[Highlight] January 12, 2006: LeBron and Kobe going at each other down the stretch. The NBA never got the Finals matchup fans wanted.
Thinking about the fact that Kobe was just 6 years older than Lebron feels so strange, cause it is like they are from completely different eras. But for example, Lebron is 4 years older than KD, Westbrook and Steph, 5 years older than Harden and people talk about them all like they are same generation of players
It really did feel like an era break. Kobe being straight from the dead ball half court era, and then LeBron came in looking like he fit way more with the 80s showtime era by streaking down the court every other possession. It was a bit shocking the first few times we played the Cavs just how fast he got down the court, and our guys were in jog mode lol
Lebron was compared to a Magic Johnson/Oscar Robertson style of player back when he first came in the league. I remember those comparisons clearly.
Tfw you play so goddamn fast with such insane athleticism that you get compared to the PG GOATs while you’re ostensibly a SF
Gonna miss having a Top 10 player who legit just does everything. Wemby/Shai/Jokic/Luka are all amazing but they have well-defined skillsets
That’s the take. Each are amazing at what the do, but what he did was on a different planet.
Side note I dont think magic Johnson as a pg tbh.
Magic couldnt really guard pgs because they were too fast for example. And opposing teams didnt really put there pg on magic cuz they were to small
I think him,lebron, pippen and pistons grant hill are a unicorn position of point forward
People have constantly forcing Luka to be called a SF in the Lakers sub this off season, but I still see him as a PG
Obviously he’s a PG on offense but do you really want him guarding the opposing one?
Dream Luka backcourt would be like Maxey and Dyson Daniels, plus a Siakam type of player that could guard either forward position
Only the first sentence of your comment came through in the notification and I thought there was a gas leak lmao
But yeah, I do agree. I was oversimplifying Magic a bit. I mean he’s legit the same height as LeBron and his size x athleticism combo is what made him unique
Magic Johnson was 6’9” and also used to blitz down the court. However, he didn’t have much of a vertical, so he often finished with a layup (or a sneaky pass).
The Magic comparison had way more to do with playmaking at that size than athleticism
“More (M/m)agic than Michael”
And everyone thought LeBron would never last in the league. MJ and Kobe were thought to age gracefully because they developed a jump shot to make up for getting older. When age caught up to Lebron everyone thought he would be out the league because he relied on his athetletcism too much.
Crazy to think back to that in 2000s now lol
Up until 2012⁄2013 they were right. Then Riley forced LeBron to work on other aspects of his game after losing to Dallas. He was very reliant on his athleticism before then and would even have guys sag off him too prevent a drive because they weren’t worried about his shot. That’s why people didn’t think his game would age well. And Kobe would have absolutely aged gracefully, but then he tore his Achilles and could barely play afterwards.
when JJ barea locks ya ass up & bodies you in the grand finals of a lan, u know u stink
Shoutout /u/bareaclampedlebron
I am the same age as Lebron and I followed him closely through my college and early adulthood years. I don’t remember any time anyone thought Lebron wouldn’t last in the NBA. People said that if he didn’t develop his game( which was obvious he was going to do being only 18 when he entered the league) he wouldn’t last. Does anyone think a player would last 23-25 years in the league? no. But that goes for everyone.
i remember people talking about how melo would age better due to his jump shot. there’s a reason “thank god this fuckery won’t last longer” was a thing. when he first went back to the cavs people were debating how long his athleticism would last.
Yeah no one thought that at all. Idk what they’re talking about lmao
I wouldn’t say everyone but it was definitely brought up in my circles. I remember having this exact argument with my pro-Kobe friends in HS/College.
When did anyone, let alone everyone, say LeBron wouldn’t last in the league? This absolutely did not happen.
Who thought LeBron wouldn’t last? I’ve never seen this take.
yeah I dont think you ever had that thought before today, before you saw this clip
people really will say anything online
Ok, if that’s what you want to believe. I’ve been watching the Lakers since the 80s, not sure why I’d want to lie about that.
This is 100% it. The dead ball era was ending as Lebron entered the league. It was an abrupt change of eras. Everyone that played a chunk of seasons before 2004 seems like a different class: Shaq, AI, Jason Kidd, KG. Yeah, they adapted, but basketball was different in 2004 than when they first got in the league.
