Magic Johnson explains why Kobe Bryant is the closest comparison to Michael Jordan | First Take 

@Mike ferrari Ferrari Cmon dude only idiots thought somebody else was better than Kobe from 2003-2010, even lebron said himself

@Purple Goldie.... so clearly Mike super car ferrari ferrari is one of those idiots? I’m with you on that 100%😂👍🏼👍🏼

Mike ferrari Ferrari are you just lost?? Kobe was the best player in the 2000’s there’s a reason why Ray Allen, Shaq, AI, Steph Jackson, T Mac, Vince Carter, Reggie Miller all day Kobe is greater than Lebron. The early 2000’s were Kobe decade and he was the best the whole world knows Steve Nash wasn’t the MVP that year and Kobe had to deal with the spurs and Carmelo, who’d Lebron have to deal with the Celtics who he poached Ray Allen from and were old??? Please the Kobe Lebron debate is nonsense

Amen, if kobe came before mike then kobe would be the goat

@@andrewwheeler2847 kobe only won 1 mvp and 2 scoring titles... so how he dominated in his era??

@GR Los Iverson

GR Los A lot lol

GR Los KD, Quentin Richardson not a legend but a good player..

curry

They mean in terms of play style not accolades and legacy. Legacy wise it’s lebron

Don't do this to me bro :(

@Zach White Both are correct

I kept thinkin what if was Jordan insteead of Kobe / it probably would have been the same like this one was kobe saying when MJ died a piece of me died Cuase he was first before kobe bryant of how Talented he Brought Basketball MJ Goat

It was mediatic words... you think Kobe was Jordan close friend? Get serious

Dope right! Mike saw it right away!

I hope Kobe got the chance to see that

@@benji24palomar I'm sure he's watching 🙏🏿

It’s like the Pot calling the Kettle black! Lol 😂 I got a kick out of it. MJ is just lucky Kobe did not hear that before the game.

How the heck did a bench player even start in the All Star game?

Ant Jackson well said

Technically yeah, Kobe just carbon copied MJ. LeBron just being himself isn't bad either.

I don't understand why they can't compare Lebron to Magic or something

Yeah, let lebron at least finish his career.

Spoken like a fanboy. Kobe copied MJs moves, talk and mannerisms. So of course, they are comparable. But in terms of greatness...its like mistaken Eminem for Stan but its clear that you cannot tell the difference.

Lucy Aklar that just shows how humble Kobe was was

He don't get 3 rings without Shaq being the most dominant player.

@@loboloco8678 I also agree with that too. Shaq was Finals MVP on their 2000 -2003 threepeat teams.

Basketball is a team sport.......

@@loboloco8678 Shaq doesn't get 3 of his rings without Kobe either.

The comparison of lebron and mike is in terms of who the goat is not who plays similar

Oh you’re one of those I’m not going to entertain this argument. Kobe is better than lebron. Between rings and how he won. Minus the ONE chip in Cleveland. Lebron is second to Kobe and third to Jordan. Lebron will probably be the all time scorer in nba history but if Jordan played as long as lebron Jordan would’ve have 40k plus Jordan and Kobe opened the door for a player like lebron to shine and it’s proven and shown by his game so please spare me the lebron love. Lebron is a legend and will be this generations greatest nba player but he’s not the best

If we compare Kobe and Michael, there won't be any argument. They're very similar but MJ is better at almost everything. With Lebron, you could make an argument that he's a better rebounder, a better playmaker, better 3-pointer, bigger, faster(?), better longevity, etc... I'd still take MJ over Lebron though.

