MJ @ His Peak Vs Kobe @ His Peak:Who's The Better Scorer?

[Micku]

Kobe in his prime had freedom to gun at the peak of his abilities. MJ at his peak was fitting his game into a championship system, showing great levels of personal restraint.

I always wonder about this. Jordan took more shots than Kobe within his championship runs (excluding Shaq-Kobe era). I always wondered why is that. I wonder if it was because the Lakers had more offensive weapons than the Bulls team.

Plus, Jordan in the 90s didn't get nearly as criticism as Kobe did for taking too many shots it seems. But Jordan shots came more within the offense more often than Kobe did.

[D.J.]

Let's compare similar PPG seasons between the two:


MJ('88, 35.0 PPG)
24.4 FGA
10.5 FTA
53.5% FG
54.6% 2PT
53.7% eFG
60.3% TS


Kobe('06, 35.4 PPG)
27.2 FGA
10.2 FTA
45.0% FG
48.2% 2PT
49.1% eFG
55.9% TS
-------------------------------------------------
MJ('92, 30.1 PPG)
22.7 FGA
7.4 FTA
51.9% FG
53.3% 2PT
52.6% eFG
57.9% TS


Kobe('03, 30.0 PPG)
23.5 FGA
8.7 FTA
45.1% FG
46.5% 2PT
48.3% eFG
55.0% TS
----------------------------------------------------
And just for kicks, we'll compare Jordan in '02 with Kobe in '00:


MJ('02, 22.9 PPG)
22.1 FGA
5.6 FTA
41.6% FG
42.6% 2PT
42.0% eFG
46.8 TS%


Kobe('00, 22.5 PPG)
17.9 FGA
6.1 FTA
46.8% FG
48.9% 2PT
48.8% eFG
54.6% TS
------------------------------------------------------
The answer is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan at his scoring peak(which would be the late 80's) was scoring just as much, if not more than Kobe. He was doing so on fewer shot attempts, a significantly higher shooting percentage, and got to the line a bit more too. Now you can argue Kobe was more explosive and had a minimal advantage at the mid-range, which I wouldn't disagree with. But MJ was simply more consistent and dominant overall. He didn't have those poor shooting nights Kobe had.

And even during those 3-peats, MJ had a nearly flawless mid-range game like Kobe did. He didn't attack the hoop as much, but he was a smarter player.

[cos88]

how many times a month does this shit appear?

reported

[MichaelCorleone]

MJ

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Kobe at his peak scored 81 points. Jordan at his peak scored 69. Seems pretty obvious who was the better scorer at their peak.

[Micku]

The answer is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan at his scoring peak(which would be the late 80's) was scoring just as much, if not more than Kobe. He was doing so on fewer shot attempts, a significantly higher shooting percentage, and got to the line a bit more too. Now you can argue Kobe was more explosive and had a minimal advantage at the mid-range, which I wouldn't disagree with. But MJ was simply more consistent and dominant overall. He didn't have those poor shooting nights Kobe had.

It'll be curious on how someone would argue that.

Jordan in his prime was a beast at the mid range game because he took better shots and jumped higher. Even if the shot was well contested, he had crazy hangtime and hands to adjust. Plus he shot more from the midrange than anywhere else and still average 50% or more. Not that Kobe wasn't good at the midrange, but it always seem that Jordan was better at it.

[kamil]

Jordan's best statistical scoring seasons came BEFORE his abilities peaked as a scorer. While being the more dimensional player than Kobe.

Kobe's best statistical scoring season came at the absolute peak of his abilities when he abondoned playing defense, and focused soley on scoring ... relentlessly due to team necessity.

Kobe put up 35.4 ppg
Jordan PRE PRIME put up 37.1 ppg, and 35.0 ppg (DPOY)

The answer is kind of obvious.

Jordan's peak @ age 27 in 1990 put up 33.6 ppg in the regular season, and 36.7 ppg in the playoffs.

Kobe's peak @ age 27 in 2006 put up 35.4 ppg in the regular season, and 27.9 ppg in the playoffs.

That's a 9 ppg difference in MJ's favor @ their peaks in the playoffs, and a 1 ppg difference in the regular season in Kobe's favor ... where Jordan was clearly superior in every other facet of the game.

Who do you take? The one dimensional, scoring obsessed player who barely outperformed Jordan or the guy who raised his game in the playoffs, scoring near 10 ppg more in the most intense / important part of the season?

It's amazing how MJ got so much better when the games mattered more... unlike Kobe, and especially unlike LeBron*.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Great GIF

Jordan's best statistical scoring seasons came BEFORE his abilities peaked as a scorer. While being the more dimensional player than Kobe.

