Bleacher Report - Articles by Gagan Singh

Playing The Blame Game

Gagan Singh — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:46:25 -0400

Not one person on this planet expected the Rockets-Lakers series to go seven games with or without Yao Ming in the line-up for the Rockets but yet here we are. As good as the Rockets have played without Yao Ming, there is no way the Lakers should have let this series go on for this long and someone, rightfully so, deserves the blame.

This entire series Phil Jackson has been outcoached by Rick Adelman. Last time a coach was outcoached this badly in a series the Cavs were getting swept in the Finals in 2007. Phil Jackson’s track record in this series is beyond horrible.

For instance, did Jackson or the Lakers coaching staff not watch any game tapes from the Blazers-Rockets series? From the onset of game one it didn’t look like they did. Why did the Lakers even bother to guard Yao Ming like any other post player when fronting him from game one would have made him a non-factor?

The Lakers would have won game one if they did that. The Blazers fronted Yao for almost the entire series and almost pulled out the series because the neutralized the Rockets biggest offensive threat. Also, Jackson continues to leave Fisher out there to guard Brooks and if not for the Fisher suspension in game three, the Lakers could have lost that game as well.

Both Brown and Farmar do a much better job than Fisher of keeping Aaron Brooks in front of them and not let him get into the paint. Derek Fisher would have a hard time covering Dikembe Mutombo on the perimeter at this point and Mutombo only has one leg. Yet, Phil still continues to trot him out there game after game even though Brooks is blowing by him like a F1 car next to a go-kart.

Also, if you are going to leave Fisher in the game, why not make him cover Battier and have Kobe play defence on Brooks. Simple adjustments as these would have made this series over in six games or less. Along with this, he left Kobe on the bench for almost six minutes at the start of the fourth quarter in game six. The Lakers were making a run and got it within six points but yet Phil chose to keep his best player on the bench.

As much as Kobe is the leader of this team on the court, there is only so much he can do with Battier or Artest in his face for most of the game. The other players on his team have to step up and it’s up to Jackson to play the correct players.

The Lakers will not lose this series because they have Kobe and they are at home but they just played two extra games compared to the Nuggets who have been resting for a few days now and as we all know, the deeper you go into the playoffs, the more rest you have the better. Especially considering Kobe hasn’t had a summer off for almost two years with his involvement with the USA Olympic team.

If for some reason the world turns over and the Rockets actually win game seven, the blame should fall onto Jackson’s shoulders and rightfully so. You can let your team play through any runs by opposing teams in the regular season but not in the playoffs.

Jackson’s stubbornness to call timeouts and to be loyal to Fisher hurt the Lakers immensely in this series and it could also play a factor in the Conference Finals or even further. His trusted line-up of Fisher, Kobe, Walton, Odom and Gasol is not producing this series but again he still goes with that line-up for long stretches in every game.

On top of that, he will not give his youngsters who fresh and quicker legs a chance to help this team out. The Lakers without a doubt have more talent and depth at almost every position but yet they are getting burned by an undersized PG and an undersized C/PF.

Jackson throughout his career has refused to match up against other teams and usually the other teams switched their strategies to match Jackson’s teams but for some reason in this series, Jackson has thrown that out the window and at many times matched Rockets smaller line-up to no success at all.

Jackson is without a doubt one of the smartest coaches in NBA history but either he knows something the rest of us don’t or maybe his age has finally caught up to him and he's losing his touch.

D-Wade Can't Be MVP!

Gagan Singh — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:03:11 -0400

The NBA MVP award is one of the most contested awards by fans, experts, and players in all of professional sports, which is mostly due to the fact that the criteria changes from year to year in everyone's mind.

No one really sticks to one criteria and tries to follow it every year. Every person who has a vote will change their criteria every year because of who's in the race.

This was clearly evident in the Steve Nash MVP years, and again last year when Kobe Bryant was given a lifetime achievement award and not because he was really the MVP. If that was the case, Kobe would've won a few by now.

This year is another close race among Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade is sitting No. 3., and I, for one, can not understand how.

Wade's team doesn't have home-court advantage, isn't going to win 50 games, and they are in a bad conference. If Wade is being mentioned this much this year than why wasn't Kobe Bryant among the top three in 2006? If you compare Kobe in 2006 to Wade in 2009, there is no way D-Wade should finish higher than fourth in MVP voting.

