LeBron James vs Kobe Bryant: Why We May Have Dismissed Kobe's Accolades Too Soon

As the Miami Heat's hopes of beating the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals came to a whimpering end on Sunday, even long before the final buzzer, there was but one question that seemed to stick in our nation's collective conscience of sports: What does this mean for LeBron James?

James, you may recall, had himself a bit of fun last summer at the expense of the Cleveland Cavaliers fans who so adored him, dragging the team executives through the sludge of an exorbitantly drawn-out courtship period of free agency after which he decided to take his talents to South Beach as announced in the most obnoxious sports television special of all-time.

Phew! So you're saying you have issues with LeBron then, the self-proclaimed king of the NBA?

In a word, yeah, probably. LeBron has done more than just draw the ire of the basketball world; he's invited it, encouraged it, welcomed it into his home like a guest uninvited.

Of course, he hasn't actually adapted to it all that well, still struggling to be the new punk on the block, asserting himself as a global "brand" alongside Dwyane Wade, pretending he—not Wade—is the hero.

Good luck with that, Bron Bron.

And so the debate will rage on with an interesting bit of vigor. The world will still wonder if LeBron is the best of the best of his generation, if he's the Kobe Bryant of the post-post-Michael Jordan era, though without much of a frame of reference.

Kobe has five rings while playing for only one team throughout his career. LeBron has none, even after joining up with Wade and Chris Bosh, thinking talent would rule the day in the end.

Generational talents aren't simply granted; they're fought for, worked for, earned in the forges of competitive passion in the ethereal space between victory and defeat. It's easy to forget that while Kobe had Shaquille O'Neal to carry the team as a youngster, he still worked harder than anyone and continued to improve his game, almost indefinitely.

It's easy to forget that he won two rings as the leader of the team, even as he began to decline. It's easy to forget how good Kobe Bryant really is and will continue to be for years to come.

Thus, it's not so much an issue of over-appreciating LeBron so much as under-appreciating Kobe in the given context.

Too little credit is given to Kobe for his prowess as a basketball maestro and an incredible competitor. Too little attention is paid to how Kobe's game, in all of its stages of evolution, so closely resembles that of MJ, who adjusted to changing circumstances throughout his career more beautifully than anyone in the history of basketball.

People see Kobe's scowl, but missed in the gritting of his teeth and the jutting out of his jaw is Bryant's determination, his ice-water-filled veins in the clutch, his ability to take over a game no matter the circumstances.

Kobe feeds on the spotlight, he feeds on criticism, while LeBron cowers whenever a sordid word is said that may be construed as directed toward him. A fragile soul, which isn't surprising considering the kid's been surrounded by a posse of enablers ever since they discovered he could dribble a basketball.

LeBron is the perfect symbol of this "Me First" generation, one that carries the mentality that we deserve better for some unknown reason to its logical conclusion: abject failure in the face of overconfidence.

Kobe is still, and will forever be, connected to a bygone era of basketball, wherein stars foster rivalries rather than friendships, wherein winning as the main guy is valued above just plain winning.

Over the span of his career, Kobe has been an integral part of two separate dynasties—also very Jordan-esque.

LeBron's only dynasty is the one that has him always in the running for the MVP—the Most Valuable Pouter.

But, as time goes on and fans get bored without basketball, the debate will continue as to whether LeBron is better than Kobe, or if he'll ever achieve that same level of greatness.

To which I say, sure, LeBron will win some titles eventually (or should) given the ends to which he went to secure a smoother ride into the annals of history.

And even if LeBron wins five or six championships, which is doubtful given how hard it is to win that many titles, will he ever demonstrate even so much gumption as to allow him to be effective when the game is on the line, the moxie that only the best of the best have enough of to be in charge in the end?

Time will tell, but the answer seems to be "no" as of now.

So let the Kobe-LeBron debate continue. Playoff appearances and consistent regular season excellence is predicated on supreme talent and youth.

Championships, on the other hand, are fueled by clutch play, experience and a sense of simultaneous calm and passion that only years of weathering the storms of the NBA postseason brings.

Something that, ultimately, gives Kobe the edge, particularly in the "greatness" conversation.

Say what you want about LeBron's Heat going farther than Kobe's Lakers. In the end, the two teams have only disappointment to show for their efforts to win a title.