LeBron James plays near perfect defense on Kobe Bryant (2009)
17 years ago. Time be flying.
No no no… 2009 was like 8 years ago. This math cant be right
Let’s be real, 8 years is more like 5
Yes
I feel so old when I see the scorebug
Really earning that unc status. Unlucky
So was Kobe
Fun fact: Barack Obama was inaugurated the next day.
That -is- a fun fact. Obamna was a funny dude.
But is he a fun guy?
You could just say Obama lol. We all know Michelle wasn’t inaugurated.
Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated
Birth certificate? /s
*II
I’m glad the OP wrote out “LeBron James” so I knew he wasn’t talking about Rick James
Yeah that was dumb too
Full names are stupid!
Imagine getting triggered over someone’s first name
Triggered implies anger no?
What a meaningless and arbitrary thing to complain about. Lol.
I swear complaining about any old thing is an addiction and some ppl are down bad
Bronto!
Dude got offended by the full name. Good thing he didn’t say Barack Hussein Obama. He might have cried.
It’s as beautiful as it is frustrating that you can do absolutely everything correctly and still lose that one 🤯
When defending the best offensive players, forcing them to make these tough shots is the best you can do. If Kobe beats you from these high-arcing fadeaways, then you tip your hat. Or just remember LeBronto when he started to make those turnaround fadeaways. You can just clap and hope it will not last for a whole series :D
Yeah. Absolutely. I’m sure in that moment anyone facing a player of Kobe’s caliber beats themselves up about it because that’s the kind of competitiveness mfs at that level have, but then you watch that tape back later and you gotta feel good about it. In hindsight you gotta be like “the fact I didn’t get absolutely yammed on is a win” lmao
I hear LeBronto and I can just picture Bron chucking up these, in the moment, ridiculous looking MJ/Kobe like fadeaways out of nowhere and swishing them. So demoralizing for the raptors. He could get way easier shots if he wanted, he never played like this again AFAIK. this was him playing with his food.
His mistake was letting Kobe get closer to the basket
Checks out 😂
He didn’t do everything correct. Kobe gave him the body bump and read that LeBron would come back stronger the next time he did it. That was the bait. Then he light body bumped to fake the entry and LeBron engaged and then that allowed Kobe to do the real body bump. Now that lebron’s weight was shifted in a way where he could no longer block the fadeaway after the second bump that grounds LeBron in his position and unable to make a play.
LeBron got baited. It’s easy to see it looks like perfect defense and we pay attention to the end, but the real win was the moment before after Kobe read the body reaction to the first bump and he knew he had him. That shot is a lot easier for him than it appears. Though I do have to admit he probably realized he needed a bit more arc given LeBron’s athleticism, but difficulty not that high.
If you watch the replay angle you can see LeBron’s left leg step outward to plant to brace and anticipate the spin move then (watch Kobe’s left foot right before feeling if he’s got the position but it’s not a commitment to the spin). That’s when he lost. After that he doesn’t have the position anymore and then the bump and turn. Kobe even looks away to mask that he already has his move 2 steps ahead to hide the real move. Kobe was ahead of him the entire time after the tipped ball.
Good defense? Yes. Perfect defense? Not even close.
Lmao
These guys really talk about kobe like some Manga character, it’s so cringe
What does this mean?
Oooor… you don’t know basketball the way you think you do. Please feel free to watch feet and hips instead of the name on the jersey and what happens above 🤫 bringing up manga says that you grew up with LeBron. It’s all good. I think LeBron is better than Kobe, but still gotta call it like I see it.
Grew up with Jordan, just think you’re wrong
You think manga was invented in the 2000s? Buddy. I have some news for you.
Found KD’s burner 😂
LeGPT
This is beautiful
All this needs is some foul baiting to make it perfect. Kobe had plenty of ways to sell the foul.
He could have gone for the rip-through, stumbled after the ball strip, thrown his head back during the backdown, jumped into LeBron on a pump fake, slid his foot under LeBron’s after the shot, or fallen and yelled at the ref after the no-call.
What is he, stupid? You call this basketball?
kobe refusing to pass on to that open guy but he makes the shot sums up his career. you couldn’t tell its wrong cause the mf got 5 rings but we all know he could be better.
kobe passing the ball to metta world peace could have happen sooner in his career and he could have won 1 more.
who should he have passed to in 2008 that would’ve made a difference lol?
pau gasol like he did in the next 2 finals lol
Metta wasn’t on the finals team that they lost or the 2009 team. He joined for the 2010 run.
I don’t think Pau was ready in 08. He was playing so soft. Then in 2010 there was a real argument for Pau as finals mvp
… no there wasn’t. Kobe averaged 10 more points and only 3 less rebounds than Pau.
Classic meme: “Pass? Just get the rebound.”
It was a simpler time 😂
“If you want the ball go rebound it”
and a lot of times he makes it which is fucking weird to watch now because that’s getting punished in today’s era
not many selfish (i know he is averaging 5 assists in his prime) player get to win like him
But that is what also makes Kobe great. He influences how the opponent thinks. He said that if a team prides on its defense, he will try to beat them by scoring big and make them doubt themselves. He also relentlessly attacks so that his defender knows that he cannot take a possession off. He mentally breaks them down as the game goes on.
On this clip, you see him elbowing Lebron to get a small space to take the turnaround.
Sucks we never got them in a finals matchup
The Magic decided to not fucking miss for a whole series
That series was crazy. Rashard and Hedo turning into clutch gods and Dwight magically deciding to raise his FT% like 10% from the regular season killed the Cavs
Weren’t Turkoglu and Lewis suspended for PEDS after?
Rashard immediately getting banned a whole year for steroids after that run kinda really soured the whole thing for me and really make me angry we never got Kobe bron finals
Crazy that these two never met in the finals
Shows how good Dwight Howard and Dirk were in their primes. 2009 and 2011 were the 2 most realistic chances but Dwight beat Bron in 09 and dirk beat both of them in 2011
…. No. Rewatch the games. LeBron wasn’t ready. Even in that Orlando series.
His stats look amazing on paper. But, if you look through the play by plays, see the 4th quarter breakdowns (or better yet, just find the games on YouTube and rewatch them), you’ll see that LeBron lost very winnable games against Orlando… Whether it was bad turnovers, bad defense, missed free throws… They should have won.
And against the Mavericks he just choked 🤷♂️ that loss will always be on him. Dirk played great, but if LeBron just plays like himself, Miami wins the series.
Yeah I saw a breakdown on this the other day. If LeBron would have played the 4th quarters even half as well as he played the rest of the games the Cavs absolutely would’ve beaten the Magic in 09
Yeah prime Dwight Howard was great but bro the Magic were lights out that entire series
Also shows how f’n awful those Cavs teams were in the late 00’s
Lebron was so strong and fast back then it’s crazy. Didn’t have the best defensive principles but you can’t teach that size and athletic ability
2009 Bron was just jumping at every single layup but his athletic body control allowed him to not foul and get the block. Wild to witness
This was DPOY level Bron too those battles were special man
Lebron weirdly enough couldn’t bully ball or post up Kobe throughout their careers when they guarded each other 1 on 1 head to head (in fact, I found far more clips of Kobe posting up LeBron, even in his last year in the league and in their last matchup ever post Achilles: https://youtu.be/tnnlChDdnmw?is=xvWcoVjvprxRFSo7). I just never felt like Lebron was in control going going up against Kobe in a 1 v 1 setting. Kobe’s honestly underrated for best LeBron defenders of all time (and LeBron obviously can’t guard Kobe 1 on 1 in isolation)
Agreed. Individually, Kobe matched up really well against LeBron. You’d think LeBron would be too big and fast, but that somehow just didn’t happen when they did go one-on-one in their games. The numbers do support that as well. Kobe’s team generally lost, however.
Their head to head numbers are skewed because Kobe was injured during his first 2-3 matchups against the Cavs in 2004-2005 and in others he was playing injured (like in this game he was playing with a dislocated ring finger and then later that year when he played the Cavs, he was playing with the flu), but just removing the first 2 matchups against LeBron where he got injured early in the game, he probably averages more points head to head in his matchups against LeBron.
https://www.landofbasketball.com/games_between/kobe_bryant_vs_lebron_james.htm
Love how you’re immediately coming in with excuses. Enjoy your hypothetical reality where Kobe got the better of LeBron in their matchups.
Someone provides context and you get hella defensive lmao
If you remove the first two games, LeBron still averages more ppg than Kobe. I asked for numbers proving Kobe outplayed him. Still waiting.
What numbers are you referring to?
If only LeBron had help to make the finals that year
That shot was money 40% of the time
Even in Miami, they had to put Wade, Battier, and Ray Allen on Kobe instead of LeBron because Kobe was killing him in the post despite being 3 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter: https://youtu.be/3bNm5P9toKk?t=51&is=rwg7iykMRjOiccwQ
Also, here’s Kobe sealing Lebron in the post and doing that exact same fadeaway move a month later that year against the Cavs: https://youtu.be/WOAiO3EefF0?is=f26V1PtcEHwIUQ34
Stop lebron fans are delusional
SGA would have stick his leg out on the jumper to foul bait
And fell to the floor like a Toy Story character when you yell “Andy”.
Wemby would have elbowed and shoved the fuck out of his defender, taunted and then lose the lead
Good to see these two getting their practice in during Curry’s rookie year
Didn’t even touch rim 😭😭😭
Man I miss when stars used to guard one another. I remember Wade and Kobe used to have wars guarding one another all game
Need all okc players working on this kind of pretty post game
is this the same game Kobe broke his index finger?
Just to be clear Lebron was too much for Kobe to handle as he had the same speed/atleticism but was way bigger and stronger.
Kobe’s unique mindset allowed him to have moments like this, but as a Kobe/Lakers fan I really remember getting pumelled by this Heat Team most of the time.
Kind of sucks Lebron wasn’t on a good enough team to give us a Kobe vs LeBron finals series
Kobe in a nuttshell. Ignore 2 to 3 open teammates and make the hardest fade away.
Easy money
Lebron doesn’t have that dog in him. If he did he would have asked for the ball immediately
NBA Draft in a few days and this sub is just a glaze fest.
You realize there’s an NBA Draft sub right?
There is a Lebron James sub too.
This more fitting for the Kobe sub lol
Which post did you make about the draft that isn’t getting attention?
Wemby would’ve blocked that little shit
You mean like he blocked Brunson on all those plays? 😂
Yea sure
“Yea sure”? Brilliant. Have you applied to Inside the NBA yet?
Yea sure.