And don't just take my words for it, let me show you the statistical evidence.

Wade 2009

30.0PPG, 5.1RPG, 7.6APG
Team Record: 38-32 (5th East) - On pace for 46-36
Team Roster:

PG: Mario Chalmers (Rookie)
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: Jamario Moon
PF: Udonis Haslem
C: Jermaine O'Neal

Noticeable Subs:

SF/PF: Michael Beasley
SG: Daequan Cook
Main Competition

Kobe Bryant: 27.7PPG, 5.4RPG, 4.9APG
Team Record: 55-14 (1st West) - On pace for 64-18

LeBron James: 28.6PPG, 7.6RPG, 7.3APG
Team Record: 57-13 (1st East) - On pace for 64-18
MVP Voting:

TBD

Kobe 2006

35.4PPG, 5.3RPG, 4.5APG
Team Record: 45-37 (7th East)
Team Roster:

PG: Smush Parker
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Luke Walton
PF: Lamar Odom
C: Kwame Brown

Noticeable Subs:

SG/SF: Devean George
PF: Brian Cook
MVP Voting

1st: Steve Nash: 18.8PPG, 4.2RPG, 10.5APG
       Team Record: 54-28 (2nd West)

2nd: LeBron James: 31.4PPG, 7.0RPG, 6.6APG
       Team Record: 50-32 (4th East)

3rd: Dirk Nowitzki: 26.6PPG, 9.0RPG, 2.8APG
       Team Record: 60-22 (4th West)

4th: Kobe Bryant: 35.4PPG, 5.3RPG, 4.5APG
       Team Record: 45-37 (7th West)

Those are the stats and after reviewing them again, I can't believe Dwayne Wade is among the top three for the 2009 NBA MVP, but Kobe Bryant wasn't given the same consideration in 2006.

I'm not discounting anything Dwayne Wade has done this season or continues to do, but you can't honestly give him such MVP consideration if Kobe didn't get the same three years ago.

I understand D-Wade is doing a lot with little but there is no way playing with Smush and Kwame Brown as your starters was better than having Mario Chalmers and O'Neal/Haslem.

On top of that, Kobe took a bad Lakers team to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. If Kobe was in the East that year, he would've taken that team to a to No. 4 seed.

If you put Wade in the West this year, his team would struggle to maintain the No. 7 or No. 8 seed.

I love Flash but there is no way he should be in the MVP conversation this year. After Kobe and LeBron, it has to be Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, and then D-Wade.

Again, nothing against Dwayne, but Howard and Pierce have done as much for their team as Wade has, and have better records than the Heat.

In the end, if Wade does finish first, second, or third in MVP voting, it wouldn't surprise me because this is the same league in which Steve Nash has two MVPs and Shaquille O'Neal has only one.

Candace Parker: WNBA Savior

Gagan Singh — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:25:28 -0400

In the past, I haven't watched any WNBA games and didn't care much about the league in general. However, yesterday I actually sat down and watched a WNBA game. To my surprise, it was entertaining.

The WNBA began its 12th season with a marquee match-up between the LA Sparks and defending champion Phoenix Mercury. Coming into the game I knew of two players and I wanted to watch the game because of one of them, Candace Parker. I remember her from when she won the high school dunk contest and led Tennessee to back-to-back titles in college. I was looking forward to what she could do in the WNBA, and in her first professional game, she did not disappoint.

Parker dropped 34 points, 12 boards and eight assists in her first game and made it look easy as LA defeated Phoenix 99-94. She played four different positions for her team and it didn't matter who was guarding her, there was nothing the defender could do to stop her.

The combination of Parker and Leslie (Magic and Kareem?) was deadly yesterday and I expect more of the same going forward.

Candace Parker could very well end up being the Michael Jordan of this league. She's not afraid to post, drive, shoot the J or play defense. Even though she has played only one game, she could be the best player in the league and will only get better.

Just like Magic, Bird and MJ saved the NBA, Parker could very well do that for the WNBA. Candace Parker is an attractive woman and also a great basketball player. She can dunk and take over games (she scored 10 straight in the fourth quarter yesterday) like no other female player before her. That will attract more fans to the WNBA. She is also very marketable; she already has a shoe deal, which will only give the WNBA more exposure. Candace Parker is exactly what the WNBA needed.

If she can get people like me, who didn't care about the WNBA, to watch a game and even write about it, she can definitely get basketball fans in general to start tuning in to the games.

