Better NBA Player

Tequilla

"Scientific" poll for some other people ... field isn't an option as a result (hardy har har

dnc

Bill Russell

It's either Russell or Magic. I never saw Russell play but 11 rings puts him at #2 all time for me. I love everything Magic could do though. I'd probably take Kareem over Wilt too, btw.

Mike
Russell
Magic
Bird
Kareem
Wilt
Oscar
Kobe
Duncan
LeBron


I really have no idea where to rank LeBron right now. I feel like he ends up a lot higher on this list but if his career ended today I'm not sure I could put him ahead of anyone else listed.

[Deleted User]

Bill Russell

Down voted for having Kobe ahead of Lebron.

Lebron has more MVP's, higher PER, higher PPG, higher RPG, higher APG, better FG %, better 3 pt FG% too.

Kobe has him beat on rings but was robin for three of them.

dnc

Bill Russell

He_Needs_More_Time said:

Down voted for having Kobe ahead of Lebron.

Lebron has more MVP's, higher PER, higher PPG, higher RPG, higher APG, better FG %, better 3 pt FG% too.

Kobe has him beat on rings but was robin for three of them.

I readily admit that Bron's a better player than Kobe, but IMO when evaluating the best of all time you're ranking careers not per game excellence. Longevity counts for a lot.

The case for Kobe:

Five more all star games
Four more all NBA teams
Seven more all NBA defensive teams
Four more rings
One more ring as the alpha dog
Kobe's three rings as best player came with worst supporting casts than LeBron's two rings as best player

If we're selecting the best guy at their peak I take LeBron. If we're selecting the guy with the best career I don't think it's that close right now, LeBron still needs at least two more excellent seasons to pass him IMO.

Love to see your top 10.

Tequilla

Bill Russell

Kobe vs. LeBron is a very interesting argument.

DNC makes some good points.

I think Larry Bird made a very good distinction about the two when he said that LeBron would be more fun to play with but Kobe is who you'd want if you want to win championships. I don't think LeBron wants to be great or has the killer instinct like Kobe does.

Normally when they go head to head, Kobe has ended up making the bigger plays and in the 2008 Olympics was the defaulted go to player. Even in the 2012 Olympics, you could argue that LeBron took a back seat in those games to Kevin Durant.

dnc

Bill Russell

Tequilla said:

Kobe vs. LeBron is a very interesting argument.

DNC makes some good points.

I think Larry Bird made a very good distinction about the two when he said that LeBron would be more fun to play with but Kobe is who you'd want if you want to win championships. I don't think LeBron wants to be great or has the killer instinct like Kobe does.

Normally when they go head to head, Kobe has ended up making the bigger plays and in the 2008 Olympics was the defaulted go to player. Even in the 2012 Olympics, you could argue that LeBron took a back seat in those games to Kevin Durant.

When did Bird say this? I think it was definitely true at one point, but I think LBJ's developed more of a killer instinct the last few years.

OTOH, you never would have won a game after blowing in Kobe's ear. I'd rather have peak Kobe if I had to win one game though even though Lebron's a better player.

I don't think it's a knock on Lebron to say he doesn't have Kobe's killer instinct though. Kobe is probably the second most competitive player to ever play the game.

Tequilla

Bill Russell

DNC,

See below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecS0D-Vxh8Y

[Deleted User]

Bill Russell

Bird said that when Lebron had zero titles for the record.

So DNC why have Bird so high? He's only played like 65 more career games than Lebron.

[Deleted User]

Bill Russell

Tequilla, you realize that Lebron took control of that gold medal game in 2012?

Kobe gets the better of him? Lebron has a commanding HTH W-L advantage over Kobe and Durant.

Please stop spewing bullshit with no facts behind them.

CuntWaffle

Bill Russell

Michael Jordan
Robert Swift
Manut Bol
Kwame Brown
Jason Collins
Scott Brooks
Lebron James
Nick Van Exel
Greg Oden

Tequilla

Bill Russell

He_Needs_More_Time said:

Bird said that when Lebron had zero titles for the record.

So DNC why have Bird so high? He's only played like 65 more career games than Lebron.

Are you trying to say that Bird didn't respect LeBron at that point given that he said that he was the best player in the game right now and that it wasn't even close?

Why is Bird valued so high? Beginning in his first year of '79-'80, Bird's teams reached at minimum the conference finals in 8 of his first 9 years in the league.

A common "discrediting" I've heard of Bird was that he played for Boston, played with all of these great players, and that he more or less walked into success. Not so. They won a title in '75-'76. The next year they won 44 games. In '77-'78, the Celtics won 32 games. In '78-'79, they won 29 games.

And if you look at the list of players in the East that he had to go through to get deep into the playoffs every year? It's a who's who list of players to have ever played the game. The Eastern Conference in the 80s was far and away the more difficult of the two conferences.