The Takeover: The Curious Case Of Kobe Bean Bryant

Mark Jackson has come under tremendous fire of late for offering his view that Bryant will go down as the greatest player ever.  But in essence, he was echoing what some close to the game have whispered:  Kobe is the more skilled player.  The irony here is that while everyone has openly celebrated James as he prepares to take the game to new heights with his unique ability, Kobe’s game may actually be … Jordan’s on steroids.  It is a heretical notion, to be sure.  And of course Bryant benefited from having Jordan to study, as Jordan also studied Dr. J, Magic, Bird, and the greats.  Bryant was one of James’ idols and James studied Bryant.

Bryant is an objectively better ball-handler, possessing the cross-over and moves of Allen Iverson, with the shooting range and prowess of Larry Bird.  Jordan is the more explosive player, having had a ’44 inch vertical to Bryant’s ’38 inch vertical.  He did things the league had never seen, and his hang-time remains hard to believe.  Jordan’s hands are also inordinately large, giving him the advantage in at-the rim and traffic encounters. Other than that, the two are identical, right?

Phil Jackson coached Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.  He never asked Jordan to do the things that he’s asked of Kobe in facilitating the offense, and, until Ariza arrived, consistently guarding the other team’s top scorer.  Those were Pippen’s responsibilities.  Scottie Pippen is the single most underrated and underappreciated NBA player of all-time.  People that really know the game will tell you that.  Easily top 20 all-time. 

Pippen could control a game with defense, tempo, passing and with points – like Magic Johnson – who Pippen himself kept in check, freeing up Jordan to score at will in the ’91 Finals.  Upon Jordan’s two-year hiatus, Scottie Pippen lead a Bulls team of otherwise average talent minus Jordan to a 55-27 record, just two wins shy of the team’s overall record the year before with Jordan in ’93.  If not for some dubious officiating in the ’94 Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, the Bulls would have been in the Finals again, four times in a row.  It is a miscarriage of basketball justice that Pippen was robbed of the MVP award in 1994, all due respect to Hakeem Olajuwon.  But Pippen’s importance to the success of Jordan is evident.

In evaluating the greatest players of all-time and whether Jordan or Bryant is better, statistics and championships are not the crucial criteria for two obvious reasons.  The first is Bill Russell, the consummate winner, competitor, and professional.  11 rings, but he did it in an era with only 8 teams and only a few had a serious shot of winning the championship each year.  The other is Wilt Chamberlain, and his numerous scoring averages and records.  No one is ever going to touch 50 points a game for a season.  Or ask Oscar Robertson, who averaged a triple double for a whole season (more than once before they kept track) how it feels to be left out of the discussion in earnest. 

Or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he only set the NBA scoring record and won numerous titles himself.  Remember him?  He’s busy in the lab cooking up another potential monster in the post, the still-green Andrew Bynum, who’s shown several flashes of brilliance this past regular season.

You see, it is not an exact science, but an art, evaluating the GOAT.  How unstoppable? Dominant?  Well-Rounded?  Tenacious?  Competitive?  Skilled?  Winner?  These are all intangible considerations, among others.  I will now set out specific arguments in favor of Kobe Bryant as the better player than Jordan and expose flawed arguments.

1.  Did Kobe ride Shaq’s coattails?

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