Many ESPN Analysts say Kobe is better than Jordan 

It makes me mad how in recent years they've left Kobe out of even their Top 10 list.

Kobe's been saying he could beat MJ 1 on 1 since he was 18...

"HOW QUICKLY THEY FORGET "

In terms of Talent (not resume) Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball I have ever seen.

When someone as arrogant as MJ can admit that Kobe would beat him 1 on 1, there's really nothing else you can say. That's probably the greatest compliment you can ever get.

Yet you denied the CP3 trade. You didn’t want him having more rings than MJ.

gm 2: 13assist gm 3: 11assist gm 4: 10assist And they say Kobe don't pass??? I guess they just threw those number on his assist status huh?

10 years later, and this still rings true. RIP Goat Mamba!

Michael Jordan said that he would probably lose to kobe in one on one

Yeah I say MJ: 1A Kobe: 1B

What's ironic to me is the Kobe's game mirrors Jordan's game to the T,and MU said Kobe could probably beat him 1 on 1.and people still dont wanna give Kobe credit?

Shaq was always a liability in the fourth quarter and was never the "closer"

Did michael have both of his numbers retired no. guess who kobe did.

KOBE highlights are the best highlights

Something I've been trying to tell ignorant people for years. Kobe is the true G.O.A.T All lot of the haters don't want to admit it because they don't like Kobe. But hey, that's just fine. Facts are facts.

“He’s the only one to have put in the work to deserve the comparison” - MJ. rip mamba🌹🐍🐐

Kobe is the GOAT! Highest scoring guard in NBA History: 32,482 points Third highest scorer in playoff history: 5,640 points 5 Championships 7 Finals appearances Most career Assists at the SG position in NBA history: 6,122 Third most Triple-Doubles at the SG position in NBA history: 21 Most All NBA First Team selections in NBA history: 11 (Shared with Karl Malone) Most All NBA Selections in NBA history: 15 Most All NBA First Team Defense selections in NBA history (Shared with MJ, Payton and Garnett) Second most All NBA Defense selections: 12 (Duncan has 14) Most 25 PPG seasons in NBA history Most points in a single game in Modern NBA history - 81 points Most points in a half in Modern NBA history - 55 points Only player to score 600 points in 3 consecutive playoffs Most 600 point playoff seasons: 3 (Shared with MJ) Only player to outscore a team! Kobe: 62 - Mavericks - 61 Only player to score 60 points in just 3 quarters Only player to score 50 points in just 3 quarters (he did that 6 times) Scored 40 by half time 3 times! (Modern NBA record) Only player to score 30 in a quarter twice! (NBA record) Only player in Modern NBA history to average 40 PPG for a calendar month: Kobe did that 4 times! Longest 50 point game streak in Modern NBA history: 4 consecutive games (two of these games were 60 point games!) Longest 40 point game streak in Modern NBA history: 9 consecutive games (Shared with MJ but KB had a 7-2 record with two 50 point games while MJ was 2-7 with no 50 point games) Longest 30 point game streak in Modern NBA history: 16 consecutive games Most game winning shots in NBA history: 37 Most game winning shots in a single season: 64 Most game tying shots to force OT in NBA history: 22 Most game 7 wins in Modern NBA history: 5 Most career 60 point games (Modern NBA): 5 Most 60 point games in a season (Modern NBA): 2 (Shared with MJ but KB did it twice) Second most 50 point games in career (Modern NBA): 24 (MJ had 31) Most 50 point games in a season (Modern NBA): 10 Second most 40 point games in career (Modern NBA): 121 (MJ had 173) Second most 40 point games in a season (Modern NBA): 27 (MJ had 37) Fourth most 30 point games in career (Modern NBA): 425 (MJ had NBA record 562) Second most 30 point games in the playoff career: 88 (MJ had 109) Most 3 pointers made in a game: 12 (Shared with Donyell Marshall) Most consecutive made 3 pointers: 9 Kobe is the GOAT!

Allen Iverson is RIGHT!!! Did y'all forget??? The Mamba!!! Certified KILLER!! RIP Kobe #GOAT

Kobe Bryant > Any NBA Player to Ever Play in the nba

33% from 3 is = to 50% from the 2! So tired of people that dont know that.

