I'll say he's in the top 5 IMO but there is MJ and than everybody else no if and or buts

Even Kobe would say he's not even close and the stats show it

Do you ever think Jordan would lose a Finals series

Huge Dream and Glide fan but its true

You have the best argument I've ever heard

Congrats

Think this issue is done

Kobe didn't go to college, he came straight out of high school.

The day Kobe is deemed > than MJ is the day folks start saying he is the best athlete of all time.

In 2000....MJ was voted as the best athlete ever....better than Babe Ruth....better than Ali.....better than Jack Nicholas.....etc..etc..etc...

MJ did not get that based on 6 rings and his shot making ability....but it appears that Kobe backers are looking at his shot making ability (during an era where you can not hand check) and his rings as if they are the determinants that made MJ the greatest ever.

In this thread, I posted some of the stuff that everyone dissected with MJ that made him superior (namely he was the BEST perimeter defender of all time too!!!!)

But I also remember the commercials......some folks may be to young.....but the commercial jingle....."Sometimes I dream, that he is me..........LIKE MIKE, IF I CAN BE LIKE MIKE"  .... commercial was huge.....and has lead to other athletes in other sports being compared to MJ......this guy is the MJ of this sport....or the MJ of that sport

I just do not see other athletes being regarded as the Kobe Bryant of their sport.

Call me crazy, but th back and forth with shaq I think tarnishes him a little too....and his coach writing a book calling him or referring to Kobe as "uncoachable" also doesn't help Kobe supporters case either......and those are things that just can not be rewritten in Kobe's legacy.

that is the most idiotic statement i have ever heard....kobe could win ten more titles...and .he will never be the next michael jordan ...not in a million years!...

Do you think this new "no touch" era is better than the hardball era of the 80's and 90's?

Cause I think that was and will be the best basketball ever

I know the athletes are bigger stronger and faster but they don't have half the fundamentals that all the previous generations learned in College and this is killing the flow of the game as well as shooting. This style of basketball sucks IMO and is the reason I hate the NBA now as opposed to when I was a child and it was the only sport I loved

Can't believe anyone over 30 thinks this style of basketball is better than 15 years ago and the Lakers wouldn't have made it out of the West of 20 years ago when the players had heart and fundamental skills these players will always lack

Once again putting the fire of nonsense out w/out a struggle

That Blazers team would have beat all the teams Kobe did and the Suns team was great also

But I agree on the Lakers team being crap and Jordan having trouble w/ Magic's size

Of all the teams the Jazz were the strongest and he played them twice

Kobe's opponents

Sixers were a one man team and wouldn't have beat any of the teams MJ did not even those Lakers

Pistons were a great team and would have been good but IMO not enough scoring

The Celtics were good but this year they became an old group who IMO was unclutch and robbed at the foul line in the final game where Kobe shot like pure crap

Kobe Bryant hasn't performed in the Finals as a true great and his Finals record shows it

The only series he took over was the Sixers series where he played lights out in Philly and killed the Sixers

But in the Pistons series he was the reason they lost and then split the team

In the Boston series his team loses a 26 pt lead game  at home and ends up losing the series

Does anyone think the greatest in the game loses that game?

Even if MJ was playing 1 on 5 he would have found a way to win that game but Kobe let it go b'c he was incapable of doing anything

That game alone will make sure he is never considered b'c greats don't allow things like that to happen

Plus like I've been saying Kobe himself doesn't think it and neither does Magic and neither did Phil

I just don't believe the teams that Jordan beat were as GREAT as any of

the Teams that the LAKERS, SIXERS, CELTICS, PISTONS beat during their

run. Except for the JAZZ. To me, Jordan had it much easier than MAGIC,

BIRD, ISIAH, and DR. J. Of course you still have to go out there and

deal with what is dealt, which Jordan and the BULLS did magnificently.

It's just unfair to forget to mention the other greats of the past when

comparing Jordans Dominance and Kobe's Dominance. You should first ask

yourself which teams and players did these guys dominate during their

runs?

Again, even though Jordan had great games in the mid to late 80's, he

didn't win a title till all the Best Teams were done or they were only

a shadow of the franchise during their hey day.

I believe Jordan dominated a league that just didn't have other

dominant teams. So he stood alone. Sure there were great players in the

90's, but none of those great players he played against had a

supporting cast.

The Blazers had Clyde Drexler and Kevin Duckworth? (Rest in Peace). The

Suns had Barkeley and Kevin Johnson? KJ was good, but neither him or

Barkeley were winners. They weren't closers. And KJ was not the

superstar Sir charles was.

Then he beat Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp. Very good players, but they

weren't closers. The Jazz had Stockton and Malone. These guys were

studs, but I think the mailman was a choker. They still gave the Bulls

the toughest challenge in my opinion.

So yes, Jordan won 6 out of 6 titles and 6 title Mvps, won a bunch of

regular season MVps, A Defensive Player of the Year or two, All Star

MVPs, and a partridge and a pair tree. Safe to say Kobe will never win

all those individual awards. The only thing he can catch and I believe

that the only one that matters is the rings.

