Scouting Report: Kobe Bryant Vs. LeBron James
How they compare in the skills that matter.
Comparisons of Kobe Bryant to LeBron James often generate a lot more heat than light. This is because there is one camp that cannot even conceive of the possibility that James is better than Bryant and another camp that cannot even conceive of the possibility that Bryant is better than James.
Some people base their arguments on statistics, some people compare the supporting casts surrounding each player and other people offer vague generalizations about selfishness, killer instinct and other qualities that are very hard to quantify in a meaningful way.
I compare players—not just Bryant and James, but all players—by skill set. Statistics can be affected by a player’s position, his role on the team and other factors; the numbers are important to consider but they don’t tell the whole story.
For instance, according to BasketballReference.com in NBA/ABA history 24 different players have had a total of 61 seasons in which they averaged at least 20 ppg and eight apg. Not surprisingly, Oscar Robertson leads that group with 10 such seasons, but do you know who has the second most 20-8 seasons?
Stephon Marbury (6).
I hope we can all agree that Marbury is not an all-time great point guard just because he put up some gaudy scoring and assist totals.
Let’s compare the respective skill sets of Bryant and James:
1. Shooting
Bryant is a much better free throw shooter than James (.839 to .728) and Bryant has a better 
jump shot from both the midrange and three point areas. Shooting is James’ biggest weakness but despite his much publicized work to improve his touch he actually has regressed during his career: his free throw percentage declined for three straight seasons, from .754 as a rookie to .698 in 2006-07, before bouncing back slightly to .712 last season.
Against many NBA teams James overcomes this with his sheer athletic power, bulling his way to the hoop to score in the paint (that is why his overall field goal percentage is higher than Bryant’s, much like Shaquille O’Neal’s field goal percentage is higher than Hakeem Olajuwon’s even though Olajuwon had greater shooting range). However, in each of the last two seasons when James went up against the eventual NBA champions those teams built a wall around the paint, sagged off of James and dared him to make jump shots.
The result was that James averaged 22.0 ppg, shot .356 from the field (including .200 from three point range) and committed 5.8 turnovers per game as the Spurs swept his Cavs in the 2007 NBA Finals; he averaged 26.7 ppg, shot .355 from the field (including .231 from three point range) and committed 5.3 turnovers per game in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals versus the Celtics.
In contrast, Bryant averaged 29.2 ppg, shot .533 from the field (including .333 from three point range) and committed just 2.4 turnovers per game as the Lakers beat the Spurs in five games in the 2008 Western Conference Finals; he averaged 25.7 ppg, shot .405 from the field (including .321 from three point range) and committed 3.8 turnovers per game versus the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.
Note that James’ turnover numbers skyrocketed because defenders could simply sit in the passing lanes. Opposing defenders are also more apt to foul James because James is not a reliable free throw shooter.
Advantage: Bryant
2. Rebounding
James has a career rebounding average of 6.9 rpg, while Bryant has a career rebounding average of 5.3 rpg but the only logical way to look at this is by position.
James is a small forward who is nearly as big as Karl Malone was, so he naturally shoulders a bigger rebounding burden than Bryant, a shooting 
guard who plays on the perimeter. James is one of the best rebounders at his position and Bryant is one of the best rebounders at his position.
Of course, sometimes they guard each other and near the end of Cleveland’s 94-90 win over the Lakers, Bryant did a remarkable thing: he beat James to an offensive rebound after an Andrew Bynum miss, giving the Lakers a crucial late game possession.
After the game, someone asked Bryant how he did that but he just laughed and said, “I’m not giving up my secret. I told him (James) I was going to get it. That’s just years of experience.”
Yes, that was just one play but Bryant does that kind of thing fairly often; he knows all of the angles, his footwork is impeccable and he does not shy away from contact. When Andrew Bynum was out of the lineup and before the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, Bryant averaged 10.4 rpg in a five game stretch without a decrease in his scoring or assists averages.
Advantage: Draw (James has the edge in size, Bryant has the edge in savvy)
3. Defense
Bryant has made the All-Defensive First Team six times, while James has yet to earn an All-Defensive Team selection.
Keep in mind that the voting in this category is done by NBA head coaches (who cannot choose their own players), not media members. I often hear 
fans criticizing Bryant’s defense but NBA head coaches have consistently recognized him as a top defender. Bryant has the ability to play lock down, denial defense against any shooting guard in the league but the realities of an 82 game schedule during which he also is asked to score 30-plus ppg mean that he does not play lock down defense on a nightly basis; however, that does not mean that he is playing poor defense the rest of the time.