The thrill of watching kobe is unmatched in the history of the game. He gives you the feeling to love him and admire him regardless of anything he does. He changed the sport of basketball and effect countless people around the world. Kobe is arguably the best athlete of all time！

Miss you KOBE legend,you are the greatest ever

Kobe is The G.O.A.T.💪🏽🙏🏽🏀

33.7 PPG 7.2 RPG 8.3 APG shit....that was amazing...kobe in their prime would play not at jordan's level but very very very close...and kobe in his prime would destroy lebron james

Look at those numbers Kobe dropped in the Phoenix series... Dude dropped double digit assist in 3 of the 5 games. 9 in another game. And he had at least 30 in all but 1 game. And he had at least 5 rebounds in every game. And you're telling me that all Kobe did was score 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Michael Jordan's ROOKIE year stats: 28.2 PPG. 6.5 RPG. 5.9 APG. Kobe Bryant's MVP year stats: 28.3 PPG. 6.3 RPG. 5.4 APG.

Kobe settled this argument his last game ever. SIXTY F'N POINTS!!! The thing that puts him ahead of MJ to me who grew up on MJ and ABSOLUTELY LOVED!!! And thought there would NEVER be ANYONE close, it is Kobe's D! While Both were 9 time all Defense players (MOST EVER) Kobe was against WAY better all around talent! The game has evolved so much since then. EVERY PLAYER is crazy good now. To do what Kobe has done 81 vs Toronto 2nd only to Wilt in 60+ games. It was easy for Wilt cause he was three feet taller than all the white boys he played against. But Kobe, I mean damn! Too many Laker HATERS out there giving there CLEARLY BIAS OPINION! Kobe's Offense was the best EVER and his Defense was definitely better than MJ and as far as CLUTCH...KOBE ALL DAY EVERY DAY! Kobe is the GOAT (PERIOD)

Not sure why Kwame Brown is not in this discussion.

Agree, Kobe is better than MJ due to the fact he started the game at the age of 17, and broke lots of records at that age. MJ was successful because he had a very good team. Kobe has shown, he won with and without Shaq.

Without jordan kobe would never have been so good,he mastered jordans style while still doing his own thing.

Kobe single handedly beat a Celtics team with garnet, Allen, pierce, rondo, and Perkins TWICE!!! Mj beats a bunch of old unathletic white dudes and is the goat? His greatest competition was the bad boy pistons😂😂😂😂 Kobe’s era was light years better, not even close

Great video!

That's because Jordan's fundamental footwork is impeccable, he rarely has to take tough shots. MJ's feet is quicker than Kobe's and he gets more air, so he's able to free himself better.

on march 31, 2012 kobe bryant passed michael missed shots against the vaunted new orleans hornets defense. When kobe passe jordan in missed shots jordan made 2,986 more points, 1,972 more MADE shots, 4.4% higher shooting percentage, 47 less free throws made, 307 more offensive rebounds, 251 more defensive rebounds, 558 more total rebounds, 242 more assists, 797 more steals, 300 more blocks, 494 less turnovers, 4.7 more ppg, 35 more offensive win share, 17 more defensive win shares, 52 more total win shares, 8 more scoring titles, 4 more mvp's, 4 more final mvp's, 1 more defensive player of the year, 3 more steals titles. which means kobe can only pass jordan's volume achievements or team achievement (games won, playoff appearancs, playoff wins, finals appearances, and nba championships) due to playing more seasons and games in the nba (jordan 15 (1072), kobe 17(1245 games)). He will never pass jordan in ACURRACY or EFFIENCY. If these so called "experts" would do actual research they'd now this and some of them might. So why do they say things like lebron or kobe is better than jordan, bc the ratings in the 90s where better than they are now. jordans bulls in finals ratings where 14.2-17.9, kobe and shaq lakers 10.2-12.1 in finals, kobe after shaq finals 9.3-10.6, lebrons cavs 6.5, lebron with heat 9.3-10.4. This shows you that nba was more popular in the 90's. This means that there is a ton of people who watched jordans bulls final runs and haven't watched since. So if word gets out to those people that someone is better than jordan now, they might be intrigued to watch one of kobe or lebron games. this can lead to them following a player, team, or even NBA again. Basically some of these analyst trying to recreate the following the nba had in the 80's and 90's by saying kobe/lebron is better than Michael without any facts to support there. Most of these analyst that say kobe/lebron are better work for espn, nbatv, or tnt which broadcast nba games. Id like to finish this rant by saying that i've used more stats and facts to back up my argument than most "experts" that work for espn, tnt, and nbatv have ever used in any debate.

