Black Mamba & The King: Who Is The Greatest Now?

I just spent the last thirty minutes reading this article off ESPN.com/nba

The State of the Great Debate: Kobe vs. LeBron 2009, TrueHoop By Henry Abbott, ESPN.

I thought I'd put it to the test here with a poll of course.

Who is better, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James?

I'm not asking who is the better player, who is the better teammate, who is the better leader, who is the better scorer, who is greater etc - all of these questions are being combined into one sole question - Kobe Bryant or LeBron James? 

Take any opinion or stance with this that you wish, and be sure to leave your opinion. As for my belief? I have no idea. There is no simple way to answer this question.

Here are a couple of points that I gathered from reading the article, as well as personal ones:

- Statistically LeBron James destroys any player on the planet. He's pretty close to beating MJ in PER (ESPN's player efficiency rating) and whilst Kobe is great statistically, but I don't think he'll ever be able to do LeBron's 30-8-8 for an entire season.

- Kobe has four rings and six Finals appearances, while LeBron only has one finals appearance. Although, if you take Shaquille O'Neal out of Kobe's teams, does he still have four rings or only one? LeBron has never had a superstar tag team partner like Shaq, or Pau Gasol for that matter. Thus, negating Shaq's presence and Kobe's three rings makes this a much more even playing field. Back then Kobe was arguably second fiddle to Shaq, that's why he won all three Finals MVP's. 

- Kobe is a much more refined player than LeBron. He has the entire game, post-up, mid-range, perimeter, driving, slashing, passing, and defense amongst other attributes.

- LeBron is probably the most unique and talented blend of strength, quickness, and athleticism that the NBA has ever seen, think Michael Jordan, but 20-30 pounds bigger and two inches taller. 

- Kobe has that killer instinct. A few of the analysts say LeBron doesn't have that yet. If you had the last shot do you want Kobe or Bron shooting it? 

- Both are capable of being the scoring leaders if need be, but Kobe averaged over 30 ppg at least three seasons, averaging a career high 35.4 a few seasons back. 

- Lebron is a better playmaker than Kobe, but is he as ruthless? Kobe is the closest thing to MJ we have seen, Lebron is more like a blend of MJ and Magic Johnson, he is a true point-forward, Kobe is a true shooting guard. 

- LeBron is currently 24-years-old, and has been blitzing the league for around 28-7-7 since he was 20-years-old, being in the league for only five years. It took Kobe three years to surpass a twenty ppg average for a whole season. 

- LeBron seems to be moulding his game around Kobe's. This years new defensive tenacity and perimeter shooting is something that he acquired from Kobe after spending the Summer Olympics 2008 with him. 

- Kobe's game is fundamentally complete. LeBron has flaws with footwork, working off screens, mid-range scoring and post-ups.