The greatness of LeBron

That was my question.

 

Kobe never willed his team to a tough road victory. He passed to Shaq.

 

He's willed the Lakers to plenty of big wins. Just not last night, when a win would have been absolutely huge.

How do you "will" something anyway? What does that even mean?

 

Pippen over Drexler?

Drexler was top fiddle for a decade, as in the devil went down to Georgia top fiddle, before accepting No. 2 status in Houston the last few years of his playing career.

Those Portland teams were quite good.

 

Joe Dumars wasn't second fiddle. It was Thomas and Laimbeer... then Dumars. Although it was close.

 

Worthy wasn't a second fiddle. He was the third option on all but the last Lakers championship team.

I would take Pippen over all except McHale. Not over Rasheed, 93? Really? With the exception of being a few inches shorter, Pippen was a better player than Rasheed in every facet. He even was less of a headcase.

 

TSP, if there's such a thing as "willing" a team to victory, Game 3 in this series was an example, with Kobe taking kick-you-in-the-nutts shots, including that spot-up 3 with about 25 seconds to play to pretty much salt it. Shaq wasn't in the game. Playoff road win to reclaim home advantage.

 

The Rasheed thing was the one that caught me by surprise, too.

To me, that's not even close.

 

TSP, if there's such a thing as "willing" a team to victory, Game 3 in this series was an example, with Kobe taking kick-you-in-the-nutts shots, including that spot-up 3 with about 25 seconds to play to pretty much salt it. Shaq wasn't in the game. Playoff road win to reclaim home advantage.

 

Wait a minute -- because this is hilarious -- I thought the knock against Kobe was that he refused to pass. Now all he did in those games was pass to Shaq and get out of the way?

If anyone who actually watches the NBA wants to debate the merrits of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, let me know.

BTW, that Game 7 against Portland, when the Lakers were on the verge of blowing a 3-1 lead and all anyone remembers is that Kobe threw that lob pass to Shaq for the dunk late that sealed it and Shaq was such a douche he wouldn't even high five Kobe while running back up the court?

Here are their stats from that game, which everyone completely ignores because it doesn't fit the Shaq-dragged-the-Lakers-to-a-title argument:

Bryant: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Shaq: 18 points, 9 rebounds.

Should we talk about the NBA Finals game against Indiana when Shaq fouled out and a 21-year-old Kobe Bryant scored the last eight points to send the game into overtime on the road, where the Lakers won and took a 3-1 lead?

Because I never see Bryant haters bring up that game, a game where he dragged them to victory in the NBA Finals, but they sure bring the game when he was 18 years old and he jacked up two airballs against the Jazz in the playoffs. I guess he should have passed to Eddie Jones.

 

I agree. But he's hit or miss. Not that anyone can do that night in and night out, but when he stinks it up, he really stinks it up. Yeah, he had 30-some points, but the Lakers -- Kobe included -- played like ass in a HUGE game.

I'm a huge Kobe fan (on the court), but until he wins a title without Shaq.....I just don't know.

That said, LeBron has done NOTHING yet.

Three titles with Shaq > No titles at all

 

I would love to debate the merits of LeBron vs. Kobe with you, DD. I suspect we fall on opposite sides of the issue. But the reasons I wouldn't pick Kobe haven't been mentioned on this thread, to my recollection.