LeBron's Early Years Better than Kobe's

Kobe Bryant is having the best season of his career, leading his new three seven-footer death squad to championship contention. 

LeBron James is also having the best season of his career, leading more of a dead squad to playoff dreams.  Both are widely regarded as the two best players in the league.  

The debate is passionate if you read the dozens of articles regarding the subject.

Should Kobe win the MVP award?  To be honest, I wouldn’t be outraged if it happened to be the case, but when it comes to the best start to a career, I’ll take LeBron over Kobe for what he’s accomplished so far.   

Don’t get me wrong, Kobe Bryant is a unique player, one who will leave his print on NBA’s history like few players ever did. 

At age 30, he’s got three rings and hundreds of incredible plays you can watch over and over again on YouTube. When he’s on a roll he’s the closest thing there is or ever was  to basketball perfection (let’s pretend for a second that MJ never existed).

Here’s a guy who once scored 55 points in a half, scored 40 nine straight times, 63 points sitting out in the fourth, was the youngest to reach 10,000 points up until a few weeks ago.

I still think that if you take a look at his entire (great) career LeBron is way ahead so far in terms of maturity, leadership, and reveled genius. 

If I were to put on my Kobe-hater Halloween costume for just a moment, I’d say that Kobe is a 45 percent all time shooter (not great), 34 percent all time three point shooter (not good), spent his first two years in the NBA learning how to become a basketball genius averaging just 12 points a game.  He heated up in his third season but still missed 32 games due to injury. We tend to forget his last second air balls during some playoff games in his younger days.  

For a long time, Kobe was feared by opponents for his great plays but also by his coaches for his ill-advised and sometimes selfish decisions. His selfish behavior could have been voiced over in Spanish for a Mexican Telenovela. Whether it’s been Shaq, Phil Jackson, his teammates, or the Lakers president, many feuds have surrounded Bryant's heated and self-centered personality. 

Some say he reacts such a way because he hates losing and will do anything to better his team.  Maybe so. LeBron feels the same about winning, but shows it differently, more quietly, and maybe more efficiently. Kobe’s a winner so far this season but has been a frustrated first round playoff series loser for several years.  

Don’t get me wrong, over the years he gradually climbed the ladder of brilliance. What has he become? Nothing less than a historical player who’s now well equipped to finish his great career with a championship. 

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