Bryant understands what the opposing team is trying to do and he is very disruptive not only to his own man but also as a help defender. During the NBA Finals, Boston Coach Doc Rivers made an observation that did not get nearly as much play as it should have, namely that Bryant is the best help defender the league has seen since Scottie Pippen.
When James first came into the NBA he did not understand the finer points of NBA defense but he has been an avid student and quick learner at that end of the court. Cleveland Coach Mike Brown has a defense-first philosophy and James has bought into that completely, which inevitably leads to the rest of the team falling in line behind him.
Even when James makes an incorrect read he can often make up for it due to his incredible athletic ability. At the rate that James is improving it is only a matter of time until he will merit recognition as an All-Defensive Team player, possibly as soon as next season.
Advantage: Bryant
4. Passing
Many people simply look at career apg averages (6.6 for James, 4.6 for Bryant) and award this category to James in a landslide—but it is not that simple, as the Robertson/Marbury example indicates. As I noted during the Spurs-Hornets series, the assist may be the most subjective statistic in the boxscore.
That is one reason that the Cavaliers also track “hockey assists,” the pass that leads to a scoring pass (James gets plenty of those, too). Although I cite assist numbers when I write game recaps because those totals give a “quick and dirty” idea of who is doing the playmaking, when I compare the passing abilities of two players I consider the following factors: court vision/ability to read the defense, ability to make all of the fundamental passes, willingness to pass.
James has remarkable court vision but Bryant is a lot better in this regard than some people may think. It was not easy for him to display this when Kwame Brown was the recipient of his passes but when Andrew Bynum stepped up last season and especially after Pau Gasol arrived Bryant demonstrated that he can run the pick and roll and deliver a pass as well as the best point guards in the NBA.
James has a unique pass in his repertoire that few if any other NBA players deliver on a consistent basis: the crosscourt, bullet skip pass that punishes a trapping defense by finding the open man like a heat seeking missile. Bryant is capable of making this pass and he does so at times but James does this several times a game. The point is not whether or not this results in an assist but rather that defenses have to take this into account. James’ poor shooting takes away some options from him but his crosscourt passes give the defense something to worry about if their rotations are not crisp.
In terms of bounce passes, chest passes, outlet passes, no look passes and various kinds of feeds off of pick and roll plays, Bryant and James each have the full repertoire.
Most people understand this about James but a lot of people fail to recognize Bryant’s skills as a passer. James is generally considered a “pass first” player while Bryant is called a “shoot first” player, but last season James led the NBA in scoring and averaged 21.9 field goal attempts and 10.3 free throw attempts per game, while Bryant averaged 20.6 field goal attempts and 9.0 free throw attempts. By necessity, both players are “shoot first” players for their teams.
Hypothetically, if both players were placed on the court in a situation that was truly a 50-50 read—meaning that the player could justifiably either shoot the ball or make a pass—I agree with the subjective evaluation that Bryant may be more of a “shoot first” player than James is. However, the reality is that both players are expected to lead their teams in scoring while also being the primary playmaker. Their assist totals reflect the areas on the court where they receive the ball and the kinds of passes that they make in their respective offenses.
Advantage: Slight edge to James
5. Footwork/fakes
Bryant has arguably the best footwork in the NBA and this is no small matter: his ability to pivot, his use of the jab step and his cutting/ability to use screens are great assets offensively, while his footwork defensively is equally outstanding. Michael Jordan increasingly relied on footwork as he got older and you can already see Bryant going down that same path, even though Bryant still retains a lot of athletic ability at this point.
People get mesmerized by Bryant’s shotmaking but they don’t pay attention to the finer points of how he consistently gets open against the NBA’s best defenses, the subtle fakes and moves that Bryant uses to throw defenders off balance. Bryant can score in the post against bigger or smaller defenders because his footwork is so good and he is almost impossible to guard facing the basket for the same reason.
At this stage, James’ footwork is much more rudimentary.
He uses some jab steps but basically he simply gets by people with brute force and stunning speed. There is nothing wrong with that but those tools don’t work in every situation. James is also not nearly the postup offensive threat that he should be considering his size and athletic gifts. He is capable of getting in a defensive stance and sliding his feet but sometimes he plays a bit too upright, relying on his athletic ability to bail him out if he gets beat.