Kobe played in a stacked Western Conference and had a rival named Tim Duncan that was good enough to win as many championships as he did. Jordan and Lebronze never had an arch rival in the same conference. In other words they had shitty competition. It was a cake walk for them to get where they ended up. For Kobe and Duncan to win 5 rings a piece in the same conference during the same era just shows you how great the two of them are. My top 5 players are 1.MJ 1A.KOBE 2.Magic 3.Duncan 4.Kareem 5.Shaq

It's interesting how people in the moment regads Kobe so differently than they do now. I expect same to happen when LeBron retires where the hype will quiet down and he will prob go down as top 5 all time with Mike still untouchable at the top

didn't kobe humiliated him 1v1 when he was 19 or 20?

It is hard to compare given that they played in different eras (except for Jordan's Wizards period). So stats are really all that you can go by. With that, I take Jordan. Kobe has more defensive rebounds (5,342 vs. 5,004), more assists (6,122 to 5,633), and more career points. But it took him over 5,000 mins more to do so (46,774 to 41,011). They are tied in free throw % (84%). But after than, Jordan is tops in all other stats. Jordan wins with blocks (893 to 627), steals (2,514 to 1,882) in which he is 3nd all time in number of steals and 3rd in steals per game, offensive rebounds (1,668 to 1,458), field goal % (50% to 45%), points per game (30 to 25.5) in which Jordan is 1st all time, and points per min (28 to 25) in with again, Jordan is 1st all time. He has the highest points per average as a 38-40 year old (20-22 pts/game) and, although I hate one-game stats, is the only player to score more than 40 at age 40 and the oldest player to score more than 50 (at age 38). And of course the championships at 6 to 5. In 15 seasons, Jordan didn't miss a game in 9 of them, including his last as a 39/40 year old. In 19 seasons, Kobe didn't miss a game in ony 3 of them. As far as entertainment, Jordan has probably hit more reverses, flip shots (including is patented "slap the wrist"), scoops, double-clutches, triple-clutches, jump-over-the-defense dunks, in-your-face dunks, and change-hands-in-the-air shots more than anyone in history. I have actually had people in South Africa, England, the Philippines, and Australia tell me that the NBA is not the same without MJ, even with Kobe and Lebron playing.

Lakers organization screwed KobeLegacy. The only good move they made was getting Pau Gasol instead of Kwame Brown. People talkin shit bout Kobe because of Howard and Nash situations. But everybody forgot about Howard's effort and Nash's age. also they got hurt. Of course, Kobe is not nice guy to chill with, it's hard to get along with him but this is problem of coaching staff it's their work to do. Lakers got rid of Phil Jackson, that's when things started going wrong. TBH Kobe had only 2-3 years of being greatest if Lakers kept that pace without screwing up, everybody would be like "Kobe is the greatest ever". IMO Kobe is the best player ever. But definitely not greatest leader and winner in basketball history. He isn't the rolemodel, historical winner and definitely not the Greatest Player in game of basketball. Also f*ck those guys saying Kobe is selfish, only thinking about his score. he got 5 rings, he absolutely knows what it takes to win championship, with this Lakerteam it's impossible to win, organization does shit. WHY TF U GET D.RUSSELL INSTEAD OF J.OKAFOR?! U SERIOUSLY THOUGHT ALDRIDGE GON GO TO YOUR TEAM? The only way for Lakers to be relevant again is to get R.Westbrook two years later. Get some 1st round picks and build team around Westbrook. if they got Okafor on this year's draft it would be hell of a show in Staples Centre

The most impressive shot has to be the one against Portland right in the face of the so-called "Kobe stopper" ....I mean really how did he make that? I'd bet that Jordan could not make that same shot in that same situation.

