Links: Kobe vs. LeBron?
Let’s see what the baseball analyst has to say!
A word of advice to any of you out there who find yourself on an early morning JetBlue flight, fighting off sleep while the ESPN “family” of networks plays in your headphones: This could cause air rage. Earlier today I was on a flight and figured I should try to watch “SportsCenter,” since I hadn’t watched it in about a week. I tuned in and was immediately confronted by a segment in which we, the viewers, would be told who was the better NBA player, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. The anchor introduced the segment and the cameras cut to…
ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian! For real, TK was talking about Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. No, no, seriously, this was on “SportsCenter,” a baseball expert talking about the NBA. (I’m not sure if this says more about ESPN’s love for Kurkjian or their disdain for their 341 NBA analysts.) Anyway, Kurkjian said that he likes LeBron but he likes Kobe more, for two reasons: he’s a better defensive player and, get this, he’s a better jump shooter. Now, Kobe is a better jump shooter, but why should that be the deciding factor in choosing the MVP? Isn’t that like me saying I’d take Barry Zito over Jake Peavy for last year’s Cy Young Award because Zito has a better curve ball?
Kurkjian went on to add that Michael Jordan could guard “everyone on the other team whenever he wanted.” Not just anyone, but “everyone,” which must have been amazing to see — Michael Jordan guarding five guys all at the same time. And while I do recall MJ being a great defender, I do not recall him ever guarding opposing centers. But then, I’m not a baseball analyst.
At this point I switched the channel and came across ESPN 2, where two men named Mike were discussing the NCAA Tournament and a bet that might require one of the two to wear a cheerleader outfit.
So I turned to VH1 Classic.
There’s video of Kurkjian (and Anthony Munoz!) weighing in on this topic here, and it seems to be a common talking point this week all over the internets. I’m not sure what the rest of ESPN’s analysts have to say about this — has anyone heard from Barry Melrose on this? — but isn’t it obvious to pretty much everyone that right now Kobe is just a little better than LeBron?
That’s not taking anything at all away from LeBron. If I was starting a franchise right now and had the choice between Kobe and LeBron, I’d take LeBron in a second, because he’s younger and has many more miles left on him than Kobe. But if I had to take one of those guys to play in a game tonight, I’d take Kobe in a second. And I think Kobe’s the better one-on-one defender, even though LeBron and Kobe each average 2 steals per game and LeBron averages more blocks per game and more defensive rebounds per game.
Just like Anthony Munoz.
• You guys might recall that Ben and I have a running bet going about whether or not Bucks rookie Yi Jianlian will average 25 minutes a game this season. Ben doesn’t think he will. I think he will because the Bucks had to make a promise that he’d average at least 25 minutes a game to get him to leave China.
Checking in on his stats…through 58 games, he’s averaging 25:23 minutes a night. Hang in there, Yi!
• The Celtics are getting Sam Cassell, which is great way to assure that the Big 3 sees their shots opportunities drop. But what’s great is the double-speak Linkstigator Doc Rivers is using to explain all of this. First he says…
“This is Rajon’s team. That’s not going to change. He’s the point guard of this team. He’s going to remain the point guard of this team. We just want to have backup.”
Great, right? So Rondo plays the majority of the minutes, but Cassell comes in for short bursts toward the end of the first and third quarters to let Rondo rest. Then, in the very next paragraph, Rivers says…
“(Cassell) gives us another guy that’s been there and makes big shots - and is willing to take big shots.”
But when do guys take big shots? In the fourth quarter with the game on the line, right? So does that mean Rondo won’t be in the game when it matters?
• Listen to “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” while you read this.
• This Hawks/Heat replay is turning into the dumbest thing of all time. Now the NBA has announced that Shawn Marion and Mike Bibby will be allowed to play, even though they weren’t on the teams when the original mess happened. The Hawks should also sign Dominique Wilkins to a 10-day the day before the game and throw him out there, too.
• I wonder if they’ll threaten to sue me if I point out George Karl looks like John Lithgow? Because he totally does, you know?
43 Responses to “Links: Kobe vs. LeBron?”
Mar.4 at 4:24 pm
Deuce21 says:
First: Kobe (This year at least…)
Mar.4 at 4:24 pm
Ryan Jones says:
The fact that professional baseball analysts think Kobe is better than LeBron means that LeBron is definitively and once and for all better than Kobe. I’m glad this has finally been settled.
