win as a 40 year old carrying his team then he can’t be GOAT. He has the most missed shots all time? He can’t be GOAT (even though Kobe held that record for 8 years). All time in turnovers? Can’t be GOAT. Got swept in the Finals? Can’t be GOAT. So for Bron the bar to be GOAT is set infinitely higher than for Kobe.
-Contrary to what people think, the media says negative things about LeBron a lot. Whenever a former player says anything potentially bad about LeBron it gets spread. Guys like Stephen a Smith and Skip Bayless openly criticize LeBron constantly. Meanwhile…nobody ever says anything bad about Kobe in the media
See how the double standards go? It’s patently ridiculous and it results from the fact that Kobe has far more fans than haters (in fact if you bring up any of these things i said they will call you a Kobe hater) meanwhile Bron has way more haters than fans (in fact if you bring up any of these things i said they will call you a Bronsexual) and it contributes to why so many fans see Kobe in a higher light than they see Bron.
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