Not sure why anyone responded to his comments. If you ignore the idiot, he will go away (hopefully!).

I was (am) a hardcore MJ fan. I am a hardcore Kobe fan. I see a lot of the same attributes as the apprentice modelled himself on the master. BUT there is no sensible argument you could make saying that Kobe is better than MJ.

Kaveh’s other remarks about Wilt, Shaq etc are equally laughable. Not even worth putting him straight on them.

Lets just respond to comments worth responding to.

http://www.michaeljordansworld.com/

Also, check out Hoopsencyclopedia’s channel on Youtube. Someone may come along who is as good or better than MJ, but it’s not Kobe. Like Adam pointed out, it’s already too late to seriously put Kobe in the same conversation, and Kobe’s not going to get better from this point forward. (in fact, LeBron has been the better player for the last couple of seasons; it’s just that Kobe has the better teammates) Unless he’s able to accumulate four or five Finals MVP awards by the end of his career, there’s little reason to bring him up. The way that the media brings up Jordan in order to sell Kobe tickets doesn’t mean anything to those who are aware of Jordan’s accomplishments beyond just the six championships. It’s just silly and annoying.

I’m sorry, but the Kobe/MJ debate ended when the Lakers got blown out in the deciding game of the 08 finals.

I disagree with all of your arguments, but either way, Jordan simply didn’t allow his teams to lose. He willed them to wins. MJ would have NEVER allowed his team to lose by 40 (40!) points in a deciding game, let alone the NBA Finals.

Also your point that MJ only had 2 rings at Kobe’s current age is incredibly misleading (and wrong: Jordan was 31 in 94: 3 rings). Kobe has played 13 NBA seasons and has 4 rings, 3 of which came with him NOT being the team’s best player. Even if you count MJ’s 2nd season when he broke his foot and only played 18 games and the 94-95 season when he came back for 17 games, his 13th season was his final with the Bulls. He won 6 rings, every time being the best player on the team and winning the Finals MVP. This doesn’t even take into account that he gave up 2 years of his prime.

So I’ll count the 2 seasons that he missed almost all of so you can’t nit pick my argument, but in reality, MJ had 6 rings as the best player on the team in 11 seasons. Kobe has had all of his prime and only has 1 ring as the best player in 13 seasons.

Fisking completed.

We could all debate for hours about the caliber of players now vs then, so I won’t waste your time. There is one thing that you cannot debate: the types of defenses faced.

With the hand-check rules and the quick whistles of referees these days, defenses simply aren’t as good. Think about the physical pounding that the Pistons and Knicks were allowed to bring on their opponents.

Like I said, we can argue on and on about Stockton and Malone vs. Paul and Garnett (not to detract from my argument, but you have the career leaders in assists, steals, and points vs. …) (also their mystique is partially ruined bc MJ didn’t let anyone win any rings).

Anyway, Jordan dominated when defenses were allowed to literally beat players up. I’m not saying LeBron or some future star couldn’t win then, but the comparison isn’t so simple. Also, win 6 rings, and lose MVP races bc people are literally tired of voting for you, then we’ll talk.

Would MJ and Scottie be able to beat Shaq/Kobe? I think the Shaq/Kobe lakers were the superior team. Kobe is about the same as MJ and Shaq is far superior to Pippen. The truth is that during MJ time, you did not have good competition. Compare MJ’s time to the 1980’s, when you had the Lakers and the Celtics, each with 3-4 hall of famers on the team! Or the 2000’s with the Duncan Spurs or the Kobe/Shaq lakers.

Also, I believe that MJ is perhaps the most over-rated player in NBA history. Regarding total domination, Wilt Chamberlin was far ahead of MJ. Wilt averaged over 48minutes per game in some seasons, averaging 50+ points and like 25+ rebounds per game (not to mention blocks, which unfortunately they did not keep record of). Wilt was a far more dominating pure basketball player than MJ. What about Oscar? A much better all around player, stat wise. Regarding championships? Well, you had Bill Russell with 11. A mark MJ had no chance of reaching. What about Magic and his Lakers with 5 rings? The truth is that no one really put it all together like MJ, and that’s why he is remembered as being better than the rest.

MJ had the domination, the all around numbers, the score at will, the longevity and most importantly, the championships. However, this does not mean that MJ is untouchable! If you want to compare, Kobe is right on MJ’s level, career wise. At Kobe’s age, MJ had 2 rings. Kobe is the more explosive scorer –MJ never even approached 81 points in a game (by the way, KObe could have scored 100 points that game if he really wanted to), or 62 in 3 quarters agaunst the 2006 Mavs who won like 65 games and had one of the best Ds in the league. Their defense is comparable. MJ has more rings, but Kobe COULD have 6 by the time he retires. He could have more points/playoff points, wins, etc. Kobe’s playmaking and facilitating is better than Jordan’s. Jordan was more consistent and dominant stat wise. All in all, Kobe and MJ are very similar and on the same level. Yet to suggest such a thing is blasphemy to basketball fans.

MJ has a lot more going for him than bball.