Kobe's best statistical scoring season came at the absolute peak of his abilities when he abondoned playing defense, and focused soley on scoring ... relentlessly due to team necessity.

Kobe put up 35.4 ppg
Jordan PRE PRIME put up 37.1 ppg, and 35.0 ppg (DPOY)

The answer is kind of obvious.

Jordan's peak @ age 27 in 1990 put up 33.6 ppg in the regular season, and 36.7 ppg in the playoffs.

Kobe's peak @ age 27 in 2006 put up 35.4 ppg in the regular season, and 27.9 ppg in the playoffs.

That's a 9 ppg difference in MJ's favor @ their peaks in the playoffs, and a 1 ppg difference in the regular season in Kobe's favor ... where Jordan was clearly superior in every other facet of the game where his energies may have been put to use elsewhere besides scoring.

Who do you take? The one dimensional, scoring obsessed player who barely outperformed Jordan in the regular season or the guy who raised his game in the playoffs, scoring near 10 ppg more in the most intense / important part of the season?

Not that Kobe wasn't good at the midrange, but it always seem that Jordan was better at it.

Definitely. Kobe had the superior long range game, but was over confident. Thus limiting his effectiveness overall, as well as consistency.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Jordan's peak @ age 27 in 1990 put up 33.6 ppg in the regular season, and 36.7 ppg in the playoffs.

Kobe's peak @ age 27 in 2006 put up 35.4 ppg in the regular season, and 27.9 ppg in the playoffs.

That's a 9 ppg difference in MJ's favor @ their peaks in the playoffs, and a 1 ppg difference in the regular season in Kobe's favor ... where Jordan was clearly superior in every other facet of the game where his energies may have been put to use elsewhere besides scoring.

Who do you take? The one dimensional, scoring obsessed player who barely outperformed Jordan in the regular season or the guy who raised his game in the playoffs, scoring near 10 ppg more in the most intense / important part of the season?

.

I will take the guy who outscored the other one will playing against more efficient defenses and at a slower pace over the course of an 82 game season .

Please tell me more about the very intense defenses Jordan faced in the playoffs though

108.1 108.4 103.5

Why Jordan was shot jacking so much the first two series is beyond me.... Pippen and Grant were collectively more efficient and could have benefited from some more shot attempts.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Please tell me more about Kobe only averaging 27.9 ppg v.s. the 105.8 DTrg 2006 Phoenix Suns.

Kobe stopped shooting in the second half of Game 7 to show management just how trash his teammates were.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Kobe stopped shooting in the second half of Game 7 to show management just how trash his teammates were.

Whose fault is that though? MJ put up 4 more ppg against a superior defense in the conference Finals. When he too had a not so great game 7 to skew his averages.

Once again ... MJ is the superior scorer. Like the unanimous opinion in this thread.

[Yao Ming's Foot]

Whose fault is that though? MJ put up 4 more ppg against a superior defense in the conference Finals. When he too had a not so great game 7 to skew his averages.

Once again ... MJ is the superior scorer. Like the unanimous opinion in this thread.

Do you realize that you are comparing three series of data with one?

A statistical anomaly in one game out of 7 is going to mean more any Jordan game that year. Not to mention that the Suns were actually more efficient defensively than the average Jordan playoff opponent that year which just goes to show just how trash the defenses Jordan faced on the regular,

You also apparently don't know what the word unanimous is.

[DonDadda59]

I will take the guy who outscored the other one will playing against more efficient defenses and at a slower pace over the course of an 82 game season .

Please tell me more about the very intense defenses Jordan faced in the playoffs though

108.1 108.4 103.5

Why Jordan was shot jacking so much the first two series is beyond me.... Pippen and Grant were collectively more efficient and could have benefited from some more shot attempts.

This dude just doesn't quit with that shit does he?

Hey Foot, how do you think Bean would've fared against the '63-'64 Celtics and their 83.8 DRTG?

My guess is 4.9 PPG on 28% FG for the series. And I'm being generous.

[Cali Syndicate]

How sad.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Do you realize that you are comparing three series of data with one?

No, that's MJ's 7 game series v.s. Detroit compared to Kobe's 7 game series v.s. the Suns.

32 ppg on 47% v.s. 2nd ranked defense (champions)

v.s.

28 ppg on 50% v.s. 16th ranked defense

Excuse me, near unianimous. The vast majority, per usual takes MJ > Kobe. Only ones who don't are delusional Laker / Kobe stans such as yourself.