KOBE = King Of Basketball Everywhere

I am better than Jordan. But Kobe is better than me

I don't think Kobe I'd better than mj however I do think there isn't much of a gap between themail. Kobe is a better perimeter shooter & passer and equally as good defender while mj is a better scorer, stronger, and. more athletic

Okay let's see. MJ 6 time NBA championship 6 time FINALS MVP AND NEVER IN THE FINALS . KOBE 5 time champion 2 time finals MVP. Lost 2 times in the finals . The first 3 championship shaq was the MVP not kobe. It's even close. This is this argument is ridiculous

if i had one game id take jordan

...first and formost Jordan and Kobe are the same family line as players Jordan & Kobe their all around skill set guys... he's an all round Specimen and "Facilitator"... magic johnson bill Russell wilt chamberlain type of blood line Facilitators naturally have better stats in the ast and rebs category ... example look at magic rebs and ast compared to Jordan's Look at Jason kids rebs and ast compared to iverson different style of play Now look at magics jump shot and shot off the dribble compared to Jordan... look at lebrons dribble pull up and shoot off the dribble compared to kobes they lose if you compare them in those aspects Lebron's game is lacking not versatility but skill set the ability to have a move for each thing you'll see an opponents use... the most glaring one is the below avg threat of a jump shot or dribble pull up... most ppl think he passes because he's unselfish but the reality when you watch film is he hasn't developed a threatening jump shot especially in comparison to Kobe & Jordan... brons double teams come because of his power and on the drive ... Jordan & Kobe double teams came because of the skill set eliteness two different type of double teams because they're different players this is why he says it's night & day if you watch coaches film it jumps out to you right away... if you think I'm lying go back even to the last finals this is why every team backs offf and let's him shoot... now that doesn't make he less of a great player.... but remember everything is in "comparison" to these two greats... he doesn't equal up.... hands down Jordan is the goat... but kobe is the hands down most elite maxed out skill set player to ever play in the NBA... he's the only player Jordan himself said can beat him in a one on one ... Everything an opponent is able to display on def Kobe has and elite response That's why every player in the NBA hesitates when the analyst try to ask them to put bron over Kobe or near Jordan, because they're view from to different perspectives The bases of perspective from a casual fan and many of these analyst are off, because they base if off of stats but a player is basing everything off film first I play in the NFL it's a term we use which is eyeb in the sky never lie... The Film tells it alll Mj=The Goat Kobe= The Best Basketball Player Ever Period Bron=Best Modern Day statical Goat

1988-89 32.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block GOAT

THE GREATEST EVER ... NO QUESTION ABOUT IT ...

I remember when mj said Kobe could beat him in a 1v1

Kobe is the greatest player - since Jordan ! ! ! No other player has earned the right to be in the conversation!!! Jordan was, unquestionably, the best player in everybody's book and nobody was even close to him ----- For Kobe to be considered that great... he HAS to win another ring!!!! Right now he's just the greatest SINCE Jordan . . .

Kobe was a great player. Whenever he played in the court I didn't saw Kobe, I saw Michael Jordan. You can always say he is better, but I saw MJ in him...and my eyes don't lie. Michael is Michael, Kobe was Michael. In my humble opinion, MJ and Kobe are the GOATS of the NBA. #MJ-Kobe✊

If injuries didn’t ruin Kobe’s last few years he would easily go down as #1 in my opinion but injuries are part of the game. Kobe played thru many but there comes a point when they just become too much

Kobe is the greatest of all time!! 👌🏽🙌🏽

People stop hating we all know KOBE is the greatest ever

I swear everytime I see those last two shot @6:40 I'm replaying that a million times....DAMN!

I say this all the time and get ragged for it. Kobe is the Goat. Period.

Lol, and a lot of people say Justin Bieber is the next Michael Jackson. So fucking what?

The Bulls won 55 games WITHOUT Jordan when he first retired and they took the Knicks to 7 games in the Eastern conf finals. Jordan and the Bulls always struggled when Pippen was out of the line up.. and before Pippen came to Chicago, Jordan and the Bulls were getting swept by Detroit. Kobe Bryant has done things in the NBA that Jordan has never reached. Kobe won without Shaq, Jordan never won without Pippen.

wow how soon ppl forget

Mark Jackson was the only person in this video that said Kobe was better Jordan. The video is misleading and is a flat out lie.

I'm not gonna lie kobe Bryant is like the most skilled player I ever seen...him and Michael was a toss up....the problem is kobe didn't really play the beginning of his career so his stats don't show....however if you look at his minutes per game its lower than everyone elses which supports that

MJ in the finals 37% from arc Kobe in the Finals 31% from the arc

even in those changed roles year by year his regular season output was superior to his playoff output aside from rebounds his output in the playoffs from 1967 to retirement his numbers were down consistently in the pts, FG% FT% (lower than usual) assists

All you youtube experts and not one of you bring up the difference in athleticism between Kobe's league and Jordan's. Also Jordan played one man basketball for the first 6 season's of his career. Bloating his stat line. We will never know who was better. Because they hit their primes at different times. All we can say is that they are both great talents that come around once in a generation. Look at Andrew Wiggins to be next. His Jump shot is identical to both. Plus he has the frame and elevation to get off any shot he wants. Back to the subject at hand. Kobe's biggest flaw was taking the challange of making impossible shot's while M.J. was the greatest at making space for a easy look. Not saying he didn't hit tough shots he just made better decisions when it came to when to shoot. Kobe did lose twice in the finals, but not because of his play. He almost won M.V.P. in the loss against Boston but he was a no show in the second half of game 6 when he realized his team wasn't physical enough to get the job done. A lot of people forget that M.J. retired and the Bulls still made the conference title without him. I feel like either teams with Kobe the shaq or Gasol teams would not have reached that level. M.J was more athletic. Not by a lot but he was. Kobe also has smaller hands making him a little weaker on defense and lose ball situations. Kobe never has seen open looks though. From the beginning of his career to now he has been double teamed. They both are great, they both are better then any other player at the shooting gaurd. They both worked harder and had a competative nature greater then everyone else. Now back to the trollers and there hate of each player driving there love for the other. I myself loved them both, and it is safe to say neither of them is leaving game 1 of the finals with cramps..... Lebron lol. Great but weak.

Horrible video...bunch of edited clips saying "i'm taking Kobe bryant" trying to make us think they were about to say "over Jordan" just as you cut it LOL The only guy who is foolish in this video is Mark Jackson - must have had something against Michael. Kobe had many great playoff series and reaches his 7th finals here in this video and will go down as one of the greats along with Magic, Bird, Cousy, Duncan, Baylor, Robertson, LeBron, Duncan, Moses, Pettit, Havilcek, Hakeem, Shaq - BUT NONE of those guys INCLUDING KOBE are in the club with Russell, Jabbar, Jordan or Chamberlain... it's not even close. Those four stand far above everyone else that ever played basketball.

Phil Jackson's opinion was conveniently left out.

I'm glad to see the highlights. Most of them came from regular season games and some playoffs but Jordan's stage is mostly on the playoffs and finals... Nuff said

They all forgot that Jordan retired in his prime for 2 seasons. He would've had 8 championships, 8 finals MVPs, atleast another MVP and huge boosts in every stat category.

Kobe played against harder competition and dominated them

Kobe will not go down as the greatest. The only thing Michael has on him is that he knew how to play in a team system. Kobe didn't, he needed self sufficient players who could isolate and create on their own. He couldn't play correctly in a system. Michael could, people need to watch more film.

Imagine them saying this 7yrs ago but now he’s retired they act like he never did this

i was talking about individual play his numbers were consistently down in the playoffs compared to his regular season output. for a career its an 8pt drop thats pretty significant. Hell in the year he avg 50ppg in the playoffs he had a 15pt drop

No one in this video besides Jackson said Kobe is BETTER than Jordan

Kobe Bryant better skill wise Michael Jordan was more athletic and a little.more competitive

Their pace was more on the run-and-gun pace back in the 80s, something like D'Antoni likes to run, which is why I many classify it as the "Golden Era" of basketball. BUT, I can also agree with you that today, athletically speaking, they could be better than even the 80s. One reason being that the league is a lot younger also.

this video wasn't made to make it look like analyst said that but it wasn't the case

even as a lifelong laker and kobe fan. there is no way anyone can make a legit argument for kobe. Michael is better than kobe. feel free to debate with me

KobeBryant =Greatest Indivdial Player Of All Time Michael Jordan:Greatest Force Of All time.

Rest in piece David stern

Kobe had a bigger offensive arsenal...he did. However, that confidence wasn’t good at times because he took a lot more bad shots than Jordan. Jordan shot a higher field goal percentage during a much more physical era. Not only did he make better decisions shooting the ball, he smartly gave it up better than Kobe did.

