LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant will be a topic for debate for as long as both players remain great. Though James has just won his first NBA Championship, since entering the league back in 2003 James as remained statistically better than Bryant.
Fact is from 2003-2007, Bryant was a scoring machine and averaged more points per game than James in each of those years, but James led Bryant in assists, rebounds and field goal percentage.
James continued to be a better overall player than Bryant from 2007-present increasing his points per game while maintain his usual numbers in all the other categories.
James career stats are 27.6 points, 6.9 assists, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in comparison to Bryant's 25.4 points, 4.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
But Bryant fans never bring up numbers unless they're counting rings.
Yeah sure Bryant still won two consecutive championships from 2008-2010, but that was a team effort.
The Bryant fans always seem to forget to realize how fortunate Bryant was in joining the Lakers after being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.
Unlike James, Bryant was traded to a team with established players and a dominating Superstar in Shaquille O'Neal.
Bryant won three with Shaq, but failed to deliver one on his own before the Lakers brought in Pau Gasol. And no one seems to remember; or rather they choose to forget, when Bryant demanded a trade when the Lakers were struggling after Shaq's departure.
I'm not taking anything away from Bryant's greatness, as he's clearly one of the best players to play the game, but I would like to impose a question on whether or not Bryant would have won five championships had he not been traded by the Hornets.
Just imagine if Bryant stayed on the Hornets and continued to become the Bryant we all know today, would he have won a ring with them? Or would he have been a great player who couldn't get the job done? In essence, LeBron James before winning his first title.
If James couldn't do it in Cleveland and he's the best all-around player we've seen in some time, why would Bryant be any different had he been put under the same circumstances.
The man had won three titles and still demanded a trade when things got rough. Just imagine if he won no titles, he would've taken his talents to South Beach too.