Mar.4 at 4:27 pm
Deuce21 says:
Second: Lebron (but 1st for the next few years with CP3 & Amare close behind)
Mar.4 at 4:30 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
SportsCenter also decreed that a Boise State Statue of Liberty play was the second-best sports highlight OF ALL TIME.
Mar.4 at 4:30 pm
peteb80 says:
I’d still give it to LeBron. In my opinion, LeBron’s teammates are worse, LeBron was slightly better when they played against each other this season and 30, 8, 7.5 is incredible.
Mar.4 at 4:34 pm
Myles Brown says:
LeBron is better at wearing headbands.
Mar.4 at 4:39 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
FTH
Mar.4 at 4:43 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
Too bad Atlanta and Miami didn’t make a trade - it would have made the replay even more ridiculous.
Mar.4 at 4:46 pm
Big L says:
Hey Lang, congrats to the Falcons for signing the Burner Turner. If you guys get some Offensive linemen to help open up the holes, Turner will have a very productive season. Altho 6 years is a bit much. I got LeBron over Kobe too.
Mar.4 at 4:48 pm
TADOne says:
What Ryan said.
Mar.4 at 4:53 pm
Krayzie Bone says:
Ok Russ what is FTH. I couldn’t see it defined in the post up (i may have missed it).
Mar.4 at 4:58 pm
what says:
Michael Turner will be great with Jerious Norwood, especially when Vick gets out of jail and comes back and leads the Falcons to the Super Bowl.
Mar.4 at 5:03 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
@Big L: Remember, football contracts are basically fake — they can cut a guy whenever they want, so it’s not a six-year deal unless the Falcons decide they want to keep him around for the entire six years.
Mar.4 at 5:26 pm
Captain America says:
Lang, bulls-eye. Sam-I-Am likes to shoot the rock. Frankly, they should always run the offense through KG. He knows when to dish and when to shoot better than anyone in the league. Short take: Rajon starts the game but Sam-I-Am finishes.
Mar.4 at 5:28 pm
jesse says:
kobes been the best basketball player for years now hands down kobes a better player all the people that watch kobe and lebron will agree that kobe is better all around player.
Mar.4 at 5:29 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
cal/stanford touchdown runback while the band is in the field if the best highlight ever….kobe best player in the L this year. last yr too. and has swapped with duncan back and forth for the last 4 years. i’ve said this many times (check the archives) but kobe is one of the great ones. bron is awesome too. Either way you’re good…cavs/lakers finals would be the most watched in a long time. maybe ever…michael turner can play but the falcons need so much that i don’t know what the future holds for them…just give the hawks that W and move on. Why make the hawks and heat play again. Don’t the Heat want Beasley? they should want the fewest wins they can get then right? damn i should be i charge of a team….speaking of karl, man the nuggets suck.
Mar.4 at 5:31 pm
TADOne says:
Breathe Khalid.
Mar.4 at 6:08 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
Loving Lang and the Links. FTH.
Mar.4 at 6:17 pm
B. Long says:
Its just like what Reggie said bout Wade and Mamba if u traded them for each other Kobe would def. make the Heat a playoff team. Same with the Cavs if u put Kobe on that team there competing with Boston and MoTown.
Mar.4 at 6:50 pm
Tommy Patron says:
My friends and I have been referring to Karl as “John Lipgouge” for years.
Mar.4 at 6:51 pm
Reggie Evans says:
B. Long - I like the name.
Mar.4 at 8:02 pm
gl_79 says:
Kobe for now… but ‘Bron has crazy potential with that body of his. @Myles Brown: That’s what you gotta do when you’re starting to bald!
Mar.4 at 8:15 pm
Cub Buenning says:
I would like to second Khalid’s comment, basically in its entirety. Although, the words “the Nuggets suck,” won’t come out of my mouth. They frustrate to no end, yes, but I would imagine a lot of teams that would love to be double-digit games over .500.
I said the same thing to my wife the other day about the Cal/Stanford play.
The Boise St. highlight wasn’t even the best play in that game.