Kobe won 2 without Shaq. Jordan won 0 without Pippen. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Like what MJ say if there 1 person that can beat him 1vs 1 .. is Kobe( but Kobe copy MJ move and improve it ) but there something Kobe won't have.. people like to see MJ play how he fly , shoot and he set fear to his opps team and boast his own team morale.. If a team game Bulls vs lakers. My $$ still with the 96 bulls.

Kobe is like mj with smaller hands and less vertical

Kobe bryant outscored an NBA finals team through 3 quarters. That's super hero stuff. I mean damn, and they won't appreciate him til he's gone like PAC

lot of haters on here.. lol, When lebron, jordan and kobe all played with scrubs, lebron has done a much much better job. jordan was 1-9 in the playoffs w/o pippen, never won a series. he won when magic, bird and thomas were getting old and having injuries. kobe has 3 sidekick rings, when shaq left he didn't make the playoffs in 2005, two 1st round exits in 2006 and in 2007. he became relevant again with the biggest froncourt during that time gasol, bynum, odom) he also has ariza, artest that guards the opposing best wing player. kobe was saved by gasol and artest during game 7 of the 2010 finals, even phil jackson thought gasol shoul've won the fmvp, kobe is the only fmvp in history that didn't lead his team in PER. lol, meanwhile lebron james took the shitty cavs to the finals in 2007, had the best record in 2009 and 2010. when he left in free agency the cavs became the worst team in the league, from 60+ wins to 60+ loses.. he makes his teammates much better than they actually were unlike kobe who makes teammates worse. howard was a monster in orlando but kobe made him just a rebounder in los angeles, nash was a maestro in phoenix led the league in assits before he came to los angeles but when he played with kobe he became a spot up shooter and averaged 4-6 assists only. lol, 2014-2015 season kobe is bricking and bricking shots, 37 shots to get 39 pts? wow!! he doesn't care if they win or lose he just wants to pass mj on the scoring list. most bricked shots in history and his minions would say he's a killer for taking ton of shots.. delusional fanboy..smh

I Think Kobe Was A Better Shooter, Ball Handler & Quicker Than Jordan.

i have seen the 3 of them at their prime live and it's not even close... MJ all day long,he had a grace and magic that made him unique....

This video edit hit real different in 2023, cus it really exposes how the Kobe hate runs so deep that it's actually accelerated since he passed. Ten years ago, you had folks all over the basketball community puttin' him right behind if not neck and neck with Jordan. Now, we got keyboard warriors and talkin' heads alike callin' him a Robin. Shit's weird times, for real.

None of them use a single statistic, they are simply give an opinion which has most likely influenced by excitement and emotion following a Kobe performance. Singling out a performance on one game and making a conclusion about a players legacy or all time ranking is completely pointless, as a prisoner of the moment will often fail to actually consider an option other than the one in front of them. When it comes down to the numbers, Michael Jordan consistently performed better than Kobe Bryant, which is why he is the greater of the two.

Greatest Of All Time Kobe never left the nba and been dominating for about 17 to 18 years kobe's a better shooter and ball-handler and 1-on-1 wise smarter then jordan had athleticism and defense and a mid range jumper that was unstoppable but still kobe vs jordan kobe wins #G.O.A.T

