Michael Jordan V Kobe Bryant: The Comparison That Doesn't Deserve To Be Made

Both have their jersey's hung up in the rafters of their respective high school/college. Both are internationally known. Both have earned accolades and the respect that only other players could dream of. Both have brought their cities countless moments of emphatic joy and emotion. Both are gold medallists. But I believe wholeheartedly that Jordan is the greatest and Kobe cannot be compared.

Kobe and Jordan have been compared in many regards, between their amazing turnaround jump-shots and fade-aways, their unbelievable drives to the baskets and the countless moments they have etched in each NBA fan's minds.

But in some regards their games are incomparable, Jordan has and always been the subject when someone hears basketball, his trademarks, the tongue, the Jump-man, the shot over Ehlo, these are all things that people who have never seen a game of basketball before can tell you. And what moments like these those Kobe have? Very few in comparison.

Sure Kobe is a great scorer with his quick-fire jump-shots but sometimes the pioneers just cannot be topped. And I believe this is the case in this regard, Jordan pioneered in the NBA, with his "illegal" shoes, the dunk competitions where people were left speechless and of course game-winners.

One of the avenues that Kobe does deserve to placed in the same sentence, both are extreme clutch players that thrive under the pressure and although you can name some Kobe buzzer beaters, does any have the same drama as the shot over Ehlo?

That shot has been etched in my mind since the first time I've seen it and for some reason it always seems to be in slow-motion. And for Kobe I cannot remember that many game-winners that really deserved to be placed next to that moment.

Then some people would bring up the issue of stats.

If it was a numbers games then Wilt Chamberlain would've been called greatest of all time.

And finally the number one reason why I believe that Jordan is better?

The hand-checking rule, Jordan was battered around by the bad-boy Pistons and didn't exactly receive a warm welcome whenever in MSG. Jordan's ability to excel in a period of time full of legends, has written him in the NBA history books for all time, Kobe's clutch play and skill will earn him a spot in there but this is a comparison that can't be made.