Kobe vs Lebron

Kobe vs Lebron. Who is the best? This has been a common point of contention among NBA fans over the last couple of years. In past years I have always been firmly in the Kobe camp. This year, the debate has become much more blurry for me as evidenced by the box scores below from the games last Friday.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kobe Bryant, SG	42	10-20	1-4	15-17	1	6	7	13	1	0	5	3	+7	36

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
LeBron James, SF	36	13-25	3-7	9-9	1	6	7	6	4	3	3	2	+20	38

My evening began with watching Lebron completely dismantle the Celtics and I must admit that I thouroughly enjoyed the accompanying schadenfreude of the spectacle. While Lebron's complete body of work from the evening was left me feeling equal parts giddy and awestruck, there were two plays that stood out from the evening as it relates to the topic at hand. Both from the 4th quarter.

If I recall correctly, the Celtics had chipped a little off the lead and had drawn to within 5 or 6 points. Cleveland went on a mini-run of about 4. Regained the momentum and the crowd was really loud. The Cavs  steal the ball and get out on the break. Lebron spots up for three in transition, catches the pass, the crowd goes silent with anticipation, and clang goes the potential dagger. The first thought that comes to my mind is that Kobe buries that three and ices the game right then and there. No questions asked.

The second play that stood out to me was a sign of the maturation and self-awareness that Lebron has experienced of late. Boston was embarrassing themselves by intentionally fouling Ben Wallace every time down the court with the hopes of somehow climbing back in to the game due to Wallace's woeful free throw shooting. I think it was the third time down the floor after Boston had started the strategy when Lebron, with a complete sneer of disdain on his face, tried to time his shot with the impending foul. Lebron had just crossed half court, Boston fouled Wallace, and Lebron launched his shot which banked off the glass and went in the hoop. Sadly, the officials were not paying attention and did not count the basket. Regardless, this was the perfect example of how Lebron has matured and become much more aware on the court. A true sign of greatness.

After watching Lebron destroy the Celtics, I capped off my evening with the absolute clinic that Kobe put on against the Pacers. He was in absolute control of every aspect of the game. His control was on perfect display with 25 seconds left. The Pacers had just hit a long 3 to tie the game. Kobe walks the ball up the court, burns some time, backs his man down, and drills the turn-around jumper from about the free throw line. Game over and it was never in doubt. That is just what Kobe does. He is so technically sound that he is unguardable. He is so smart and understands the agnles and the nuances of the game so well that he is unguardable. Kobe is operating at the absolute peak of his talents. The one "flaw" in his game that I see is that he is not quite as explosive as he was in his younger days. I don't really see him throwing down a nasty dunk with his junk in Steve Nash's face anymore.  He just doesn't seem to have as much spring anymore. Maybe he is just older and wiser now and doesn't unleash the nastiness unless he absolutely needs to.

So I spent the weekend thinking about this Kobe vs Lebron and who is better debate. The comparison between the two is very difficult because their games and styles are so different. Lebron is an absolute force of nature who is unstoppable because of his raw strength and speed as well as his freakish agility who does the bulk of his damage around the basket. Kobe is unstoppable because of his unmatched technical proficiency and knowledge of the game. Kobe has a much, much better jump shot yet Lebron is like a runaway train on his way to the basket. Kobe as of right now has a much, much more exapansive knowledge and understanding of the game yet Lebron has physical attributes that have never been seen on the court before. He is built like Karl Malone and moves like Michael Jordan. Scary. So who is better? Both? Neither? 

Kobe is operating at his absolute peak while Lebron appears to have just begun to scratch the surface of his potential. Does Lebron's "potential" make him better than Kobe? Depends on how you define better. I guess what I am trying to get at is that after a weekend of thought, I have decided that I don't want to make a definitive statement as to who is better. I want to simply appreciate both for what they bring to the game. I want to be awestruck by the brute force and raw energy of Lebron barreling down the lane ready to rip off another earth shattering dunk. I want to watch Kobe cooly drain morale snapping 3 pointers with his perfect feel for the tipping point in a game. I want to jump out of my seat and yelp when Lebron tracks down a break and swoops in to block a lay-up. I want to appreciate Kobe abuse defenders with his footwork as he gets to any point on the courth he desires.

Really I just want to stop the forced comparisons of the two and simply appreciate them for who they are and the differences in their styles. I am tired of sucking the joy out of the game with the question of who is better. I am just going to sit back and continue to be fascinated by them both.

This post didn't come off as coherently as I would have hoped. I just started writing without any planning as to where I would go. My bad. One last thing I wanted to throw in that more succinctly sums up the whole point I wanted to make is an idea from Mercurialblonde, an anonymous poster on a blog I frequent:

Kobe is Batman. The sociopath from priviledge. Lebron is Captain America. The genetic freak who intuitively makes all the right moves. Lebron's Captain America is only fully appreciated when in his presence. Kobe's Batman haunts opponents when he is not in the room. Both get the job done.