Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James: Which NBA Star Is the Better Teammate?
Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James. The Black Mamba vs. the Self-Proclaimed King.
The debate has raged on and off the NBA hardwood for some time now, with each new twist and turn taking the conversation to ever more esoteric heights.
The latest entrant into the argument? Larry Bird.
Bird's The Word
In a recent conversation with ESPN columnist Bill Simmons on "The B.S. Report", the patron saint of the Hoosier State and Boston Celtics great set aside any discussion as to which superstar is the best in basketball today, proclaiming that LeBron was, indeed, the king of the NBA as of 2012.
But, when asked with whom, among today's players, he'd prefer to play, Larry Legend gave a different answer, thereby adding yet another wrinkle to the ongoing debate:
""Well, probably Kobe, because of the fact that ... well, of course he wouldn't have been shooting as much as he does now ... but his desire to win, his dedication, to always get better, uh, and he's just, he's just tough," Bird said. "He's just a tough cat.
"But, if you want to have fun, like I did with Bill Walton, play with LeBron. It would have probably been more fun to play with LeBron, but if you want to win and win and win, it's Kobe. Not that LeBron's not a winner, just that [Kobe's] mindset is to go into every practice, every game, to get better."
"
Aside from the shock of hearing Bird, a C's lifer, shower one of the greatest players to ever don a uniform for the hated Lakers with such praise, his argument makes a ton of sense.
And not simply because the ring count stands at five to nil in favor of Kobe, though that certainly counts.
Twisting The Talk
By all accounts, both Kobe and LeBron are hard-working, diligent players who give it their all just about every time they take the floor in any capacity. They're also both alpha males of the highest orders, elite athletes with huge egos who tend to rub even their own teammates the wrong way.
The difference is in the application of that ego. Where LeBron seems a bit too preoccupied at times with hogging the spotlight and building a "global brand" (see: The Decision), Kobe's main concern is and has always been with achieving greatness by winning basketball games, with personal gain coming as a byproduct of team success.
Granted, more often than not, the Mamba sees himself as the chief conduit to team success, with his volume shooting often coming at the expense of the involvement and motivation of his teammates.
LeBron, on the other hand, seems to dominate more within the flow of the game as a scorer, a passer and a defender. Say what you will about James' demeanor off the court, but there's little doubt that he makes his teammates better.
Remember, this is the guy who spun a roster full of role players and misfits into an Eastern Conference champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007.
Unfortunately for LeBron, though, his effectiveness, and that of his team, tends to nosedive at the biggest moments in the biggest games, which he made all too clear during the Miami Heat's flameout against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.
As for Kobe, sure, he takes more shots than a card-carrying NRA gun nut, but he also makes his fair share, especially those in the clutch. Kobe's as fearless and fierce a competitor as the league has seen since Michael Jordan retired.
While LeBron crumples under pressure, Kobe thrives on it. He's made a career out of taking (and making) big shots for his team, putting his supporting cast on his back when it's clear that the talent around him is having a bad night or is flat-out mediocre in the first place.
And, again, Kobe's rings have to count for something. Take away the three titles he won as Shaquille O'Neal's 1A, and he's still well ahead of where LeBron is or, perhaps, will ever be.
Not that LeBron winning titles with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would at all diminish the value of the achievement itself, but rather that nobody could reasonably claim that he won anything of lasting significance "on his own."
The Will AND The Skill
If nothing else, Kobe's sheer toughness and willingness to fight through immense pain, the sort of pain that would cripple mere mortals, sets him apart from every one of his peers, LeBron included.
The guy's still leading the league in scoring and tossing in about five rebounds and six assists per night, even at the age of 33, after 16 seasons and hundreds more playoff games, with enough wear and tear to land him in geriatric care.
Would LeBron fly to Germany to have work done on his sore body? Would LeBron play through torn ligaments in his wrist?
Heck, would anyone?
So, hoopheads can spend hours, days, weeks, months or even years arguing over who's the better player or who would win head-to-head, one-on-one, etc.
But basketball is a team game, one in which winning is valued above all else.
And if you had to pick one player to lead your team to victory in a crucial situation—who will do whatever it takes to win, no matter the cost—it'd be Kobe Bryant.
Even Larry Legend knows that.
