Kobe Bryant: Could He Have Carried Scottie Pippen and Chicago Bulls to a Title?

Michael Jordan entered the National Basketball Association in 1984. The super-athletic shooting guard from North Carolina would go on to become arguably the greatest player in league history. 

During his 13 seasons in Chicago, Jordan collected six NBA Finals MVPs, five regular-season MVPs, 10 scoring titles and a Defensive Player of the Year award.

But most importantly, he teamed with defensive genius Scottie Pippen to lead the Bulls to an astounding six titles in the 1990s. The team won it all three years in a row from 1991-1993, beating the Los Angles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns, respectively, in the NBA Finals.

Jordan retired in October '93, and pursued a baseball career, but would return to the basketball court late in the 1994-95 season. With MJ back in the lineup, Chicago went on to win another three straight titles from 1996-1998, knocking off the Seattle SuperSonics and the Utah Jazz twice in the Finals.

In June 1996, following the Bulls' historic 72-10 season and their fourth championship, Philadelphia high school kid Kobe Bryant made his way onto the NBA scene. Bryant would eventually team with Shaquille O'Neal to power the Lakers to three straight titles in the early 2000s, and then two more in 2009 and 2010 alongside Pau Gasol.

For years now, Bryant has drawn comparisons to Jordan because of his ridiculous scoring ability, relentless work ethic and competitiveness. And of course, he has won multiple championships under Jordan's coach in Chicago, the legendary Phil Jackson.   

Most fans consider Bryant a top-10 player of all time, while some actually believe he's just as good as Jordan, or even a little better.

If Bryant is equal to Jordan, or greater, would he have managed to steer Pippen and the '90s Bulls to six titles, or even any titles at all?

Use your imagination for a moment. Imagine Prime Kobe climbing into a time machine and traveling back to the year 1991. And imagine him replacing Jordan as the Bulls' franchise player and being surrounded by the same exact supporting cast that MJ had.    

Does Bryant lift Chicago past Isiah Thomas and the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals?  Probably. By then, the Pistons were an old, banged up ball club and just weren't the same intimidating force that they had been in previous years.

So that means the Bulls advance to the Finals, where they face Magic Johnson's Lakers. Magic vs. Kobe would be a "must-see" matchup as the two real-life Lakers legends go at it. It wouldn't have been as great as Jordan vs. Magic, but still exciting nevertheless.  

It wouldn't have been an easy task, but Bryant likely gets the Bulls past L.A., with Lakers starters James Worthy and Byron Scott battling injuries.

So that means at least one title for Kobe's Bulls in the '90s. 

In '92, the New York Knicks took the Jordan-led Bulls all the way to seven games in the semifinals. Jordan's phenomenal 42-point effort in Game 7 was the main reason Chicago was able to escape and move on in the playoffs.  

Sorry, but it's just too hard to see Bryant succeeding against Pat Riley's defensive-minded Knicks. Bryant has had the luxury of playing in a weaker defensive era, while Jordan played in the early '90s, back when opponents could hand check and play extremely physical D.        

With that said, Kobe's Bulls lose to New York and fail to reach the Finals, where they would have gone up against Clyde Drexler's Portland squad. 

In '93, Chicago loses once again to the Knicks, this time in the Conference Finals, as Bryant gets shut down for the second straight year.

But even if the Bulls were to slip past the Knicks and meet Charles Barkley's Suns in the Finals, they would still lose. Jordan averaged a Finals-record 41 points per game against the Suns that year. Could Bryant duplicate that or even come close? Absolutely not.  

Fast forward to the year 1996, skipping past Jordan's 17-month retirement.

Bryant's supporting cast is completely different with the exception of Pippen. Players such as Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, John Paxson and B.J. Armstrong are replaced by the likes of Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr.     

Chicago doesn't win 72 games in '95-96, more like 62. The team, however, does reach the Finals for the first time since '91 and takes on Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and the Sonics. But the Kobe-led Bulls lose in seven games as Defensive Player of the Year Payton frustrates Bryant all series long.  

There's a good chance that Chicago defeats John Stockton and Karl Malone's Jazz in the '97 Finals, with Bryant picking up his second ring of the decade. But in '98, the Bulls probably wouldn't reach the Finals for the third consecutive year.

It's quite possible that they lose to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals. Reggie Miller's squad took Jordan and co. to seven games that season, and it's amazing that the Bulls, who were old at the time, would end up winning a title that year.

Jordan gave all that he had to carry the Bulls to a championship that year. It's just too hard to picture Bryant doing the same.     

So, a Bryant-led Bulls team likely only wins two championships instead of six in the 1990s, the golden age of the NBA.

Why only two?

Because Kobe Bryant isn't on the same planet as Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player we've ever seen.

And plus, Kobe has won all five of his rings playing next to a superstar big man, whether it was Shaq or Gasol. Could he have won six in the '90s with the likes of Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Luc Longley or Bill Wenninton? Never.   

Thanks for reading.