Top 40 Dunks: Michael Jordan vs. Kobe Bryant

Also Teddy, Stevie Franchise was better then all 3 of your picks.

#6 is one of the best in-game dunks ever. #2 is better than #1. I remember i had that jordan stadium club card with #2 on it…

Personally I think Kobe’s fantastic, but on his best day he’s still Jordan lite. You just can’t outdo the originator (nod to Doc J however).

@k.o- BET is talking about dunking. Green and Dee can both go from the free-throw line easily (could in Dee’s case). Green would wipe the floor with Jordan in a prime age dunk contest. More athletic, longer, taller, just as creative. Not sure about Brown however. That’s a 50/50. VC would win it all anyways, so doesn’t matter all that much.

Best game dunker of all time? Shawn Kemp.

I await the ridicule.

How come the guys used Kobes best dunks and missed out loads of Mikes best ones

i wish they had the x-mo back in jordan’s playing days… (if they had, there wouldn’t be this stupid discussion about who’s the 2nd best dunking 2-guard of all-time…)

VC is rolling over in his grave listening to all this nonsense…

“he finally got his dunk on Mount Mutumbo!” yea.. sadly, its missing.

James White is the best out-of-game dunker.

The biggest difference between Kobe and MJ is that Kobe could never palm the ball like MJ. MJ had million dollar hands. It’s physically impossible for Kobe to do some of the things MJ did. MJ was more artistic, style was way better, jump higher, etc, etc. Kobe is an average dunker. His whole game is copied off MJ’s anyway. How can you imitate the greatest of all time!

one thing i find interesting, on his reverses, jordan would rather do a layup (ie. an up and under) than dunk it. he had so much hangtime that when he got to the other side of the rim he was really too far away from the rim to dunk. so we dont see a lot of good jordan reverse dunks, because there are not that many!

generally, kobe doesnt have as much hangtime as mj, so he has to slam it in on his reverses (but lately hes had some pretty sick hanging reverses where he does a sort of half twist). that being said, its damn hard to slam it down off a reverse, esp. in traffic like that. i think overall, jordan had more hangtime and so did “less” in the air, kobe has less hangtime, and consequently, had to do “more” in the air. so kobe more technical, jordan more graceful. its really personal preference. ive always preferred the grace of jordans game tho, so my nod goes to him.

most of kobe’s dunks in this list are the same baseline reverse dunks.

anyone noticed that many of these dunks are against the knicks?

The video is by some nerd called “Mamba somethingorother”. That behind the back dunk in a blowout is #1?

theres only 3 plp dat can come close to mj in dunking. dominique wilkins,jason richardson,vince carter

EJ Posted: Apr.3 at 7:33 pm
mjs dunks were too repetative
kobes dunks are spontaneous

no EJ Kobe just copies every dunk that Jordan ever made Kobe is just carbon copy of MJ

The biggest difference between Michael and Kobe are:
1) Hand size. This factor highly favors Jordan and explains his “maybe seemingly” less explosive style; it means he can “float/glide” around a bit more, controlling the ball’s direction more (pumps or change of directions) or keeping it in his hands for longer. So the “less explosive” style I think is more of a visual effect than Michale actually displaying/possessing less explosiveness.
2) Foot (and sometimes hand) ambidexterity. Off two-foot jumps, Michael almost always without fail jumps off his left foot. Kobe jumps off his right or left foot just as much. Jumping off the right foot also again gives the “illusion” of being more explosive, due to the mechanics and the physics involved. (Think Dominique Wilkins, who was also a two-foot off the right foot leaper, but almost exclusively). On a similar note, I have seen many more left-handed dunks from Kobe than from Michael.
3) One-foot leaper. Michael is probably the best one-foot/two-foot combo leaper in the history of the NBA. There are guys like Larry Nance, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving and Lebron James (although I would classify the latter as more of a “power” one-foot leaper than a “floater/glider” one-foot leaper like the others) who were always better one-foot leapers, while the best “mostly” two-foot leapers that come to mind include Nique, Vince Carter, Shawn Kemp and Amare.

Just my “long” two-cents Regardless though, it’s hard for me to say “who’s a better dunker”… I like ‘em both. Both Michael and Kobe have their special characteristics… I’m still a Jordan fan overall though, yet certainly NOT a Kobe-hater; what’s that all about anyways, Kobe-hating??? Don’t y’all like to watch good b-ball players perform?!?