Advantage: Bryant
6. Ballhandling
Bryant and James are both excellent ballhandlers. They each prefer their right hand but are able to dribble and finish in traffic with their left hand if necessary. James is a bit more apt to try a risky pass that could be stolen, while Bryant is more apt to lose the ball in traffic when he drives to the hoop. Bryant’s ballhandling style relies on finesse and precision, while James takes full advantage of his size and strength to overpower his defenders and get into the lane.
Advantage: Draw
There is not a huge gulf between Bryant and James at this point. It seems that most of the people who believe that James is already better than Bryant fall into two camps: fans who are speaking from the heart more than the mind and stat heads who strictly look at (certain) numbers without considering any context. If you talk to NBA executives, coaches, players and scouts their evaluation will generally resemble the one that was offered above; it may differ in certain specific details but people who look at the game from a technical, objective standpoint realize that Bryant’s skill set is more well rounded than James’ skill set at this point. James’ size and athletic ability mitigate those skill set factors to some extent, so one could make a case that James is better than Bryant in that sense but I’d have to see an improvement in James’ shooting and/or a greater decline in Bryant’s athletic ability to agree with that take.
Consider what Larry Bird recently told Dan Patrick about Kobe Bryant: “I think he’s the best player in the world. I think he’s probably one of the best players that could be compared to Michael Jordan since Michael Jordan retired. He’s no Michael Jordan but he’s the closest thing.” I know that a lot of fans don’t want to hear or believe that, but what Bird said is a fair representation of what knowledgeable NBA people think about Bryant.
To read more of David Friedman’s basketball articles, just take a 20 Second Timeout.His general sports commentary can be found at BestEverSportsTalk.
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Young Buck is in the driver’s seat.
Also disagree with ballhandling decision. Kobe’s handle is nice - real nice. Ild give Kobe an edge in handling for sure.
I would argue that whlie Bryant is a better one-on-one defender, James is a better shot-blocker and team defender. And for God sakes, why does James get a slight edge on Bryant in terms of passing? I was happy when I saw this, but like… this was a very badly written article.
Market value, value to the team, how you could compliment him with other players and a few other things (decision making, how can they adjust when stuff go the wrong way, versatility in different game styles etc). Kobe is still better, but very slightly so.
Rebounding: Lebron (what is this savvy crap? Lebron averages more rebounds. It doesn’t matter for position. Your rebounds don’t count for twice as much if you’re a shooting guard)
Passing: Lebron by a LARGE margin (this article only covered finding the open man, it had absolutely nothing to do with creating passing lanes, something Kobe has NOT done in his career, period. It became painfully obvious in the Celtics game)
Ball-handling: James (I have not seen more players try to dribble the ball behind their back and lose it than James. Come on, now.)
I also find it moronic that footwork/ball-handling are separated when they go hand to hand, yet shooting/scoring inside is combined, all different types of defense is combined, etc.
really i’m gonna copy and save it on my pc, cause that was just beautifull.
at least 1 person here not just taking stats (read this ryan) to compare players.
i would include leadership here too, and clutchness, both wins for bryant… but anyway, GREAT, GREAT STUFF.
congratulations. alex something looks more dumb every time i think what he wrote.
To further underline my argument, go check their head-to-heads from last season. James outplayed Kobe in every single on.” - the fu(ki ng 1st line on the article says ITS NOT ABOUTS STATS, but there are people… they are so limited…
Also, James outplaying Kobe is not about stats. Is ‘intelligence’ not your first language?
well, actually i’m in the company of anyone that knows anything about bball… i didn’t see michael talking about a 1×1 vs lebronha anyway…
jukai knows stuff… oh man… thats getting boring….
isn’t eboy here? at least he is better discussing
you can’t call this guy king, best in the planet and not hear arguments against that
just can’t. he is way too far from that. gotta go, see you guys later.
:S
see ya
very, very good article, btw
thanks
Kobe=imitation There is only one Jordan and there is only one Lebron
Alright, back to whatever you people were talking about. Losers.
Sincerely,
Farmer Jones
That is the real answer to you question. I think you know who would win.
Always nay-saying, everything I create! You piece of sh*t!
YOU create something…! You f*cking sh*t!
You f*cking sit in your tower!…
What’s funny? You f*cking b*tch! F*cking… f*ck you!
F*ckin’…c*ck *ss!!