So individually, without question Jordan is and always will be the Best

or most accomplished, but Kobe has the chance to get closer to Bill

Russell. You guys ever wonder if Kobe just didn't care enough to get

all the individual awards and just focus on the rings? Focus on the

Team and Franchise?

You guys ever wonder maybe Kobe didn't win more awards because the

voters just don't like him? I mean, how in the world does Steve Nash

have more MVPS than KOBE? Or How does Dirk Nowitzki win one over KOBE?

Or LEbron have one more than KOBE? Where have these players taken their

teams? What have these guys done to take their TEAMS to a place where

KOBE's been 7 times?

I truly believe Kobe is a victim of hate and denial. Some of the HATE

he deserves, because he was accused of Rape and he's very arrogant, but

the rest of it he doesn't deserve because PEOPLE or VOTERS aren't

willing to ACCEPT his GREATNESS. People and Voters can't or wont let go

of the PAST and CANNOT APPRECIATE what they are witnessing. Rather,

they'd be more in a hurry to crown LEBRON, NASH, D-WADE, DIRK, Kevin

Durant, D-Howard the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Only D-Wade I believe deserves recognition on that list above, because

when he had his chance, he CLOSED THE DEAL. The rest of these guys are

a joke, because they all choked when it mattered most. Yeah Kobe had a

Bad Game 7, but he did what he had to do to help the Lakers win.

Unlike the Teams that Lebron, Nash, Dirk, Dhoward have, Kobe has the

players that were able to close in case Kobe needed help. You guys

always mention Jordan, but Jordan had guys that helped him too. He had

BJ Armstrong, Craig Hodges, Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Toni Kukoc, Jud

Buechler, Horace Grant, and of course Pippen and Rodman, even Bill

Cartwright and Luc Longley and Cliff Levingston, Scott Williams, and I

can keep going to fill their respective roles. The bottom line is only

Jordan and Kobe have been able to close the deal.

Way better than LEBRON, DHOWARD, DIRK, or NASH ever could. KOBE is

light years ahead of these guys, yet they have more or have equal MVP

AWARDS. Do you guys honestly in your heart believe these guys are

better? So if we were to take away these MVPs from these imposters, how

many would KOBE have? Lebron has 2, Nash has 2, Dirk 1. So if KOBE had

all 5 which he deserves, because he's better than all 3, is he closer

to Jordan?

The Answer is maybe. But the BIGGEST REASON why KOBE will never be

JORDAN is because... Nike made Jordan a BRAND, and it has been

instilled in all of us, including young kids that AIR JORDANS are and

will always be the BEST SHOES and are the pinnacle of BASKETBALL GEAR.

So how in the world can KOBE top that? Even if Kobe went on an MVP and

TITLE rampage, it would still be almost impossible to top the JORDAN

BRAND. Especially because there are SO MANY KOBE HATERS.

People are so busy hating on KOBE, they overlook his talent and what

he's done for the LAKERS. Then there are the KOBE lovers who think KOBE

can do no wrong. So if there's anything that KOBE is, I believe he is

the most heavily criticized player in NBA HISTORY. One day hes the next

Jordan, the next day he's a hot dog that's just a copycat. Next day

he's a champion and MVP. Following day Lebron and Durant are better.

Another thing I believe is for sure. When Kobe is gone, all you guys

who are TRUE basketball heads will come to realize that KOBE if not

Better than Jordan was the closest that we will ever see a player that

was identical to the man we consider the greatest. Not only as a player

but what he brought to the team and what he did to his opponents.

So save the HATE and instead of Love, give KOBE some RESPECT. Because

KOBE works so hard to get to where he's at, and because he puts in all

the time in the gym, he's the only guy since Jordan, that is able to

close the deal more often than anyone else when it matters most.   

Ask yourself would Jordan win as many titles and awards had he not been

all alone in the 90's. What if he played now? Ask yourself about all

the Kobe haters and if he had more writers who liked him, would he have

more MVPs. What if Shaq just swallowed his pride or stayed in better

shape would the Lakers have won more titles?

Ask yourself, should you hate Kobe for being accused of Rape or should

you hate the judicial system in which Kobe was able to get himself out

of his mess? Ask yourself why you hate or love kobe so much. And what

valid reasons do you have. Rather than just using assumptions. Use some

logic in comparing your hate or love for Kobe, and the comparison to

Jordan.

Again, individually there is no comparison to JORDAN, but at the end of

KOBEs tenure we might be able to determine who had a better overall

career. BUT... The same goes for all the players NOW. THERE IS NO

COMPARISON TO KOBE. Its KOBE and the rest. THE NBA IS KOBES LEAGUE. It

HAS been for the LAST FEW YEARS. NO matter what any of you HATERS say.

No matter who the MVP or any other award goes to. ONLY THE ONE TEAM

THAT IS LEFT STANDING AND WINS THE NBA TITLE MATTERS. And even when

PAUL PIERCE WON, he still wasn;t even close to KOBE, because when he

had his Chance to back up his BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD REMARK he

crumbled like a cookie. KOBE was the BEST PLAYER IN 6 of the 7 games of

the Finals. NUFF SAID.