Sports fans, like myself, regularly debate with people about what players are greater than others. The conversation piece brings both a level of curiosity and anger that most NBA fans, and sports fans in general, can greatly appreciate. But recently I have noticed that more and more people have adopted the idea that Kobe Bryant is as good or better than Michael Jordan. But this notion is incorrect, and we can easily see this after examining the statistics and success of each player.
Statistics:
Michael Jordan’s career averages: 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, and 2.3 SPG
Kobe Bryant’s career averages: 25.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.4 SPG
While looking at statistics we can easily see that Michael Jordan was the more consistently dominate and better all-around player.
Accomplishments:
Michael Jordan’s accomplishments: 6x NBA Champion, 6x NBA Finals MVP, 5x NBA MVP, 14x NBA All-Star, 3x NBA All-Star Game MVP, 11x All-NBA Team member, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, 9x NBA All-Defensive First Team member, 10x NBA scoring champion, 3x NBA steals leader, 2x NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion, NBA Rookie of the Year, and NBA Playoffs all-time leading scorer.
Kobe Bryant’s accomplishments: 5x NBA Champion, 2x NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, 18x NBA All-Star, 4x NBA All-Star Game MVP, 15x All-NBA Team member, 12x NBA All-Defensive Team member, and 2x NBA scoring champion.
After observing details about each players statistics and accomplishments it seems that Kobe Bryant fans only have a few arguing points when it comes to being compared to Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant has more career points, played five more seasons in the NBA, appeared in four more All-Star games, had four more All-NBA team selections, and had three more All-Defensive team selections. But Michael Jordan has the advantage on almost every other arguing point that makes an NBA player great. Michael Jordan has one more NBA Championship, four more NBA MVP awards, four more NBA Finals MVP awards, eight more scoring titles, one more NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, 41.28 more career win shares, and a higher career average in every major statistic.
Kobe Bryant was a fantastic player who greatly affected an entire generation, and there is no denying that, but when it comes to being compared to Michael Jordan he is not favorable. He is not the mirror image of Michael Jordan that most Los Angeles Lakers fans allow him to be seen as in their heads, but instead is simply a man who modeled himself after a legend that he could never fully match up to.