‘Rules were changed for players to emulate Jordan who weren’t Jordan” “What Rules Were Changed and Why They Were Changed? So the NBA started implementing rule changes to make it easier for players who weren't Jordan to emulate the same things he did. Even the zone defenses, often cited as something that works against perimeter players, had the impact of making it easier. There is a misconception that there was a single rule or single year where the rules were changed. Actually, it was a series of rule changes which spanned seven years from the 1997-1998 season to the 2004-2005 season. In 1998, the hand check rule was changed to say, "A defender will not be permitted to use his forearm to impede the progress of an offensive player who is facing the basket in the frontcourt.” In 2000 two more changes were implemented. First, there was a clarification on the hand-check rule, In the backcourt, there is no contact with hands and forearms by defenders. In the frontcourt, there is no contact with hands and forearms by defenders except below the free throw line extended in which case the defender may only use his forearm. In the post, neither the offensive player nor the defender is allowed to dislodge or displace a player who has legally obtained a position. Defender may not use his forearm, shoulder, hip or hand to reroute or hold-up an offensive player going from point A to point B or one who is attempting to come around a legal screen set by another offensive player. Slowing or impeding the progress of the screener by grabbing, clutching, holding “chucking” or “wrapping up” is prohibited. And, Any defense is legal on the strong side. Defenders must remain on the weak side outside the paint unless they are double-teaming the ball, picking up a free cutter or closely guarding an offensive player. In 2001, there was more clarification: No contact with either hands or forearms by defenders except in the frontcourt below the free throw line extended in which case the defender may use his forearm only. In 2002, Illegal defense guidelines will be eliminated in their entirety. A new defensive three-second rule will prohibit a defensive player from remaining in the lane for more than three consecutive seconds without closely guarding an offensive player. There is a misconception that zone defenses balance out the removal of the hand-checking rules. That's not true because of the institution of defensive three seconds. Because of that, big men could no longer hang out in the paint. That opens up the paint for driving wings. The intended effect happened, and the game moved away from the big man. Finally, in 2004-05, the rules were, "introduced to curtail hand-checking, clarify blocking fouls and call defensive three seconds to open up the game. The last five words of that last clarification is crucial, "to open up the game." There is no question that the intention of the rule changes was to open up the game because the people that made the rule changes said why they were doing it, and they said that it was to open up the game. The Proof it Worked Prior to Jordan, the game had been dominated by big men for virtually its entire history. The league's first MVP was awarded in 1956. From that time until Larry Bird won in 1983, the award had gone to a center all but two times. The only exceptions were Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson. Larry Bird won the next three, then the Michael Jordan era began. Over the course of the Jordan era, there were six winners that weren't Jordan. Karl Malone won twice, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuown each won once. Since Jordan retired (if you don't count the Wizards years), only one center, Shaquille O'Neal, has won, and he won during the early part of the rule changes which opened up the game. Since 2005, no centers have won. It's the longest span of time in NBA history where a center didn't win the award. Six of the seven winners were players who generated their teams offense through ball handling. The traditional center is gone. Even the "forward-center" doesn't really qualify. For example, Tim Duncan is often called a center, even if the Spurs don't call him one. Setting aside the question of what you then call the player filling the center spot on San Antonio, the argument is moot. Even if Duncan is a center, he's not the traditional center; he's a modern center. The modern center has changed to adapt to the rules the way they are now. Centers no longer score their points at the rim. They score from further out. When Duncan won the MVP in 2002, 56.2 percent of his points came more than three feet away from the rim. When he won in 2003, over 61.0 percent of his field goals came away from the rim. Yao Ming, at the peak of his career, was a center whose scoring came more than three feet away from the basket. According to basketball-reference, he shot 61.0 percent of his shots from at least three feet out in 2006-07. Shaquille O'Neal, by contrast, had only 40 percent of his field goals come outside of three feet in 2001. The point here is that for centers, the game is moving away from the basket. It's not just a few isolated cases, either, and it has an impact of the overall scoring. Since 2005, only two centers, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard, have scored more than 20 points per game for a season with more than half his points coming within three feet of the rim. No center has averaged more than 23 points and had more than half their shots within three feet. Four centers have only accounted for 20 point per game seasons on just 10 occasions regardless of where the scoring has come from. In the seven years prior to when the rule changes started taking place, there were 36 centers who scored 20 points, and virtually all of them were players who scored the bulk of their points at the rim, although the shot details aren't available. Yao Ming's 25.0 points, which is the highest average since the rule changes, would only be tied for 14th in the seven years from 1991-1998. Yes, there is a slower game now, with an average of five possessions fewer per game in 2012 than there were in 1992. Even if you account for pace, though, it only accounts for 0.8 points, not the dramatic difference here. Nor does it explain why scoring for wings has gone up. Using the same parameters, there were 127 20-point scorers who were pure forwards or guards from 1991-98 compared to 165 over the last seven years. Granted, there are a few players on both of those lists who are power forwards, but not enough to skew the difference. Some will say "numbers don't mean everything." Of course, I'm not arguing they do here. I'm arguing that the numbers show that the rules had the intended effect, not that they "mean" anything. The numbers don't lend meaning to the argument; they defend it. It is a point of fact. Scoring has shifted from the center to the wings since the implementation of rules that were intended to have that impact. The numbers do make that indisputable. Post Hoc Ergo Procter Hoc Or Occman's Razor? One of two things is true here. Either it's just a coincidence that the changes that the rules were designed to affect happened after the rule changes or it's caused by it. Some could argue that it's "post hoc ergo propter hoc" or "after this, therefore because of this." If I drop my pencil and at that exact moment my light bulb burns out, that doesn't mean that dropping my pencil caused the light bulb to burn out. Just because there was a dearth of big men after the rule changes doesn't mean that the rule changes caused the drop off in productive big men. That's where it's important to understand where the center shots are coming from and why it matters that Tim Duncan is attempting his shots from away from the rim. He's shooting from there for a reason. It used to be that behind every great center, there was a great guard to spread the court for him with his shooting and/or passing. There was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, John Stockton and Karl Malone, Willis Reed and Walt Frazier. The center to score at the rim and the guard to feed him the ball and score from outside. Now, the roles are a bit reversed. Centers and bigs are stepping away from the rim to draw their defensive counterparts with them away from the rim. Duncan is opening up the lane for Tony Parker, Carlos Boozer is opening up things for Derrick Rose and Chris Bosh is opening the way for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Occman’s Razor argues that when there are competing hypotheses, the explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is the best. That the rules changed the game in the way it intended to change it (i.e. opening up the game) by causing the very thing they wanted to (move the centers away from the rim), which would result in their objective (create more Jordans) leaves no room for assumption. Perhaps the single best argument for Jordan as the greatest player of all-time is this: No other player had such an impact on the game that the NBA changed the rules to duplicate him. When Wilt Chamberlain dominated, they changed the rules to curtail his dominance. When Jordan dominated, they changed the rules to replicate his dominance. The side effect, though, was that there will never be another Chamberlain.” bleacherreport.com/articles/1383036-how-michael-jordan-changed-the-nbas-center-position-forever

