Kobe vs LeBron

This season, I switched my vote. I believe Lebron James is the best player in the NBA. If you want to argue most skilled, I might shift to Kobe over LeBron, as Kobe is definitely a better outside shooter than LeBron. However, LeBron's combination of size, strength, speed, vision and personality give him the edge in my opinion.

Most NBA analysts pick Kobe. They say he has a "killer instinct" that LeBron lacks.

This is the problem with perception. Once we believe something, it colors everything that we see. Once a coach thinks the official is making bad calls, every call is a bad call. Once a player thinks his coach hates him, every comment is proof. Once we believe Kobe is the best player, we notice his positives and accentuate LeBron's weaknesses.

I believe the Lakers put Kobe into better positions. If LeBron James got the ball just off the elbow through a game, rather than 35-feet from the basket, he could average 35ppg and 8 assists. He's unstoppable when he gets the ball inside 15-feet because he is unselfish and makes his teammates better, which makes it harder to double team. Kobe gets the ball closer to the basket, and he also has two 7-footers to throw the ball to at the rim. I see LeBron throw the bll up to Ben Wallace and he fumbles away gimmes and Z is far less mobile than Gasol, Bynum or Odom. If LeBron was throwing those passes to Amare Stoudemire at the rim, his scoring might go down, but he might average 10 assists. However, the Cavs do not get LeBron the ball in dangerous positions enough during games, though they are improving.

The real argument usually ends with: yeah, but Kobe is better at the end of games. We believe this as fact. There is no disputing this. Kobe is the guy you want with the ball at the end of the game. According to an SI poll in the ARod issue, 76% of NBA players would want Kobe to take the last shot. 76%! Chauncey Billups and James tied for 2nd with 3% each! Kobe won by 73% of the vote.

The facts, however, are that since 2003-04, Kobe Bryant has missed the most potential game-winning shots (42). He has made 14, which places him 4th in the NBA. During that time, James is first with 17 game-winners (from82games.com via SI)

So, James has made 3 more game-winning shots, and attempted fewer, so he shoots a better percentage in these instances, yet we overwhelmingly believe that Kobe is better in thee situations. That is a case of not allowing facts to get in the way of perceptions.