Why LeBron James Is No Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant has taken his share of rotten meat to the face since LeBron James made the NBA Finals.

It's about time someone sprinkled a bit of sanity over all the hubbub.

The Bron-Bron phenomenon has hit people hard. Everyone wants to believe King James is the second coming of Michael Jordan—but he's not ready for the savior title just yet.

Has LeBron won anything? The Eastern Conference title, you say? The Cavs would have fallen to any of the West's top three teams the Suns, the Mavericks, and, of course, the Spurs.

In none of the Finals games did I feel like the Cavs had a chance to win...and I was pulling for them!

So what, then, has LeBron done to get reputable sports journalists talking like he's replaced Kobe as the best player in the league? Let's look at the six attributes that make a "great" basketball player:

1. Shooting

This is an obvious one: To be an effective guard in the NBA, you have to be able to shoot the ball. More to the point, you have to be able to select shots that jibe with the flow of your team's offense.

LeBron has been criticized since he came into the league for his inability to shoot. I don't remember him taking a good shot at any point during the Finals he was always off-balance or fading in random directions.

His failure to hit from outside reduced LeBron to playing on the block and driving to the basket two things he does remarkably well.

Kobe, on the other hand, is one of the NBA's premier shooters. Phil Jackson noted some years back that his shot is more fundamentally sound than Jordan's was. More importantly, Kobe can create for himself. His jab-step is a thing of beauty—it says to the defender, "I can take this shot standing still, and you might as well be watching me from the bench."

That's domination. And LeBron can't touch it.

  

2. Desire

LeBron tends to disappear for periods of time on the court—he becomes listless, seems almost indifferent to winning.

Kobe's desire is so intense that it eats at him when he's on the bench. His drive has earned him a reputation as a hard practicer and a devoted student of the game.

LeBron has yet to show the same fire—and that's what has made the Kobe comparisons especially bothersome. How can you be the best if you don't want to win more than your competitor? If you aren't willing to sacrifice everything to prevail?

To be the greatest, you have to strive for it in every game.

3. Clutch Play

I won't address Kobe here, because it's not necessary or fair to compare his clutch play to LeBron's.

King James has an odd habit of tossing the ball to other people in the waning seconds of the biggest games. Is that clutch? Or is it simply that he doesn't posses the offensive ingenuity to find or make his own shot?

Clutch isn't getting the ball to a spot-up shooter at the three point line with one second remaining; clutch is taking the impossible shot over three defenders because you're the greatest on the court, the greatest in the game and because you  know you can make it.

Clutch can never be defined by passing.

4. Leadership

LeBron is a leader. It's obvious in the way he carries himself, and in the way he encourages his teammates.

Kobe has taken on the role of leader in the last three years, and has fared rather well with it. He has been patient with his teammates, teaching them and coaxing them along—but his desire to win at all costs sometimes trumps his role as a mentor.

The truth is that Kobe is ready to go, and that he wants nothing more than to lead. If only others could learn to follow...

5. Domination

LeBron's dominance comes in spurts and usually fizzles before the end of the game.

Kobe dominates every game. Period.

There simply aren't nights, for example, when Kobe goes scoreless in the first half. His will is constant. Domination is about exerting one's will and LeBron has yet to show that he's got the drive it takes to win.

I hope he develops it, because LeBron has physical gifts that even Kobe could admire. Until he does, though, he'll never be the second coming.

6. Ego

In many respects, the desire to be the greatest could be considered a character flaw.

Maybe LeBron is just too nice a guy to be the One.

LeBron doesn't seem to feel a profound need to be anything other than what he already is. Kobe, though, needs something more he's always chasing that great impossibility, to be the best of all time.

Kobe plays like he has something to prove. LeBron plays like he has already proven himself to the world.

And maybe he has.

After all, he has proven that he's willing to pass the ball the game the title to somebody else. More to the point, he has proven that he's not as great as Kobe Bryant.

And we are all witnesses.