Jordan looks slower than Kobe ,Kobe looks more Sharp his movement is more confident jumper way more Sharp honestly better to watch Jordan looks like he's begging for air time when Kobe is airtime a

just everybody getting caught up in the hype of kobe winning back to back championships

M.J >K.B.........TRUE STORY

But they told me people only said this after kobe died.

6 rings 10 scoring titles 14 all stars 9 times all defence 2 Olympic gold metals do I have to say more???? MJ IS THE GOAT

Most "all time greatest" lists you look at usually don't even have Kobe in the top 5, while usually those same lists have Michael Jordan at number 1. When you break it all the way down they both had the same coach, though Phil Jackson was much more experienced by the time he got to the Lakers. Kobe played second fiddle to Shaq for the first 3 titles, and you can't deny that. Kobe was the man for his last two titles, the last of which he went 6 for 24 from the field in the deciding game 7. Jordan was the man for all 6 titles. Pippen was a great sidekick to have, but you can't say that he was better as a player than Shaq. Both offensively and defensively Jordan was better, though Kobe is a better shooter. Jordan has the statistical advantage in assisting, rebounding and steals. Also, when you think of Michael Jordan you can recall several highlight plays and highlight games, such as the Flu game, the 63 point game, the crazy layup in the 1991 finals, the 5 threes and then the shrug, the shot on Ehlo and the layup-steal-jumper sequence from the 1998 finals. When you think of Kobe the number one thing is the 81 points. Jordan's most memorable moments came in the playoffs and Kobe's 81 point game came in the regular season against a shitty Raptors team. And when it comes to their overall play in the playoffs, Jordan was better. And for those of you who say Jordan was nothing without Pippen and either Rodman/Grant, Kobe never won without and elite big man. Shaq was the most dominant player in the league in the early 2000's and Pau Gasol bailed Kobe out in that game 7 against the Celtics. So, to summarize, JORDAN IS BETTER THAN KOBE ALL TIME. You may disagree, and please, reply to me if you do and state why you believe this to be false.

in 2018 they just forgot about Kobe Bryant smh LeBron is nowhere this awesome! Kobe is the best all time player

The fact people legit say Tim Duncan is better than Kobe blows my minds

Kobe was a f**king Basketball GOD