Zzzzz Walks lebron isnt a good 3pt shooter horrible and ft. He’s bigger yes you can teach size. He’s got a semi PG handle but what has lebron really done that Kobe didn’t. Kobe has a better finals record that lebron. Kobe NEVER choked in the finals and was kept to single digit scoring when his team needed him. When shaq fouled out and Kobe took over thst showed the heart of a champion. Lebron never fouled out his team needed him and he was scared. He needed to go to Miami to learn how to win. Kobe and mj killers on the court they have that natural animal ambition. You either have it or you don’t. Lebron I’m not knocking the man for what he’s done for the game but he’s just not on that level. I’m not saying he’s a scrub but you can’t tell me he’s done more than Kobe or MJ. With the game on tne line I would never take lebron ever

GNB lebron is a stat chaser bc he will never measure up to Kobe or MJ that’s all he can do at this point and IF he doesn’t bring a ring to the gold and purple that will be another stain on his legacy. Lebrons window for another ring is closing. Why do you think he wants to keep the nba season open bc the other teams are coming

Yes 😎

Andre Faelnar Jordan studied the game and took People’s moves! Exactly what Kobe did! Took moves from all the greats and implemented them in his game! Kobe 1v1 when locked in is unstoppable

Duh

MIchael Jordan is a Sith Lord and Kobe was his apprentice and when he retired kobe became the sith lord

@@lawrencemoore3863 Nice

Jah Moneyy most of the time the big brother may have had the better legacy, but the smaller brother learns and becomes better than his bigger brother

@@adambruins Kobe isnt better than MJ lmao

G C *most of the time* lmao

G C but I gotta agree with you

MJ and Kobe = Itachi and Sasuke

If you've seen all their shots, moves, dunks, etc. you would think Kobe actually put a lot more skill sets to supplement Jordan's move set as his base. I think he surpassed that only because of that killer instinct to adapt to the era of the NBA Kobe played in (zone defense). Jordan played in a different era were it was slightly slower but he was way ahead of everyone with his skill set and ability plus taking advantage of isolation on the man to man defense era. He could hold the ball better and stay on the air better than Kobe, but Kobe adapted to the zone defense and penetrate better than Jordan against a league with a lot more allstars and coaches who have accumulated strategies against players/teams over the decades. You can't really say who is better because you can't just have Jordan play in the 00s and 2010 zone defense era, or have Kobe play in the late 80s to the 90s. Kobe and Lebron playing in the 80s and 90s without the NBA politics would grant them easily the greatest players of all time but their skillsets will not be as good today because they are who they are today because of what they play against TODAY.

He was closest, but he fell short. Shooting 44% from the field, and only winning two finals MVPs

@@Alucard400 Jordan can play and score in any era. He averaged 22 a game with the wizards between the ages of 38-40. Lead the league in scoring for 10 years straight. Mj and Wilt the only two players to put up over 3000 points in a season. Jordan was no joke man he's just different from any other I've ever saw play. Those players back then were good also Mj made them look like that because he worked so hard to be the best. He worked on his craft and got better and better. Losing against those teams in the 80s just sparked a fire in him to keep pushing himself and he knew what he had to do to get to the next level.

@@Alucard400 dude, i think you put to rest any type *GOAT COMPARISONS FOREVER* in my book! Thank you! Very well put.

@@bobbygray3186 we can say that the Celtics, Lakers & Pistons were all variations of FRIEZA to get Jordan (Goku) to become a *LEGENDARY SUPER SAIYAN!*

@GEO GOAT 3 or 4

It’s because of his legal charges earlier in his career that’s nba didn’t give him more

Fax. Politics

2003-2006-2008 These are the seasons he should have won regular season mvp

@@Ep07123 I love Dirk but maybe 07 also. But those 3 for sure!! 03 Duncan was a Killer also so idk. I say 09 or 2010 over LeBron

Anthony Anwusi definitely and 💯 agree

Anthony Anwusi Yeah ! He was snupped big time 😖

@JJ Ortega Popularity are you dumb? Nash has 2 MVPs and he's nowhere near as popular, ist not like the all-star game its not fans voting

When? 2000-2003 Kobe was second best player on his team 2004-played 65 games avg 24-5-4, Garnett averaged 24.2-14-5 with the same record and was a monster on defense 2005- 28-6-6 and his team had 34 wins! 2006- 35-4-5 and his team was 45-37...Nash had 13 wins with 19/4/10 and Bron 5 wins more with 31/7/6 2007 31-6-5 and his team was 42-40 while Dirk had 67-15 record 2008 won it 2009 and 2010 LeBron won it where is the argument?

