Another Kobe vs Lebron Argument Thread

[jackson8545]

From Jack McCallum's excellent recent Sports Illustrated article about the Lakers:

Asked what his MVP ballot would look like, Bryant says, "I'm not even thinking about that." But when somebody mentions that the Cleveland Cavaliers' James is a favorite because he's a near one-man team, Bryant, who was averaging 28.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists through Sunday, snaps, "Put me in the East and see what happens."

It sounds great, right? Wow ... Kobe Bryant turned loose against the weaker conference. HisKobe Bryant and LeBron James numbers might astound. You can just let the argument sit right there. Ooh, Kobe, good point.

Or, you can use basketball-reference.com's handy dandy season splits, and compare how Bryant has performed in the East compared to the West.

Not that this is the ultimate proof -- the sample size is small, as we are talking about 28 games Bryant has played against the East, and 36 against the West. Just a few good or bad games here or there could change all that.

But the story is that there is not evidence to support Bryant's assertion that he'd go buck wild in the East. In fact, Bryant has bigger totals against the West in nearly every major category, even though he has played slighlty more minutes per game (39.1 compared to 38) against the East.

* Against the West, Bryant is scoring 29.3 points per game. Against the East, it's 26.7. (James is scoring 29.6 againt the West, and 32 against the East.)
* In the all-important field goal percentage, Bryant is shooting 48% against the West, and 44% against the East. (James is at 47% against the West, and 50% against the East.)
* Bryant is getting 6.5 rebounds per game against the West, and 5.6 per game against the East. (James is at 8 against the West and 8.2 per game against the East.)
* Bryant registers 5.3 assists per game against the West, and 5.4 against the East. (James is getting 7.3 against the West, and 7.6 against the East.)

Bryant is marginally better shooting free throws (82% vs. 88%) and three-pointers (33% vs. 37%) against the East. But all in all, for whatever reason -- pace could be a big factor, and random chance could be another -- Bryant has better numbers playing in the West.

Box score statistics are only one little backwater in the river of Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James MVP debate. There are a hundred torrents of argument -- their head-to-head play, Bryant is overdue, the Lakers are the better team, James went to the Finals with a so-so roster, Bryant is deferring to teammates more, etc.

But despite what Bryant may claim, the box score does not suggest he'd have James-like or better numbers if he moved East.

LINK: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...ok-it-Up-.html

[VAHustler]

Asked what his MVP ballot would look like, Bryant says, "I'm not even thinking about that." But when somebody mentions that the Cleveland Cavaliers' James is a favorite because he's a near one-man team, Bryant, who was averaging 28.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists through Sunday, snaps, "Put me in the East and see what happens."

I wish they would put him in the east for he can fuck over his team and stop bitching. Arrogant bastard.

[Gness]

lebron is wack. kobe is a legend.

therefore; Kobe >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lebron


but; Jordan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> _________


there is nothing left to say. close thread.

[chimochi]

man if only kobe wouldn't of cried,and cried asking to be traded when he was drafted we would of all known if he can make a bad team a good team by himself
instead he got his wish and went to the lakers,because he hates playing for bad teams,lebron in the other hand just went where he was drafted and he made cleveland what they are
nice article
its nice that no kobe homer came in here and cried,,o wait nvm

[shadydvl]

what kobe meant to say was "put me on lebrons team, in the east, and put lebron on my team, in the west, and see what happens".

because obviously if he went to a team like the celtics, i see kobes stats falling. and also, if you put him on a team where its a big support cast and no other talent or stars, your stats are gonna soar, just like lebrons do on the cavs.

ive said this a million times before. the cavs suck. there is a lot of room for people to put up numbers like that. AND THEY STILL CANT GET IT DONE, thats why they suck.

[chimochi]

Originally Posted by shadydvl

what kobe meant to say was "put me on lebrons team, in the east, and put lebron on my team, in the west, and see what happens".

because obviously if he went to a team like the celtics, i see kobes stats falling. and also, if you put him on a team where its a big support cast and no other talent or stars, your stats are gonna soar, just like lebrons do on the cavs.

ive said this a million times before. the cavs suck. there is a lot of room for people to put up numbers like that. AND THEY STILL CANT GET IT DONE, thats why they suck.

yea ur right the cavs suck so much,,so much that they have beaten the lakers 5 times in a row bwahahahahahaha
that's like their 3rd best win streak against any team,what's that say about the lakers ,nice try

[VAHustler]

Originally Posted by chimochi

yea ur right the cavs suck so much,,so much that they have beaten the lakers 5 times in a row bwahahahahahaha
that's like their 3rd best win streak against any team,what's that say about the lakers ,nice try

:laugh_up::laugh_up::laugh_up:

[gambino95]

Originally Posted by chimochi

yea ur right the cavs suck so much,,so much that they have beaten the lakers 5 times in a row bwahahahahahaha
that's like their 3rd best win streak against any team,what's that say about the lakers ,nice try

:laugh_up:

Now thats funny...

[LilJake351]

the guy who said Lebron is wack is a bitch. Fuck you hater. Cavs bringing home the championship this year. Id love to take on the Lakers in the finals.

[gambino95]

The last Kobe Lebron thread > This thread