Mar.4 at 8:59 pm
boobie_gibson says:
Kobe on the Cavs, might be able to compete with Miami. Lol. Naw, but I don’t think they would be up there with Detroit Basketball, and Boston. I could just as easily say Breezy on the Lakers, would win 83 out of 82 games. No one will ever know.
Mar.5 at 1:24 am
TC says:
I don’t know who is better but if I have to play one game with my life on the line, I will pick Lebron to be on my team and feel good about it.
Mar.5 at 2:58 am
Reggie Evans says:
I don’t know who is better but if I have to play one game with my life on the line, that would be a very f’d up situation.
Mar.5 at 3:21 am
Jimmy G says:
The final nail in the coffin for espn’s coverage of basketball for me was Jalen Rose talking about the youth of the Mavs before the Kidd trade. The Mavs were so young that they had the second oldest team in the league.
Mar.5 at 3:33 am
Weapon X says:
King James is a beast! But I’ll take The Answer.
Mar.5 at 3:52 am
Tariq says:
1- Baseball? That’s like if Stephen Hawking, Star Jones and Mitt Romney assembled to referee a rap battle between Lupe Fiasco and Young Jeezy, only less gangsta. (Lu would win easily BTW). 2- The Links always has the best pictures to accompany the posts. 3- The Nuggets don’t “suck” per se. But they underachieve in a maddeningly frustrating fashion. So they do suck. Semantics. 4- Lang perfectly encapsulated all there is to say about Kobe and Bron in 12 words or so. Nice. Fancifulness Trumps Horticulture.
Mar.5 at 1:38 pm
Maurice Garland says:
Lang…you should hear the commercials down here for the Heat game…”come see the Hawks attempt to win two games in one day!”…we can hardly win one in one week! As far as Every Suspect’s Probably Negro…is concerned, i thought it was cool when they Kruk, Reynolds, G. Anthony and Legler all talk about each others sports on a roundtable back in 03…but they shoulda left it there…before we know it we’re gonna have Salsbury telling us who th best team in the league is… Oh yeah, Peep my blog if you get a chance to….
Mar.5 at 2:01 pm
J-bird says:
I’d go with the King if i had to choose between the two.
Mar.5 at 5:01 pm
KaponoE says:
What a double-standard: When Kobe played with scrubs it was Kobe’s fault they were scrubs.
But….
Now that Lebron plays with scrubs… it’s the scrubs’ fault that they are scrubs. (I thought he made his teammates better?) “Kobe got help in the form of a former All-Star in Gasol so that’s the reason for his teams success”
But…
LeBron is playing with former All-Stars in Big Z and Big Ben. “LeBron has more assists so he’s better!”
But….
Kobe plays in an offensive system where assists are evenly distributed among the team. The triangle is based on ball movement not one person dominating the ball. Kobe doesn’t rebound and his shooting pct is lower than LBJ
But…
LeBron is also a FORWARD not a Two-Guard so he is in better position for rebounds AND a higher FG% as he’s closer to the basket. LBJ holds the edge against Kobe in head to head competition so he’s better….
But…
Melo holds the edge against James in head to head competition so Melo MUST BE be better. I’m not trying to hate. I’m really not. LBJ is a beast. But this is Kobe’s year. All you LBJ fans will have a chance to gloat about how good your guy is in the future…. But for now please quit hating. Appreciate greatness in general and enjoy the anticipation and the build up knowing that LBJ will dominate the league from 2010 to ??? I promise you that you will get your turn if LBJ keeps developing the way he is. Enjoy that we get to see two TRUE superstars in action. One in his prime, the other just scratching the surface. Kobe’s got now. LeBron’s got next.
Mar.5 at 5:23 pm
J-bird says:
I’m sorry, but LeBron’s got now and next.
Mar.5 at 5:50 pm
SoCalFan22 says:
First off all analyst and like 90% of the media is suspect. Just cause they watch the games they think they are experts, I tend to listen to only those that have played the game and were actually good. As for this we should get used to these kind of observations, even though he got this one right. Kobe is a better over all player handsdown, better defense, better shooter and better in the clutch. Up to now Kobe is the best but if the question was who would you want for your future, well definetly Lebron because of his age. KOBE MVP 2008, but someone undeserving chump like choke artist Dirk will probably again.
Mar.5 at 6:54 pm
Tariq says:
Kobe’s got now more.