@@patricija4179 People just feel like Kobe should have more MVPs and ignore context

Agree 100%, and this is random but your username is cute 😂

That Boston series he hit some of the most difficult shots in NBA history 💯

Its common sense

💯 It’s really only people under 30 or so. They never watched the magic that happened when MJ and Kobe played. I felt privileged watching them.. Never felt like that watching Lebron.

Closest yes, in rank no

@@weenfain2321 that's wassup!! I like lebron💯 he is great!! But he lacks jordan and kobe killer instinct!! That's the one major weakness in his game and always has been..

Lol

YeeItsAlex “it’ll stunt your growth”

@@sukuna_sempai5283 That was straight up cold what MJ told him.

Passing the torch

Passing the torch, kobe passed to lebron, lebron look like will pass to luka ....

MJ Humble?

S_Hutchinson yes he’s never called himself the goat either

@@emerybmusic Because when you're the GOAT everyone else says it for you.

Well spoken homie..im tired of hearing about how kobe was the closest thing to Jordan and i seriously don't believe that you are the closest thing to someone because you did the very same thing that the person before you did ,people in the urban community always say keep it real and do you,well kobe did someone else game because he wasn't authentic in his own game and I seriously don't respect him for that at all,Jordan is Jordan all by himself and he doesn't need to be hyped up,people are always hyping kobe up as if he was innovative on the basketball court and he seriously wasn't person who was innovative on the basketball court who came out of the same draft class with kobe was Allen Iverson and he left a significant and signature trade mark on the NBA then kobe did despite the NBA finals ring..the arm sleeve the cross over dribble,changing the dress code,coinning the phases like i play every game like it's my last,I like to thank my family,friends,and my coaching staff and he coined that phase when he won his first NBA all star game mvp in Washington DC in 2001...etc....kobe did all of Jordan's moves on the court and that seriously doesn't make you close to someone and I seriously could see if he had his own style and you compared him to Jordan but that's not the case at all

Hyping Kobe? People even disrespected him tho. So what's your point? Michael Jordan had that respect to Kobe and so Kobe.... Jordan who would do anything to win or Kobe who had nothing to lose But Mj is the goat tho atleast Kobe is in the Mt. Rushmore too. And he got recognition from Mj the goat!

Cause lebum generates views, now that kobes dead and everyone is talking about him they just see it as an opportunity to make money off of it

Kobe can't hold brons jockstrap

dadillonful U must be high

...is y'all forgetting about the SAVAGERY of Larry Bird??? Bird is somewhere in between Kobe and LeBron ... might be right behind Jordan. Let's talk about it.

dadillonful - you’re an idiot. LeBron is called LeChoke for a reason. LeMedia, LeFraud, LeBlame, LeStatPadder. He’s not top 10 of all time. He’s good. But NOT that good dude.

but he didnt mj never lsot in the finals

qwerty asdfg 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

Game wise too

@@robbereal1982 There's actually 2 players in different ways that compare to Jordan. Kobe was like Jordan that won the 2nd 3 peat with his post game and footwork but D Wade was like Jordan during the first 3 peat with his slashing and high motor.

@@IamSSAINVINCIBLEx stop that Dwayde was nice but not that nice

@@IamSSAINVINCIBLEx Kobe was the closest period. The difference is he didn't have the green light from day 1 like Jordan or LeBron did.

I do like them all very much. But there's only one goat. !! MJ !!

The hatred for Lebron is very disappointing. Especially when it comes from fellow Black Americans. It's as divisive as republican vs. democrats.