Phoenix Suns: Organization's Real Miracle Workers

Gagan Singh — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:33:05 -0400

They Phoenix Suns have some miracle workers on their staff. It’s not anybody we see on the court, in fact, it’s a bunch of people anyone hardly knows.

The miracle workers I’m referring to are the members of the Suns' medical staff.

The Suns probably have one of the best, if not the best, medical staffs in the association.

Just check out their resume and I dare you to disagree.

The most notable job they’ve done is on the Big Cactus, the Big Aristotle, the Diesel, also known simply as Shaq. Since coming over from the Heat, Shaq-fu has been playing injury free and looks skinny as a big man like him can look.

Along with Shaquille, the Suns' medical staff has also saved the careers of many other players.

Grant Hill (G/F)

Total games played from 2000-2007: 200 games

Total games played this season: 64 games

The man with softest ankles in the league suddenly is cured by coming to the desert.

Amare Stoudemire (F/C)

Amare had microfracture surgery in 2005 and after sitting out an entire season he came back to play 78 games last year and is on the verge of playing 80 games this year.

Let’s leave alone the fact Stoudemire is playing at a high level and look at the fact that he’s playing 34 mpg on a daily basis without any major discomfort in his knees is huge.

Steve Nash (G)

Kid Canada’s backs been hurting more than Stephane Dion’s approval ratings and yet, he plays every game and plays extremely well at that.

The Suns medical staff had to have been using some special sort of ointment on Nash’s back for the past three years.

Shaquille O’Neal (C)

Weight problem.

Knee problems.

Foot problems.

The cure?

The Phoenix Suns.

Shaq is listed at 325 lbs. and that is simply astounding. He hasn’t looked this skinny since he came into the league. He’s actually running up and down the court for the first time since he wore the Purple and Gold.

I don’t know what the Suns' medical staff is doing, but I think an investigation into using performance-enhancing drugs on players is definitely warranted.

Why Donnie Walsh Can't Fail With the New York Knicks

Gagan Singh — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:29:04 -0400

Donnie Walsh just landed the best sports job ever. And it's not because he’s working for his hometown New York Knicks, or because he has an unlimited payroll.

No matter what he does from this point on, there is nowhere to go but up.

Isiah Thomas put the Knicks in such a bad position that any person—and I mean any person—who comes after him will be hailed as a hero. You or I would be considered a hero if given control of this team right now.

Next year the Knicks have $29 million in expiring contracts from Marbury ($21.9 million) and Rose ($7.7 Million). Walsh can either use that huge amount to get another franchise player, via a trade, or simply let the contracts run out. Just by doing nothing he would take almost $30 million off the books and get rid of a locker room cancer player in Marbury.

On top of that, Walsh has two players—Randolph and Crawford—that other teams would like to have for sure and a third—Curry—that some teams still might gamble on.

Not only can Walsh get a franchise player (Elton Brand perhaps) by trading Marbury’s expiring contract, he can also get some cap relief by trading Randolph, Curry, and Crawford for expiring contracts.

Combine that with the fact that he’ll have a high lottery pick and the possibility of drafting Rose or Michael Beasley to go along with key role players like David Lee, Nate Robinson, and Renaldo Balkman, and the Knicks can have decent team on the floor next year while rebuilding for the long run.

The key is that they are getting back cap relief in almost every trade and, if it’s possible, draft picks. Realistically, the Knicks have to look for cap relief by the end of the 2010 NBA season. There are a lot of good free agents, and it will take about two years to fix up this mess and rebuild one of most storied franchises in history.

In order for the team to succeed going forward, they have to cut all ties with the Isiah Thomas regime. I personally think Isiah is the best scout in the NBA and a decent head coach, but he has to go. The Knicks have to change the corporate culture of the team. Everything starts from the top.

Even though Walsh isn’t going to make any personnel moves immediately, Knicks fans can rejoice in the fact Isiah Thomas can’t make any more personnel moves. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?

Dennis Rodman Belongs in the Hall of Fame

Gagan Singh — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:35:33 -0400

I was going through past defensive players of the year in the NBA when I realized something: Dennis Rodman belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Many people only remember or know of Rodman as the man who tried to marry himself or the person who kicked a photographer in the groin. However, Rodman actually has one of the better NBA resumes.

