Like it or not, the competition Bryant has to deal with is not the same competition that Jordan had to deal with it.
6) The Media
The Media has played a big part in whether we like or don’t like Kobe.
Kobe’s been scrutinized by the media ever since he declared that he was coming straight to the NBA whereas Jordan was the media darling. He was protected by the media like no player ever has or will.
The only media outlet that ever looked into Jordan’s personal life was the tabloids and no one never gave those a second look. Whereas anything and everything Kobe does is on the front pages of newspapers.
Also, Jordan wasn’t exactly the perfect husband because if he was, his divorce wouldn’t have cost him $168 million. And what about Jordan’s gambling addiction? No one ever mentioned that back then and hardly anyone mentions it now but MJ is a gambling addict. He once held up his teams flight by 2 hours because he didn’t want to lose a shooting competition to Rip Hamilton in his Washington days.
If MJ’s life was covered like Kobe’s life is being covered, everyone would have a different view of his Airness. Also, the fact that the internet was not as big back in Michael's day makes a big difference. The internet gets information from everywhere and the rumour mill is spread across the globe.
If MJ was in Vegas losing money today, someone, somewhere would write about it.
The majority of people just hate Kobe so much as a person that you won’t even recognize what he can do on the court. At the end of the day, whether you believe it or not, Kobe is as a good defender as Jordan, is a better long range shooter and has the same killer instinct.
Only difference is that MJ played in a different era and was the first to do what he did. If you switch the two, Kobe would have had the love affair, he could have led those teams to championships and Jordan would ALSO have problems playing with Shaq because like it or not, MJ’s ego is as big as Kobe’s.
Like Jemele Hill of ESPN said, “The idea that Kobe is better than Jordan — or even the best player in this league — is as repugnant to some folks as a rectal exam.”
And like Mark Jackson once said, “When it’s all said and done, Kobe will be the best player to ever play the game.”





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