Nah, more fun to debate

Anyone who’s a fan of Kobe or a fan of Jordan respect them both it’s the LEBRON d riders that disrespect the greats cause they just can’t except that he isn’t the goat so they gotta put the greats down to lift him up face it LEBRON ain’t the goat that’s better the mj he’s not even better then Kobe 💯

Imagine Kobe came in Jordan’s athletic prime

Owen LOOV stop it. Just don’t even bring that here

Owen LOOV Give Bron and MJ the same exact team same players and everything and let both teams face off as Bron as one leader and MJ as another I’m taking Brons team all day

Kobe and Jordan the greatest

LeBron ? Never heard of her

Meh. I actually agree with you

It went from Harold Minor to Penny to Grant Hill then to Kobe. KB24 is the only one who held up MJ legacy - - granted that Penny & Grant Hill suffered career threatening injuries.

Air Apparent

heir apparent, but he was second fiddle to shaq lol. OK

@G C Kawhi ain't there yet.

@@straightlead8 He only played with Shaq for 8 out of his 20 seasons, won repeat titles without him, and has more rings than him. So your point is pointless.

Yup. And if his critics didn't have a positive effect on race relations they don't know what they're talking about.

@GNB so you seen this come out his mouth?

@GNB cause he don't like hip hop that promote thuggery.

GNB A hip hoop groupie crying because Mj wouldn’t take a picture of him? Lol good one.

Lebron is an activist who sided with China against Hong Kong who were fighting for freedom.

I peep that to.she loves positive attention

📠!

No it's because he patterned his game after MJ

Right

Definitely

It's ESPN they're the best at recycling topics what do you expect

Madhav Sharma very true

They were equally talented.

Kobe wasnt more talented, he only had the advantage of have watched MJ during his childhood. MJ never saw an NBA game until he was 12. Jordan never stop polishing his game because of all the upside he had, think about it, 95-98 was his polished version, but by that time he was passed his phisical prime. The 2 years he decided to shoot the 3( not counting the shorter line) were 90 and 93, those were his only 2 years with more than 2 attempts (2.9 and 2.5) and guess what, those were his years with his best 3pt% (37% and 35%). So now imagine if he had played in this era, shooting 3s and with a polished game from the get go...Now that its scary.

@Championship Boxing Yeah, equally. Their talent level was the same. Kobe grew to be more skilled than MJ. Jordan played smarter than Kobe.

what?

Chris Grant EXTREMELY GOOD QUESTION!!!!!!!💯✊🏽🏀🙏🏽

Because ESPN has exclusive rights in the US and is only letting people who pay for ESPN service get access. ESPN has small reach outside the US so Netflix it is.

Get a vpn bro

And so I read that Episode 5 has Kobe content so I'm looking forward to watching it 😉😉

It definitely should be on Netflix. By the way .. GO COWBOYS!!

I believe the closest thing to Magic was Anfernee Hardaway in the open floor or half court. What we are seeing in LBJ is one of a kind. He can win.

No lies told

@GNB @ you must be smoking something if you can fix your mouth to say LeBron is better than Kobe. Kobe was the Jordan in this era.

GNB Kobe is better, because Kobe played against some of the toughest players. Right now this ERA is too soft for Lebron and still can’t make more titles and getting more help...

M M His a Lebron fan. You can’t argue about it. We all knows that Kobe is better than Lebron.

@Clippers Suck At least kobe played like a superstar that series avg 30 a game while lebron lost to them with two all stars outplayed by jj barea, jason terry.... should i go on

sc12100 rent free

Lol he is

He is the closest stylistic wise, not greatness wise. Greatness wise, Kobe was a sidekick to shaq for almost half of his career. Sidekicks don't get to be in GOAT debates...or even top 10 debates

straightlead8 huhhh??? Sidekick? You must’ve watched the stats not the game 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

straightlead8 Kobe was never the sidekick go check the stats lil homie! If anything Kobe carried Shaq and the Lakers. And yes the numbers and history supports that! I lived it! I’m from LA, I watched Kobe’s entire career... Shaq did not Carry Kobe!