He has five NBA Championship rings and was undoubtedly one of, if not, the best rebounder the game has ever seen and also one of the best defensive players. Before he went all crazy, he was a solid player for the bad boy Piston teams that won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Not only was he a rebounding force for those teams but he also helped slow down Michael Jordan during that time.

After the Pistons team was blown up, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs and was his usual self on the court playing with an intensity so rarely seen in the NBA ever since he left. It was during this time that Rodman started to colour his hair after watching Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man.

From that point on, he began to do more and more crazy things off the court. On the hardwood, he and David Robinson took the Spurs to the 1995 Western Conference Finals before losing to the eventual champs, the Houston Rockets. Even though Robinson had been man handled by Olajuwon during that series, Rodman became the scapegoat for the city and the franchise and was eventually traded.

During his time in San Antonio, however, he did help David Robinson get a MVP award, as Rodman did all the dirty work while Robinson got the glory.

He was then traded to MJ's Bulls in October of 1995 and these were the years the majority of people remember him from because it was during this time that he truly blew up off the court.

On the court, he took a backseat to Jordan and Pippen and did all the little things that Phil Jackson wanted without complaining. He was a beast on the glass and an absolute shut down defender as well. He helped the team win three more consecutive titles and become the dominant team of the '90's. .

Soon after the second three-peat, the Bulls team was disbanded and Rodman spent some minor time with both the LA Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks before falling out of the NBA.

Statistically, he put up some of the biggest rebounding numbers in NBA history. He averaged 18.7 rpg in 1992 and 18.3 rpg in 1993. For a player to average 18 rpg is simply ludicrous.

From 1992-1998, his lowest rebounding average for one season was 14.90. What makes these numbers more astounding is the fact no player has hit the 15rpg mark in recent memory. In 1992, he set a personal record by grabbing 34 rebounds in one game with 18 of them being on the offensive glass.

Dennis Rodman was a straight prolific rebounder and one of the better defensive players in NBA history. The Worm could defend bigger players in the post as well as quicker players on the perimeter. Not to mention that he did all this while only being 6'8.

Dennis Rodman Resume

Five Time NBA Champion (1989, 1990, 1996-1998)
Two Time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1991)
Two Time NBA All-Star (1990, 1992)
NBA All-Defensive First Team (1989-1993, 1995, 1996)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1994)
All-NBA Third Team (1992, 1995)
NBA Top Rebounds Per Game (1992-1998)

In my eyes, those are Hall of Fame numbers. If he doesn't get into the Hall because of his off court exploits, it would be one of the greatest injustices in NBA history.

Pistons-Raptors: TJ Ford and Jose Calderon Switch Roles for Toronto

Gagan Singh — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:13:49 -0400

The Toronto Raptors had one of their biggest victories of the season last night against the Detroit Pistons. The Raptors have been struggling for the past two weeks and this was a huge win for the team. Not only are they getting out of their slump but they also defeated a premier team in the NBA. They made some key changes to the starting lineup as TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic went in and Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani went out. This move helped the team last night and it will help them in the long run.

The victory can and should be attributed to the guard play of the Raptors. Ford, starting for the first time since December, looked much more comfortable and did not make the mental mistakes he's been making ever since he came back from his injury. I said this before and I'll say it again, moving Calderon to the bench was the right move for the team and Jose realized that himself as he requested that TJ start.

By Calderon coming off the bench with the second unit, he will instantly make everyone on the bench play much better and bring Jason Kapono back to life. Bargnani going to bench will help him get his confidence back and he will be a lethal scorer off the bench. When Bargnani started alongside Bosh, CB4 was getting most of the touches as he should and that limited what Bargnani could do. Now that Bargnani will be coming off the bench, he should be option one or option two in terms of scoring. Jose will undoubtedly find Bargnani for easy baskets and will make sure he gets the ball. Calderon also plays really well with Carlos Delfino and knows exactly where and when to get the ball to Kapono. Overall, Calderon is going to make the Raptors bench one of the best in the NBA again.

This move will greatly benefit TJ Ford as he is really comfortable starting and playing alongside Bosh. By Ford distributing the ball to mainly Bosh, it will cut down on him trying to do everything on his own. The team also plays at a faster pace when Ford is in the game and they really need to play at a faster pace because they need the easy baskets and because they can tire out other team due to their depth.

