From 08-10 who was better Kobe or LeBron

[red1]

I'm gonna disagree... Not a popular opinion, but the current crop of Giannis, Curry, Jokic, Durant and Bron still being around to me is better than that period.

that top 3 makes up the difference because they would absolutely shit on the league right now


devin booker is the best shooting guard in the league right now and he's 5 tiers under wade and kobe

[dankok8]

This was a big debate back then. In 2008 Kobe was better. In 2009 and 2010 I'd probably give it to Lebron but Lebron quitting against Boston in 2010 gives me some pause and the 2011 debacle can't be forgotten either because it speaks about his mental fortitude. I think in terms of intangibles, it's hard to argue Kobe wasn't clearly ahead of Lebron in these years so that narrows the statistical gap.

[kawhileonard2]

Kobe as he won league mvp and a few mvp's and Lebron lost with HCA twice.

[WhiteKyrie]

HGH head Wade had one good year.

One good year? He was injured in 2008. Played only 50 games. He dealt with terrible knee and shoulder injuries. Surgeries, etc

2009 - 30 ppg 5 rpg 8 apg 2 spg 1 bpg

very easily couldn’t been MVP

2010 - 27 ppg 5 rpg 7 apg 2 spg 1 bpg

This is the guy LeBron needed to run to and join his franchise in order to attempt to win not 5, not 6, not 7 … as easily as possible.

Before he injured himself in 2007, he was the best player in the league, easily. Putting up 28/8/8. Carrying a Shaq less Heat squad.

2006 dragged the carcass of Shaq, GP, J-Will and Zo to a title as Finals MVP and the best player on the team. 27/6/7 and won a ring as definitively his team’s best player before LeBron or Kobe for that matter.

Him and Kobe were the best players on the 2008 USA redeem team as well.

As for the topic at hand

2004 - Kobe
2005 - Kobe
2006 - Kobe
2007 - Kobe

2008 - Kobe
2009 - Tie
2010 - LeBron

That’s mental fortitude issues aside, that caused LeBron to quit on his team in the 2010 ECSF and basically do the same the very next year in the 2011 Finals.

2011 - LeBron
2012 - LeBron
2013 - LeBron

And I think all of the above is an honest, non bias breakdown.

2014 - 2016 isn’t even worth comparing by that point. For obvious reasons. Kobe was never the same after blowing his Achilles out at 34 in the 2013 season.

[SATAN]

That’s mental fortitude issues aside, that caused LeBron to quit on his team in the 2010 ECSF and basically do the same the very next year in the 2011 Finals.

2011 - LeBron
2012 - LeBron
2013 - LeBron

And I think all of the above is an honest, non bias breakdown.

We should all apply the same kind of criticism to MJ quitting on his team multiple times.

[MadDogg]

One good year? He was injured in 2008. Played only 50 games. He dealt with terrible knee and shoulder injuries. Surgeries, etc

2009 - 30 ppg 5 rpg 8 apg 2 spg 1 bpg

very easily couldn’t been MVP

2010 - 27 ppg 5 rpg 7 apg 2 spg 1 bpg

This is the guy LeBron needed to run to and join his franchise in order to attempt to win not 5, not 6, not 7 … as easily as possible.

Before he injured himself in 2007, he was the best player in the league, easily. Putting up 28/8/8. Carrying a Shaq less Heat squad.

2006 dragged the carcass of Shaq, GP, J-Will and Zo to a title as Finals MVP and the best player on the team. 27/6/7 and won a ring as definitively his team’s best player before LeBron or Kobe for that matter.

Him and Kobe were the best players on the 2008 USA redeem team as well.

As for the topic at hand

2004 - Kobe
2005 - Kobe
2006 - Kobe
2007 - Kobe

2008 - Kobe
2009 - Tie
2010 - LeBron

That’s mental fortitude issues aside, that caused LeBron to quit on his team in the 2010 ECSF and basically do the same the very next year in the 2011 Finals.

2011 - LeBron
2012 - LeBron
2013 - LeBron

And I think all of the above is an honest, non bias breakdown.

2014 - 2016 isn’t even worth comparing by that point. For obvious reasons. Kobe was never the same after blowing his Achilles out at 34 in the 2013 season.

2009 & 2010 are closer than LeBron fanboys think. Kobe didn't need to turn up in the regular-season. Los Angeles had already made the finals a season prior (08), so he conserved energy for the postseason. His team also ran a better offense and went through Pau quite a bit. In the 09 & 10 playoffs, Kobe averaged 30/6/6 on 57% TS and led the league in RAPM.

The man was a model of consistency those years, and its no wonder many still viewed him as the best.

[WhiteKyrie]

2009 & 2010 are closer than LeBron fanboys think. Kobe didn't need to turn up in the regular-season. Los Angeles had already made the finals a season prior (08), so he conserved energy for the postseason. His team also ran a better offense and went through Pau quite a bit. In the 09 & 10 playoffs, Kobe averaged 30/6/6 on 57% TS and led the league in RAPM.

The man was a model of consistency those years, and its no wonder many still viewed him as the best.

I’m in full agreement, I gave Kobe 2008, even though technically LeBron had better numbers, he was not the better player.

Same way I didn’t think Giannis was better than LeBron in 2020.

2009 I feel could go either way. LeBron would’ve been in the finals if his team played any defense on the Magic, yes LeBron was complicit in that, but his next best player totally no showed that series, where we would’ve got the epic Kobe just coming out of his peak/prime versus coming into his prime/peak LeBron in the Finals. As Nike was banking on as well.

2010, LeBron was definitely the better player in the regular season and post season open till the second round. Kobe got his knee drained to end the first round against Oklahoma, and magically started looking like the player he was the previous year. And then he had that monster Western Conference finals against a really, really good Phoenix Suns team. Which, was the best playoff series between either one of the players that year. And he had a decent series versus the Celtics. LeBron was having an amazing series against that Celtics team until he oddly quit mid series in a winnable series.

So my honest opinion is 2009 you could go either way, shame they couldn’t settle it in the Finals and in 2010, given how the season ended up and where it went, it was Kobe. But in the regular season, it was LeBron. Kobe had that long stretch run in the season of hitting game winners and willing his team to victory even with broken shooting fingers, etc. He started having knee issues from all the wear and tear in deep playoff runs he had plus Olympics over the past three years prior … and he was five years older than LeBron.

It definitely was a conversation, it wasn’t so clear cut and dry, no matter what a Kobe Stan says, or a Lebron Stan says. Kobe in 2008. Tie in 2009. LeBron in 2010. Fair.

[HoopsNY]

I don't remember anyone having a clear seat on the throne at that time. I remember Wade, Kobe, and LeBron's names being brought up a lot. I think it's more of an evolution of sorts. 2008 it was Kobe, 2009 it was neck and neck, and 2010 it was LeBron.

Wade had the unfortunate injuries which put him in the backseat, but I could see why someone would choose him back then. Wade's playoff numbers from then?

Wade PS '09-'10: 31/5/6/1/2 on 57% TS% (49% FG%)

I always felt that Wade didn't get the credit he deserved defensively where at the time, he was arguably as good, if not a better defender, than Kobe.

Wade was lights out. In those playoffs, he shot 38% from the 3 on more than 7 attempts a game.

[WhiteKyrie]

Wade performed better against the 2010 playoff Celtics defense than LeBron or Kobe did.

Because he wasn’t jump shot happy like Kobe.

And was much quicker off the bounce and less reliant on picks than LeBron.

Also goes to show you why the GOAT, Jordan, basically a combo of the best of Wade and Kobe would torch that team. Or anyone really.