Factz. We all know this

GNB by being the most valuable player

Its not the most valuable team award its what player is most important to the success of a team by them selfs - 18.6 Points Per Game, 3.5 Rebounds Per Game, 10.5 Assists Per Game. Kobe Bryant - 35.4 Points Per Game, 5 Rebounds Per Game, 4.5 Assists Per Game kobe had mihm smush Kwaaaaamayy brown crack odom Walton devon George etc and they still almost upset the suns

​@@degdegaz9292 If that's the case then 21-year-old Lebron should've won the '06 MVP. He was actually second in voting. Lebron James - 31.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.6 APG

Nash deserved both mvps

Idk if this is true but since this is a Kobe Stan account imma hit the like

Kobe didnt have better footwork than MJ. What Kobe did was take worse shots and make them thats why u feel that way. Kobe is arguably the best bad shot maker all time.

@@stephenasunnamedsource2943 That's shots attempts, we talking footwork and love is among the best ever. Jordan can't attack left like kobe

I read MJ couldn't attack left lol..stop it

You can't say Kobe isn't in the goat conversation knowing he won 5 rings when some of the greats can't even win 1 let alone 5(AI, TMac, Steve Nash). Kobe was also the face of the NBA after Jordan.

You don’t know basketball .. Kobe is the most SKILLED basketball player ever

Allonzo Tate suuurrrreeee lmao. MJ, Bron, Magic, Bird, Duncan, Kareem all ahead of him and very arguable that Shaq who was better than him on the same team and Hakeem were also. Kobe was the best players in the league for what 2 years? Year n a half? 05 half of 06 before Lebron took that season by storm? And even in 05 Dwayne Wade had one of the best finals performances ever with Shaq a year prior to em leaving Kobe. KG was arguably better until 06. Bron has been the best since 06 so how can a player who wasn’t the best for multiple years be top 5 all time? Only has 2 FMVPs while the rest of the top 6 has 3 or more. Etc etc I can go down the list of him only wanting to do it his way, the playoff woes just some for ex: where he quit in 06 against the Suns, 04 finals, 08 finals collapse and half the series, game 2,4,7 in 2010. The inefficiency in the reg season and playoffs. Only 1 MVP where arguably Bron deserved it more. it’s just not an argument u can win at all, it’s over. Its not even a convo that he’s better than Lebron let alone the goat. He’s top 7

He’s one of the most skilled players ever but that doesn’t redeem greatness and overall impact on the game

@@DECKERx Basketball isn't a one man team shaq wouldn't have won without kobe and vice versa (orlando magic). Its the same reason why Lebron had to join D.Wade and C.Bosh in Miami. With all that being said even D.Wade idolizes Kobe, even when he was teammates with lebron he said he had no one left the chase. No offence Lebron is also one of the greats but unless he can surpass Kobe in rings, Kobe will always be ahead of him. None of the Players you mentioned won it all by themselves.

Kobe wasn't a imitation he was a excellent student who learned well from the master of basketball Michael Jordan.

@our hair defies gravity so can we I couldn't say it better myself...STFU!!! Sometimes Molly is the only one that makes sense up there

Simps

Wrong. Michael and Kobe had the tangibles. They had the supporting cast and a Great Head Coach. LeBron never had a hall of Fame coach. If the NBA comes back during the summer, we will see if Frank Vogel has the potential to help navigate and help LeBron to win his 4th championship.

@GNB @ you dumb Kobe won five championships

@GNB idk is he? But mj said kobes better than lebron. So we know that much. Thanks for asking mj who he thinks he better so we can put the debate to rest. Thanks lol

When they talk about Kobe being closest to Mj it’s not in rank.

drewgistah false

@Greg A lol

Hey man, give nash credit dude. One of the best PGs to ever play the game. I don't think there was a better playmaker than him

GNB cause he had better teams Kobe willed that team to the playoffs

He was better than Nash but Nash was leading a better team. That’s how the mvp works. If the suns made the 2007 finals, Nash would’ve swept Lebron and won finals mvp easily lol

@@ishmaelm1932 GTFOH

😆 😆 😆

Imagine lebron going 1 and 9 without Dwayne wade lmao

@Clippers Suck you lacking reading comprehension poor kid. Im talking about finals swept. You just made yourself imbecile

Someone better than LeBron? Yeah, it's your opinion.