The Rasho Nesterovic move should not be seen as a minor one either. Rasho can and does make the mid range jumper consistently but moreover, he plays good man to man defence against the other teams big men and I believe this will help the Raptors immensely.

The Raptors also have a very, very favourable schedule down the stretch and that should help them get their new rotation set in time for the playoffs.

Kobe Bryant Is Better Than Michael Jordan

Gagan Singh — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:54:24 -0400

I’ve had this conversation with many people many times but I still don’t think everyone knows all the facts before they give their opinion.

This conversation involves the hated Kobe Bryant and the unanimously loved Michael Jordan.

It’s very easy to start arguing about which player is better and which is not and I also know the majority of you will never, ever, say Kobe Bryant even comes close to MJ because of the love affair everyone has for his Airness along with the hatred you have for the best player in our lifetime, Kobe Bryant.

I don’t know why people hate on Kobe so much, maybe it’s because he’s so damn good or cocky or because he’s killed your team countless times but that’s neither here or there. So let me get back to the topic at hand.

Let’s start off with getting the obvious stats out of the way...

G/F - Michael Jordan

1st Round, 3rd Overall (Chicago Bulls)

1984 - 1993
1994 - 1998
2001 - 2003

6 Championship Rings
6 NBA Finals MVP
5 Time MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998)
14 Time All-Star
3 Time All-Star MVP
9 Time ALL NBA Defensive First Team
11 Time All NBA Team (10 First, 1 Second)
1984 Rookie of the Year
1988 Defensive Player of the Year
10 Time Scoring Champion
2 Time NBA Slam Dunk Champion

Most Points: 69
Most FG Made: 27
Most 3-PT Made: 7
Most FT Made: 26
Most Rebounds: 18
Most Assists: 17
Most Steals: 10
Most Blocks: 6
Most Minutes Played: 56

Career Stat Line: 30.1ppg, 6.2rpg, 5.3apg, 2.35spg, .83bpg, .497% FG, .835% FT, .327% 3PT

G/F Kobe Bryant

1st Round, 13th Overall (Charlotte Hornets)

1996 - Current

3 Championship Rings
9 Time NBA All-Star Team
2 Time NBA All-Star MVP
9 Time All NBA Selection (5 First, 2 Second, 2 Third)
7 Time All NBA Defensive Team (5 First, 2 Second)
2 Time Scoring Champion
Slam Dunk Champion

Most Points: 81
Most FG Made: 28
Most 3-PT Made: 12
Most FT Made: 23
Most Rebounds: 15
Most Assists: 15
Most Steals: 17
Most Blocks: 5
Most Minutes Played: 54

Career Stat Line: 24.6ppg, 5.2rpg, 4.5apg, 1.5spg, .60bpg, .453% FG, .838% FT, .337% 3PT

Now looking at those numbers, it’s very easy to say that Michael is the better player by far but don’t forget that Kobe’s career is not over yet. Including this year, Bryant has 4 seasons left playing as the best player in the league and after that his decline will start.

KB will never beat MJ in Finals MVP and regular season MVPs no matter how long he plays but he can beat his airness in championships won especially with his new cast of players. Also, Kobe can surpass Michael in All Star appearances, All Star MVPs, All NBA Teams and All NBA Defense teams.

And as for the career stat line, Kobe can catch up in all areas except for FG %. For now, let’s not go into the what can happen and what can’t and instead look into some of the other categories and determine who indeed is better.

1) Making others around him better

The one topic everyone seems to bring up is the fact that Kobe doesn’t make those around him better whereas Jordan always made those around him better. Over and over again, this single fact is brought up but no one ever looks at the players they are talking about.

Without a doubt, Jordan had a superior supporting cast around him than Kobe. Note: I’m referring to the cast Kobe has post Shaq era and pre-Gasol era.

Now, is it Kobe’s fault that those around him can’t make open shots? Is it his fault that after he gets doubled and even sometimes tripled team, Smush Parker couldn’t make an open jumper or Lamar Odom doesn’t know how to shoot?

Now if those players could hit a couple of shots extra per game, Kobe’s assist total would be much higher and the Lakers would win a lot more games. And from that, Kobe would not have been robbed of an MVP award and people actually may think twice when they say he doesn’t make those around him better.

It’s not Kobe’s responsibility to make sure the likes of Odom and Smush or Kwame Brown learn how to make layups or how to dunk the ball.