Peace

Kobe’s dunk over Yao was too low and I think Kobe caught 2 alley-oops that were better than some of these dunks. Oop #1 was young Kobe in the All Star game, KG threw the pass and Kobe had to reach WAY back one handed and flush it. Oop #2 was from the 08′ Olympics D-Wade falling out of bounds throws the lob and Kobe reaches up high two handed and throws it down.

Michael’s “Ewing baseline dunk” is classic and should have been #1. Both these guys have some great dunks to choose from but like some other’s have said Michael’s explosiveness and hands gives him the dunk edge. Kobe is explosive but not like Mike.

Best Dunkers (My Top 10)
#1. Vince
#2. Dr. J
#3. Michael
#4. Dominique
#5. Shawn Kemp
#6. David Thompson
#7. Darryl Dawkins
#8. Kobe
#9. J-Rich
#10 Harold Minor

Jordan had more of an elegance and grace about his dunks. He’s posterise a 7 footer effortlessly. It looked like he hardly broke a sweat. Kobe’s dunks are a lot more aggressive but both are still sick to watch.

Personally I feel like my favourite dunker of all time are Shaun Kemp, not because he was the best, but he had effortless explosion…he pretty much dunked on anybody without a second thought!

Reading this well down the line, it’s funny reading through the comments.

Michael Jordan is the overall better athlete than Kobe Bryant, this is true. They are equals in full court speed and half court quickness (Jordan’s change of direction was better, but Kobe’s superior ballhandling/crossover made up for this in a lot of ways). Superior hands (which played a large part in making Jordan better in driving to the hoop and finishing in traffic, although Bryant is probably is equal at the mid range game, and definitely his superior from beyond the arc). Jordan was the better one footed leaper (although Kobe is no slouch in that regard). I think a Kobe in his athletic prime definitely had the athleticism to dunk from (or at least close to) the the free throw line, but couldn’t have kept control of the ball because of his difficulty palming the rock.

They are close to equal off of a two footed leap, close enough that I couldn’t call it either way. Neither are as good off of two feet as Dominique Wilkins, at the end of the day.

There are people who will argue that Jordan was a better three point shooter than Kobe, and use three point shooting percentages as evidence. I doubt that even Jordan, forced to give an honest opinion, would contend he was the better outside shooter than Kobe Bryant. I watched both of the gentlemen in question play the NBA game. Bryant UNQUESTIONABLY has better range, he just shots more from the outside which drives down his percentage. Bryant is also a better off balance shooter/bad shot maker than Jordan, and is only rivaled in NBA history by Larry Bird in that regard.

As Russ (the man who was editing Slam when I first started reading it over one decade back now) said, Jordan was definitely the better dunker than Kobe at the end of the day. That is not to say Kobe isn’t an amazing dunker though. Kobe is an INCREDIBLE once in a lifetime athlete.

Mr. Bryant is simultaneously one of the more overhyped (by his blind supporters) and underappreciated (by his blind haters) athletes in NBA history. I think more so than putting it in terms of explosiveness, I think that between the two, Jordan was better at dunking with physical contact from defenders (by virtue of those incredible hands), while Kobe is better than Mike at avoiding physical contact from the defense altogether (by exhibiting the best “Gumby-like” qualities I’ve seen from an NBA player).

Jordan is the better player, but it’s not a joke to compare them as people try to pretend. A lot of the statistical differences can be accounted for in the differences in their career arcs/different eras. If you discount the years spent in Shaq’s shadow, the career averages are MUCH closer. Even if you subtract his first 3 seasons…the career averages are much closer. Jordan’s bigger hands and superior shot selection are what give him the superior field goal percentage (in that Michael was less willing to take contested jumpers, better able to create separation for his jump shot with age because he didn’t have knee problems, and had overall superior instincts to anyone in league history…which Kobe has openly stated in interviews).

Either way, that’s my point. Jordan is still the GOAT, but Kobe is more than a “top 10 guard,” as Mike said a few months back. Five rings in, its very difficult for me to argue against Kobe not being a top 10 player in NBA history. Mike is the better player, but Kobe Bryant is the most fundamentally complete basketball player that I have EVER seen.