“I am sure it’s been mature, but I don’t read the comments! I want to keep my faith in humanity…”
Look at me name-dropping again.
1, I assume all the regulars around here know I work at a university.
2, According to Microsoft Word spellcheck it is. That’s enough for me!
A: Chris Paul, of course.
Last word:
Kobe is like Clinton
Lebron is like Obama
“Amorica,” Black Crowes
“Appetite for Destruction,” GNR
“Aquemini,” Outkast
“Around the Fur,” Deftones
“AOI: Mosaic Thump,” De La Soul (Full disclosure: I FF’d thru most of this)
“ATLiens,” Outkast
My work day will probably end somewhere in the middle of “Attack & Release” by the Black Keys. Happy Friday.
@”I think I’ll go eat on the veranda…since you’re obviously already on the cross”
@Myles: “I think I’ll go eat on the veranda…since you’re obviously already on the cross”
Happy Friday all!
I have to agree with you on this Kobe/LeBron business as well. People get blinded by LeBron’s freakish athletic ability and don’t see the beautiful nuances in Kobe’s game. His game is technically sounds from every angle. People who critique his game don’t fully understand it. There’s a reason all the players and coaches in the NBA agree with you too. Keep it up!!
CWalk less than 14 FOR SURE! best sentense of the day for me:
“teams don’t fear Kobe!!!” hahahahahaha
NO, idiot, they fear Ronnie Turiaf!!!!!
hahahahahahahhaha
what a toooooooooooooooool.
answering all this bulls*&t coming to you… anyway, i agree with 100% of your original post and probably 95% of your answers. very good job.
and well, last, for the one that said Kobe is an imitation and that Lebron’s style is unique…
well, have to say that man, is unique and UGLY.
what an ugly jump shot! kobe has so much class and the right beautifull moves, thankfully, he copies MJ, the best of all time…
Lebronha plays just based on strenght. one of the ugliest jump shots in the league, and a called “point-forward” that shoots freebies like a center.
sure he is strong, sure he jumps high, but thats VERY different of being the best basketball player in the planet. veeeeery far from that.
i was listening to a brazilian swimmer interview and the guy asked her about the parties in the village.
she said, no, we are trying to keep the focus on but some men are always hunting us…
reporter: who are the worst?
her: oh, i gotta say the usa basketball team… they are always going to our building, asking to take pictures…
that guy Kobe bryant, always asking to take pictures and then he holds us lke this (sexy grab her hips)…
hahaahhahahahahahhaha Kobe is DA MAN of the olympics…
i’m really jealous of him. did you guys see how many games he attended? do you imagine how many of these gorgeous athletes he must have bang&d????
KOBE… KOBE… KOBE…
lol
greatest player in the planet shown WHY he is the best of them all, Wade probably chasing him…
Looking at the Boston series stats for both Kobe and LeBron each dropped 13% in FG% from the previous series. The difference however is that LeBron must face defenses gear towards him EVERY night. Reason: the players that surround James are not serious threats to score or are streak shooters. The only real offensive threat was Big Z, but he is slow and easily taken out of the game leaving the majority of the scoring duties to James. The mentality in the league is that if you shutdown James you beat the Cavs. Why? Because there are no other players on the Cavs that can create there own shot or breakdown a defender. Without James the offense becomes stagnant. Everything must go through James. He brings it up the court and gets the team into the offenses like a point guard, he is the primary scoring in both the front court and back. I say that due to the fact he plays the 1 through 4 positions at any given time in a game.
The big difference with Kobe is that defenses are geared towards shutting down the other four players. The mentality here Kobe gets his but won’t win because everyone else was shut down. Shooting: Slight edge to Kobe (free throw shooting) By position you wouldn’t think to have your power forward to have the best 3pt% and Kobe(a SG) is only 2% better from downtown than James in career stats. As for career FG% its hard to say cuz each gets there fair share of dunks and layups. Also, if you saw James in the Olympic tune-up games and pre-qualifiers you would see what he is capable of when a defense isn’t geared toward him. Agree with the rebounding if you rate it by position aspect. That savvy sh*t is not what makes it even. Passing: Lebron by far. Kobe has a well defined skill set and is a very good interior passer. However you need to look at what passing is used for. Lebron uses passing as a way to get his teammates involved in the game. Know that the defense is geared towards him, he uses the pass as tool to make the opposition pay for triple teams they send his way. Those assist numbers would be way higher if he had a consistent scorer on the Cavs. If Kobe was such as great passer he would use it more often. There have been countless games where he doesn’t use the pass due to lack of trust in his teammates to get a score. He may be a good passer but when you don’t use it and force a shot how can you say he is a better passer when he won’t use it? Defense: Draw
Kobe better individual defender. Lebron a better weakside defender and better in team oriented defense.