2) Jordan was a better teammate

Countless times Kobe’s been referred to as a horrible teammate. While that may be true, but if you’re comparing him and Jordan, then you’re way off base.

Kobe’s had his fair share of run-ins with his teammates and coaches, most notably Shaq and now Bynum. Most of Kobe’s altercations with his teammates have been verbal except for the one time Shaq and him got physical.

Jordan on the other hand had countless run ins with teammates. He even slapped Steve Kerr and knocked Will Perdue during practice and verbally abused Bill Cartwright during games.

As I’ve read, Cartwright was giving Jordan a pick and Michael told him to get the fuck out of his way and later told Cartwright not to get in his way unless Jordan says so. Also, him and Pippen weren’t always the greatest of friends or teammates. They both didn’t like each other that much.

Now obviously this was never blown out of proportion like it was with Shaq and Kobe and obviously Kobe took the worst of that one. It’s been said Kobe ran out Phil Jackson the first time around and while that may or may not be true (It's said Phil Jackson wanted more money and when refused, left) but let’s not forget Jordan ran out Doug Collins.

So to say Jordan was a better teammate than Kobe is an absurd statement.

3) Kobe’s a ball hog

Everyone has this notion that Kobe’s a ball hog without even watching any of his games and since most of us didn’t see Jordan play on a regular basis, you can’t say whether or not he was a ball hog.

The main argument against Kobe is that he takes too many shots and doesn’t pass the ball. Is it his fault that when there are 3 seconds left in the shot clock, his teammates pass him the ball and expect him to be something miraculous?

I’ve watched countless Laker games and whenever the Laker offense is stuck or can’t do anything or the shot clock is winding down, Kobe is given the ball and he has to do something and thus he ends up shooting some ridiculous shots.

Also, Kobe averaged over 30ppg and everyones calling him a hog but what about Jordan? I don’t remember anyone referring to him as a hog even when he was averaging 37.1ppg or 35ppg. Over his entire playing career, Jordan dominated the ball and yet no one refers to him as a hog but the perfect player and now that Kobe is doing the same thing, he’s nothing but a ball hog.

4) The Zone Defense

During Michael's day, teams were not allowed to play the Zone which we see from almost every team nowadays. Now you might think this is not a big deal but think again. This meant that Jordan was covered man-to-man and and once he beat his man, there was pretty much no stopping him.

Jordan took full advantage of this because let’s face it, there was no one that could guard him and thus he scored a lot and got to the rim more often than not. The Zone came into effect in 2001, just as Kobe was getting into his prime. The Zone takes away individual match-ups and makes it harder for players to get to the rim.

Now in the zone, if you got 4 offensive players on one side and one offensive player on the other, it doesn’t mean that you’re gonna have the 4 defensive players on one side as well. The defensive players stay and cover their area. So if you isolate Kobe on the elbow, he still has to go through 3 players to score.

Now Kobe’s got 3 people coming at him and when he passes the ball to a teammate, is it his fault Kwame Brown has girly hands and catch it or can’t make a layup?

Jordan never had the problem of facing a zone. He could beat anyone guarding him and by the time someone came over to help, it was either too late or Jordan would just dunk on that person.

Now you may think this is not a big deal, but when the rest of the league knows that Kobe can’t be stopped and he’s the only one scoring, it’s not rocket science to know that you should switch to a zone to at least slow him down or take him out of his comfort zone.

5) Opposing teams and guards

To this day, I don’t believe Jordan played against the same competition and defenders that Kobe has to deal with on a daily basis. The one person that comes to mind from MJs days that could have given him trouble is “The Glove” Gary Payton.

He was the only perimeter dominant defender from that era that comes to mind but he never played against MJ that much. Other than that, I don’t recall a lot of good defenders guarding Jordan and that’s why he could do what he did with ease. Players that guarded him a lot were the likes of John Starks and Joe Dumars. Now they didn’t suck but they weren’t as big or strong like Wade, Bowen, LeBron, or T-Mac.

Now without a doubt MJ went up against some of the best bigs this league as ever seen such as Hakeen Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Karl Malone but they didn’t change the league like Tim Duncan and Shaq have. Also, MJ never had back to back MVP winners in his own conference to deal with like Kobe has with Tim Duncan and Steve Nash. And let’s not forget the fact that when Jordan started winning his championships, the Magic led Lakers were on a downward spiral and the Bad Boy Pistons were too old to keep up.

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.”