![]() ![]() LeBron beats Kobe out in every single major category listed here: career PER, average offensive win shares, average defensive win shares, average win shares, average win shares per 48 minutes and career effective field-goal percentage.ĭespite coming into the league seven years after Kobe, LeBron sits only roughly 20 total win shares behind the Laker legend. At LeBron's current pace, however, it'll be a much different story by the time both players retire.Īs much as Kobe steamrolls LeBron when it comes to career totals, the exact opposite is true when looking at advanced statistics. Kobe sits 10th with his 25.5 PPG career average.įor now, Bryant takes the cake when it comes to total career statistics. Remember: James still has roughly half a career to go, including the final few years of his athletic prime.Īnd, for what it's worth, LeBron has the third-highest points-per-game average in league history at the moment (27.6 PPG), according to Basketball-Reference. In seven years' time, assuming he can avoid a career-altering injury, James should surpass Bryant in all three categories.įor rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, James is either within spitting distance or already past Bryant. Kobe, as expected, holds a major edge over LeBron when it comes to total minutes played, points scored and turnovers. With Kobe having played seven more years in the league than LeBron, one might expect the Lakers star to hold a major advantage over James in terms of career statistical totals.Īs it turns out, that's not exactly the case. For the moment, however, Bryant's collection of championships trumps James' bevy of MVPs. Of course, LeBron, at 28 years of age, still has plenty of time to make up ground against Kobe here. LeBron's per-game career scoring average (27.6) is higher than Kobe's (25.5) heading into the 2013-14 season, but Bryant has one more scoring title than James. He's one of only 25 players with five or more championships to his name, according to Basketball-Reference, which ties him with Magic Johnson and Derek Fisher for the most titles in Lakers history. Those five rings have Bryant in rare NBA company. The latter might be somewhat meaningless, but the former couldn't be more valuable to either player. If LeBron continues winning MVP awards and championships at the rate he has since joining Miami, he still has an outside shot of dethroning Michael Jordan as the greatest player in NBA history.īryant won't ever match James' number of regular-season MVPs, but he's trumping 'Bron in terms of championships and All-Star MVPs at the moment. He's made three straight trips to the NBA Finals and won back-to-back championships in 2011-13. His infamous "Decision" to join the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010 sparked a flood of scorn, but three years later, it's tough to argue with his choice. Averaging roughly 28-30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game become commonplace for James during his time with the Cavs. He averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game en route to the 2004 Rookie of the Year award, then took his game up a notch from there. The Cavaliers fully expected him to become a franchise savior, and despite his failure to deliver a championship to Cleveland, he otherwise held up his end of the bargain. (Kareem finished his career with six).īack in 2003, James entered the league with an unparalleled amount of hype. If he can avoid a career-altering injury, it's entirely feasible that James one day will surpass Abdul-Jabbar for the most MVPs in NBA history. He'll face stiff competition for the award over the next few years, but he enters 2013-14 as the prohibitive favorite to win his third straight MVP. James is the first ever to win four MVPs in five years. ![]() Only five players in NBA history-James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain-have ever won four or more regular-season Most Valuable Player awards. Ten years into his NBA career, LeBron James has already accomplished far more than most players ever will. Comparing them is only natural, even if their on-court rivalry remains largely dormant. No matter what happens, both players will go down as two of the greatest to ever play the game. Bryant may be in the twilight of his career, but it's no secret that he has his sights set on winning a sixth ring before hanging it up for good. Luckily for NBA fans, there's still time for it to happen. But somehow, as of 2013, the two haven't clashed on the league's grandest stage. The Celtics KO'ed the Cavs in the 20 playoffs, both times in the Eastern Conference semifinals.Īmazingly, every Finals series since 2007 has featured either Kobe or LeBron. However, the Boston Celtics thwarted those plans by proving to be as much of a roadblock to LeBron as the Detroit Pistons once were for Michael Jordan. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |