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I would take Lebron for sure. He is simply too overpowering and athletic. Kobe has a lot of heart when he plays but Lebron's intensity and maturity is making him super scary. Has he even peaked yet?

First of all, I'm sorry I did not make it clear. I would rather have Kobe at SG then have Lebron at SF. I am not comparing the two, but o well.

A) Yes, while shooting 130 times less from range, probably layups that he bulldozed for.
B) Lebron has shot 1/3 less threes than Kobe has. Generally most of the time, percentages go down the more times a shot is attempted. That's why there are shot attempt minimums for league leaders in percentages. If you look at Calderon who is currently leading 3pt percentage, he has shot 200 less than Kobe. But, he has the higher percentage. Percentages can't be everything. Over a career, Kobe has attempted 1,800 more three pointers.

C) Lebron's Turnover Ratio is 11.1 this season and Kobe is 10.6. So this means LeBron's a better pg? I don't understand this stat being relevant here considering neither are only point guards.

Now back to shooting at small forward level. Durant has a greater 3pt fg, but lower overall fg because Durant doesn't push people out of the way for layups/dunks. Durant has a better Scoring efficiency. But in reality, we both have our minds set and we can sit here for hours picking and choosing stats against certain players and excluding others. So I declare it a wash, because I think we both have better things to do.

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Bleh, Lebron is easily the best player in the game today, but I'm tired of this "all five positions" crap, no he can't, and nobody ever really could either. You think Lebron would even think about bodying up Howard or Duncan or Bynum all game? And yeah for short spurts he took Rose out of his rhythm, but a whole series against Paul or Westrbrook or the like? He'd get run into the ground. It's just silly, that's why he has a team(and a pretty darn good one), because nobody can do it all on their own.

And this thread kind of reminds me of the alltime team thread, it's just so tough to place active players for "greatness", they're not done yet.

your mom is "greatness"

Yes people Lebron is the best right now. Yes the level of competition and the way the game has changed allows him to play all 5 positions, but he is no Magic who could play all positions in a more physical era.

Side note. If I could start a franchise with Kobe in his prime or Lebron in his, I would choose Kobe. Kobe is tougher mentally and can do everything if he wants.

Yadda yadda yadda. I'm so tired of this bupkis, it was a physical era. The players back then weren't half as skilled as they are now, so of course they had to grind more. Today's talent is superior to 70's, 80's, and even the 90's. Don't believe me? Look at the Dream team's opponents, combined they only had 7 foreign NBA caliber playing on other national teams. 1 of those guys only played, something like 10 minutes in the NBA. Now look at the other countries teams, they are filled with NBA caliber talent. What does that mean? It means everyone is better and you had better be the best of the best to be the NBA, and Lebron is torching everyone else in the conversation.

Really this thread should be retitled "heroball vs correct ball"

Just so I understand... Your argument is, that because more talent is international/playing for international olympic teams, that Lebron is clearly better than anyone in that era? That makes no sense! Don't get me wrong, I would agree he is quite possibly the best athlete of most any NBA player ever. But if you want to argue he is better than Kobe, or especially someone like MJ, you need a better reason than "other olympic teams are better than they used to be."

Guess what, Kobe still plays in the NBA too. And until this year where he is clearly declining, you can't definitively say Lebron was a better player than him, and he was easily one of the best players even during the time you claim the league is far better. If I were watching track and field, or purely athletic competitions, there is no question that current players would dominate. To play basketball, I would take the dream team in the 90s over today's counterpart any day.

Last edited by Double B at 4/1/2013 9:37:20 AM

Comparing generations is silly. But I will say that the depth and competitiveness of the NBA has gone way down. The players may be physically better, but the quality of basketball sucks. There are like four teams with a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything. The rest are just along for the ride. The NBA is awful right now.

Every season there are only 4 teams with a legitimate shot at winning the title. Revisionist history at its finest there.

Also the point of the foreign Olympians was to show the evolution in less then 20 years. Since witnessing it in the US, its hard to notice.

1 on 1, Lebron destroys Kobe. Lebron would smother him, were as Kobe, would look for someone else to guard him.