Michael Jordan Vs Kobe Bryant

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015 Last Modified: 05 Jul 2017

Keywords: jordan and bryant, kobe analysis

Compare and Contrast of Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant

Everyone always argues about who's the best NBA player between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Both of these superstars are fascinating and exciting players to watch on the basketball court. Taking a closer look at the comparison of Jordan and Bryant requires more than just fans bias and common assumptions. Most longtime fans would agree that Michael Jordan is the superior player. However, some of the younger fans choose Kobe over MJ. They both bring unique athleticism to the NBA, but the real question, who the best player is?

Although Bryant has not quite reached the same point in his career that Jordan has, it is still safe to compare the honors and awards each player has earned throughout their playing days. While these achievements are not necessarily everything, it is definitely a significant piece of information. Jordan has six NBA championships to Bryant's three. Jordan has been named MVP five times. Bryant has zero MVPs to his name. Jordan has ten scoring title, Bryant has three scoring titles. Jordan has been elected best defensive player of the year, something Bryant has never done. Jordan made a direct impact on the game when he arrived to the league and was the NBA's rookie of the year in 1984. Bryant developed his game after a couple of seasons before making any impact on the league. To conclude, Jordan accomplished more achievements in his career than Kobe .

Many Jordan fans argue that Bryant never could win without Shaq, while Bryant fans state that Jordan never won without Pippen. However, most people fail to remember the NBA title won in 1998 by Jordan and the Bulls. This championship was so special because Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, remained injured due to their back throughout the entire playoffs. This caused MJ to put the team on his back and lead the Bulls to another title by himself, something Bryant has yet to do. Also, a key example of Bryant's failure to finish off in the NBA Finals was in 2004 when he had four future hall-of-famers in the starting lineup. In attempts to take over, Bryant took multiple unnecessary shots as he got shut down by Tayshaun Prince and the Pistons. The Detroit Pistons dominated the series, winning four games to one. However, no one ever shut down Jordan . To conclude, Jordan could win with or without Pippen.

In respect to Bryant, in recent years, he has accomplished feats Jordan never did. There are two most notable feats. The first is the 81-point performance Bryant made in a single game. Jordan 's closest game to that only left him with 69 points. The other remarkable achievement occurred this year when Bryant scored at least 50 points in four straight games. Throughout Jordan 's illustrious career, he never reached this number. However, Jordan did score at least 50 points in three straight games on multiple occasions.

In respect to Jordan , he averaged more points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks throughout his career than Bryant has in his career. Jordan 's playoff numbers exceed Kobe 's as well. Nobody has outscored Jordan in the playoffs, considering his average for points per game is higher than every other player in NBA history. Jordan average 33.1 points and Kobe average 28.1 points. Also, Jordan holds the record for the highest points per game average in a single playoff series as well as for the NBA Finals, which was 63 points.

In conclusion, with all the statistics, awards, and championships, Jordan seems like the easy pick over Bryant as the superior basketball player. His skill set, selfless attitude, and basketball smarts outclass Bryant's. Jordan is considered by many the greatest basketball player ever. If Bryant wants to be seen in the same light, he has a long, rough basketball road ahead of him.