Ball handling: Draw
Footwork: Kobe agree with paragraph
“Who exactly on the Lakers creates offense for other players besides Kobe?” - The whole offense Lakers have 5 guys averaging near or @ 3apg. the players for the cavs >3 is west near 3 is gibson. BUT wait those assists mostly go to Kobe right?
Yes, teams will go under the screen conceding the 3pt shot. But teams will have two if not three defenders on him as soon as he was 20ft out as evident during the Boston series. All to suggest otherwise is to defy all visual logic. They want LeBron to give up the because the rest of the team is streaky and unreliable scorers. The defense is geared to shutting down James. If he doesn’t have the ball he can’t score. And yes Boston also threw double teams at Kobe and fought over picks b/c they didn’t want to give him an open shot. But within the triangle offense he would get the ball back in one ball rotation giving him the opportunity to shoot, drive, put it in the post, or hit the cutter. Boston defensive after the initial P&R needed to rotate to account for all players. Boston dared the Cavs to beat them from behind the arc. There only threat was Gibson who missed the last two games plus part of a third. Wally and Delonte had dismal shooting percentages in the postseason with team shooting at 42%. Who needs to account for ben wallace? He couldn’t hit the broadside of a planet.
“LeBron’s high fg% in FIBA play is the result of a lot of dunks and inside shots. He also had a high fg% in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament and that did not translate into improved free throw or jump shooting last season, particularly in the playoffs.” - Well you really need to go back and check those FIBA stats. Because if Lebron can dunk from FIBA 3 land then you need to modify that statement slightly. This might be a range thing. 3pt% 2007 - Lebron 23-37(62%) Kobe - 17-37(46%) 3pt% 2008 Beijing Olympics Lebron 13-28 (46%) Kobe 17-53 (32%) I still believe Kobe is a better shooter but using your argument if you go by position slight edge goes to kobe due to the free throw shooting. Yes it didn’t translate but the dimensions and defensive styles are completely different between the two (NBA/FIBA). Yes Kobe does pass to get his players involved but usually receives the ball in the rotation or the first pass on the wing not the initiator of the offense. That is what Fish’s job is. Kobe is an excellent mid-range wing shooter. And honestly i wonder if you watch any cavs games other than those that are nationally televised. With the incredible court vision and ability to find to open man when in a double team. And a pass that leads directly to a score…isn’t that the point. Is it not the goal of a team to score points? And yes i did notice Kobe’s assist total go up. But I’m gonaa use your arguement on poor passing ability ” (he)makes passes that lead directly to shots.” what a f’d reason. lol. And if the Cavs could shoot from the perimeter LBJ assists totals would also be higher. But wait, we can’t use statistics b/c of the marbury effect. However its a good place to start. Big Z is a reliable shooter. Gibson is a spot up and streaky shooter (not consistent). Damon Jones was a Bench warmer with a whole 26 min played in the playoffs. He is not that reliable. “The NBA’s head coaches, who vote for the All-Defensive Teams, disagree completely with your comparison of their defensive abilities.”
Really? so my statement that Kobe was a great individual defender is incorrect? That Lebron knows defensive schemes and accounts for a weakside defender in order to grab the rebound and start the offense or block the shot of someone Z or Gooden is guarding? That Lebron is a knows his assignment within the team philosophy and is good at it. Remember I have taken the fact of the position they play on the court as you (DF) have stipulated in the article.
How can you rate the skills as they are and say that there is not a hugh gulf between them. (3 bryant, 1 slight James, 2 draw).
Kobe in my mind is the better basketball player overall but not by much and he should be. He is a elected MVP, NBA champion, and now gold medalist. You have stated several times how ppl underestimate Kobe’s abilities. In my assumption you have done the same when rating Lebron. But it is only natural when “He (David Friedman) is one of the most avid Kobe Bryant (and by extension Lakers) fans you will ever meet.” I hope the Lakers don’t have an extended losing streak. I wouldn’t want you to have to shave that mustache for an extended period.
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