kobe>bird

[DirtySanchez]

Magic > Bird >>>>>> Kobe

Wow...that is really reaching but damn funny. lol

[Mr. I'm So Rad]

Is he Top 50 right now? Or when the Lakers won their last two titles?

[oolalaa]

Bird has a career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 23.5. Kobe Bryant has a career player efficiency rating of 23.6. You might think the difference is negligible, but remember Kobe came into the league as a 17-year-old. He didn’t play much his rookie or sophomore year – two years in which he posted PERs under 20. Kobe Bryant’s playoff PER average is exactly at 22.0, while Bird’s is only 21.4. Again, Kobe’s Player Efficiency Rating is higher, despite coming into the league much earlier than Larry Bird and having limited minutes in his first three years. PER, is not the dispositive factor in who is a better player, but it does eliminate the idea that “Bird was just flat-out better than Kobe.”

All star games: Kobe has 12; Bird, 12.

All-NBA First Teams: Kobe has 8; Bird has 9.

All-NBA Team total selections: Kobe has 12 and Bird has 10

So far, Bird and Kobe are as close as they come, but where Kobe truly surpasses Bird is on the defensive end. Kobe Bryant is one of the all-time great defenders. While many fans think that Bryant’s defensive reputation is overrated, the coaches of the NBA have nine times put Kobe on the All-Defensive Team.

MVPs: Bird has 2 over Kobe, but in reality that is the weakest argument one can make for Bird. First, Bird won in '84, '85 and '86. Who else was going to win? It was either going to be Magic or Bird in the '80s. There was no one else until Jordan came along' and even then it took a while for the Bulls to become good enough for Michael to warrant MVP consideration.
Politics and personality robbed Kobe of a few MVP awards.


Bird was a better shooter. Kobe is a flat out scorer.

1. better longevity: Kobe
2. better overall talent: Kobe
3. better scorer: Kobe
4. better defender: Kobe
5. better clutch: Tie

Larry Bird's drive and desire to win was insane. It is reminescent of Kobe's.

1. better longevity: unquestionably kobe

2. better overall talent: it depends what you mean by 'overall talent'. To me, prime bird was the better player so does that mean he has better overall talent? obviously kobe is the better athlete and makes a lot of tough shots but does that mean he has more 'overall talent'? I'm not sure...

3. better scorer: was kobe really the better scorer?

kobes 4 prime years 06 - 09:
31.1 ppg/23.9 fga (per 36 mins) on .491 efg%
27.9 ppg/20.1 fga ( " ) on .502 efg%
26.2 ppg/19.1 fga ( " ) on .503 efg%
26.8 ppg/20.8 fga ( " ) on .502 efg%

birds 4 prime years 85 - 88:
26.1 ppg/20.0 fga (per 36 mins) on .538 efg%
24.5 ppg/18.6 fga ( " ) on .521 efg%
24.9 ppg/17.9 fga ( " ) on .555 efg%
27.6 ppg/20.3 fga ( " ) on .556 efg%

to me they are very close but i would give the edge to kobe because of his superior ability to get to the line...

4. better defender: undoubtedly kobe though i think birds defence was a little underrated.

5. better clutch: tie?? the only player more clutch than bird was jordan. kobe is the most overrated player of all time 'in the clutch'. enough said.

lets add a couple more shall we?

6. better playmaker: undeniably bird

7. better leader/teamate: bird

and you said "Politics and personality robbed Kobe of a few MVP awards."
kobe should NOT have won in 07/08. chris paul got robbed. maybe he deserved it in 05/06 but ultimately kobe should thank his lucky stars that he has one.

[oolalaa]

Magic > Bird >>>>>> Kobe

[Butters]

I think Kobe and Bird is a good debate.

Both different type players who played different positions as well.

Of course Kobe is the better athlete and better defender. Bird is the better shooter. Both are competitive and both demand the ball in the clutch. IMO you can not go wrong with either or.

This one is a tough one for me because I really like and respect both players and I watched both in their primes. But by a very narrow margin I would go with Kobe. Yes I understand he is a scorer rather then a shooter but Kobe has more intangibles with his game. He can hurt you in more ways IMO. In his prime he can lock down on Dee, take a fall away J, post up, drive pass you, etc. etc. And just like Larry Kobe wants to cut your heart out.

So there you go Kobe > Larry

This thread delivers

[MiseryCityTexas]

Bird's one on one defense was shitty, but Bird's team defense was the shit. so yeah bird and random players could possibly beat kobe and random players.

[bizil]

That's some logic there.



Maybe you should let others speak for themselves.



It's amazing what you know.



Again, that's some logic there. Kobe is a pale imitation of MJ.

RS
MJ 30.1pts / 6.2 reb / 5.3 asst / 2.3 stl on 50% FG
Kobe 25.3 pts / 5.3 reb / 4.7 asst / 1.5 stl on 45% FG

Playoffs
MJ 33.4 pts / 6.4 reb / 5.7 asst on 49%FG
Kobe 25.4 pts / 5.1 reb / 4.8 asst on 45% FG

6 rings as the man > 2 rings as the man
5 MVPs > 1 MVP
6 FMVPs > 2 FMVPs
10 scoring champ > 2
1 DPOY > 0

For one Kobe is no pale imitation of MJ. Kobe is Kobe. But at the same time you can't help but to see the similarities. I'm talking in terms of talent and skillset. Awards wise MJ has Kobe beat in terms of MVP's. But MVP's can become political. Kobe and Shaq both deserved more than one MVP. And yes I said it, Kobe is close enough to MJ's skillset and talent to where you can conclude he's better than Bird too. I'm not saying it's a huge margin. But Kobe

As far as scoring titles, Kobe played with Shaq at at time where Kobe could have been racking up more scoring titles. And it kills me when people diss Kobe for playing with Shaq. Most great teams have multiple HOFers anyway. Kobe and Shaq was a Batman-Batman combo. It was a Dream Team combo. Just like Magic-Kareem, West-Baylor, Wade-Bron, Doc-Moses. So if Kobe get dissed then u gotta diss all the other combos I named as well.

So far we have been mostly talking about whose the better players in terms of skills and ability. But let's go to GOAT list talk. Where u factor solo and team accolades, numbers, and longevity being great. Kobe is at a point to where he's arguably past even Bird by on a GOAT list. Kobe has 28,000 points, 5 rings, a gold medal, 4 All Star MVPs, an MVP, etc. So when u factor this in, Kobe haters gotta understand that Kobe's resume is looking better than Bird's every day. Bird has the distinction for saving the NBA with Magic and setting the trail up for MJ. But at a certain point, u can't penalize Kobe cause he played in a different generation. Kobe's resume dictates that he has all it takes to pass even Bird on a GOAT list. If anything in terms of skills and ability it's close. But believe it or not, Kobe's resume at 33 years old looks more impressive than Bird's as of now.