Mar.5 at 8:27 pm
tt says:
you think espn was bad, did u read the article on yahoo. Why Kobe is not your MVP, that was worthless crap luring people into his blog.
Mar.5 at 10:42 pm
Hubert says:
and i thought kelly dwyer’s your friend, lang?
Mar.6 at 2:32 pm
K 206 says:
Kobe all the way. Lebron in the end will go down as the best ever (pending championships), but Kobe’s go three rings and if you’re comparing them right now, it is what it is. Would Mike be the greatest without the rings?
Mar.9 at 1:07 am
John Chappell says:
LeBron is clearly the better player if you base your reasoning on THIS year. First lets look at the stats; LeBron is a better scorer (leads the league in scoring), LeBron is a better rebounder, LeBron is a better passer, LeBron blocks more shots, and as your article stated they are equal at 2 steals per game. Now lets go pass the stats; Kobe fans keeps saying Kobe is a better defender but thats not at all accurate! If you want to call Kobe a better perimeter defender I might be willing to grant you that (I might) but lets just look at what happened this week. When the Lakers and Dallas were going back and forth in the overtime it was Kobe and Dirk scoring back and forth but NOT ONE TIME did Kobe attempt to guard Dirk, why? Because Dirk is too big for him and would just shoot over Kobe. When the CAVs beat Dallas who do you think guarded Dirk at crunch time? LeBron of course! Not only did he shut down the 7′ Dirk N., who guarded the best 2 guard at crunch time? LeBron of course shut down Kobe both times at crunch time AND LeBron hit the winning basket in both games!!! LeBron guards the other teams best scorer big or small (at crunch time), Kobe can’t duplicate that feat. In fact I notice none of you Kobe fans even mention face to face meetings where Kobe AND/OR the Lakers have not gotten a win in two seasons (they split the season before that) one win in six meetings in the last three seasons, and that one win was by 1 point and LeBron missed a shot at the buzzer for the Lakers only victory in three seasons versus the CAVs. Plus LeBron still averages around 30 points against the Western Conference but Kobe’s number go DOWN across the board when he faces the Eastern conference! (go check the stats if you don’t believe it!). So really if you look at this year it’s really not even close, LeBron is clearly better and I think you must be including previous years in your thinking. Here is my final point…. I keep hearing “yeah but LeBron is young and he’ll have plenty time to get mutiple MVPs but Kobe has never received one so it’s his time”. THAT IS THE WEAKEST ARGUMENT OF ALL!!!!! Remember we are talking about THIS YEAR!!! Case closed!
Mar.26 at 4:00 pm
Anthony E says:
Kobe is one of the greatest players of all times if not the best lebron is still young Kobe is 30 he’s lasted longer than jordan (da greatest) you do the math and he is on the break of a champoinship cuz bottom line kobe is by far better than Lebron
Apr.18 at 3:24 pm
Jev says:
LeBron is past kobe, you guys says this is kobe’s season, that’s why LeBron is killing Kobe in everything but 3 point and free throw %. LeBron has him on points, rebounds, assists, and besides the fact that kobe is a ballhog, passing it then calling for the ball back is not a play guys, but thats what some people think, just like Steven A said at the beginning of the season… Kobe is best scorer… Wade is best finisher… and LeBron is All Around the Best
May.9 at 4:04 pm
Kenji Johjima says:
KOBE!!!
May.15 at 7:54 pm
Tayshaun Blanks says:
Kobe is the better all a round player.All this young teenagers these days think Lebron good cus lebron is in there time.THey aint watch kobe when he was 24.Kobe is a better all around round player.hes a better shooter,has more expirence,has 3 championships,faster than Lebron,can drive to the basket better than Lebron,better free throw shooter than lebron and has a better iq and to go with that kobe is a amazing dunker.Lebron may have better statistics but if u see,kobe is the better player and defensive play.lebron still aint win a defensive team yet.lebron is better in blocks,rebounds, and passing.lebrons better in rebounding and blocking cus he got size avantage.kobe is 6 foot6 and lebron is 6 foot 8.also way 140 pounds more than kobe.But lebron has a vision of a point guard and can pass the basketball.Lebron is good and might be better than kobe in the future but as of right now,u couldent agree more that Kobe is the top dog