I know you’re saying that Kobe was from the dead ball era but wasn’t 2003 not too dissimilar? And since they still cared about divisional games, LeBron played the Pistons all the time which is the most stifling defense at the time of course. I know mentally it’s a different era because Kobe already won 3 before Bron came, but gameplay-wise was it really that different compared to 2006-2010?
LeBron was top 10 in mvp in 2003-2004… Curry doesn’t become top 10 until 11 years later to put into perspective LeBron’s absurd longevity.
I graduated in 06… I can’t get out of bed without my back creaking and dude is still ballin. Actually superhuman.
It’s weird, maybe it’s because I really started following the Lakers after Fish’s 0.4 shot (which was LeBron’s rookie year) but I always saw Kobe & LeBron as rivals. And sometimes when people refer to Curry as LeBron’s true rival (a la Magic and Bird) I have to double take, even though it’s objectively correct!
I mean they technically are. They all became successful and head to head competitors in the 2010s. I think it’s a testament of LeBron’s longevity more than anything.
It’s also partly about Kobe’s Achilles tear. Kobe was putting up some career best numbers in ‘12-‘13 before the tear in his Year 17 season (though his defense had declined) and he very much looked like he was going to have the kind of post-prime we’ve seen from LeBron and KD (Curry has aged well but his minutes load is nothing like LBJ/KD/Kobe). At that point, I don’t think we’d ever seen a player age as well as Kobe, which is where the whole vino moniker came from.
If, for example, the CP3 trade had gone through so the Lakers are true contenders and Kobe never tore his Achilles, it’s possible he has some Finals battles with LeBron, and the rivalry looks different. Hell you could even imagine some Kobe vs. Curry battles in the playoffs that would be somewhat similar to LeBron vs Jokic
It’s weird that people group them like that. LeBron is a completely separate generation than the guys you listed, his longevity has just skewed things. LeBron’s generation is Melo, Bosh, DWade, CP3, Deron Williams, Amare, Yao, Dwight.
It’s not strange if you’ve been watching the NBA since 03. There’s 13 years of them together in the league, a solid 6-7 years where they were competing as top dog of the league. That’s a bigger overlap compared to Kobe x Jordan.
Genuinely more similar to say… Magic/Bird and Jordan. There was a small period where Magic/Bird were still better, but very quickly it was clear that Jordan was a step above. However, there was a solid stretch when all were in their primes together.
LeBron is older now than Kobe was when he died. That part is wild to me
Both in terms of LeBron’s longevity and how short Kobe’s retirement was.
There was a massive shift in eras between when Kobe was drafted and LeBron was drafted.
They legalized zone in the 2001-02 season which included the defensive 3 seconds violation, which completely reshaped both offensive and defensive schemes.
After LeBron’s rookie year, they removed handchecking and re-wrote perimeter foul rules limiting contact both on and off ball. When the league added the gather-step, LeBron was 24, Kobe was 30.
Kobe was already all-nba 5 times by the time LeBron was drafted.
Kobe played 7 full seasons before LeBron was drafted, that’s a long time in terms of sports. That’s the same difference as someone drafted today compared to Zion and Ja.
Unrelated, but Shaq is also 6 years older than Kobe.
Tim Duncan was only drafted 5 years before Lebron
Because LeBron needed a peer(s) so the media could gas “rivalries” that arent really rivalries
“LeBron and Steph rivalry” being the most prominent example
Because Kobe never did anything after 2010 and Lebron won his first championship in 2012.
Maybe the most compelling evidence the NBA isn’t rigged is that Kobe and LeBron never played in the finals
True, but the thing I took away from this about the league mostly was how much the game has changed. Look at Kobe’s first three in this clip. Gets defender off balance, nails a tough shot with him in his face. In today’s league, a guy would flail wildly and chuck the ball horrendously at the hoop for three free throws.
This clip highlights why people (esp old heads) grumble about the game today. Why take the tough shot when you can foul bait? But who wants to watch that shit
Players bait fouls back then while trying to get the and 1. Fucking floppy fucks like SGA bait fouls and miss by a mile. Luka flops and bait a lot too but he tries to make the shot. And as much as I hate harden, he does get a lot of the and 1s as well
I mean if you watched the Magic vs Cavs series and remember, the league was absolutely trying to rig it for Cavs but Magic were on something else (literally on PEDs) and just couldn’t miss. The refs couldn’t rig players to stop hitting 3s.
That series wasn’t remotely rigged lmao, we just had a shit tier roster with LeBron dragging their asses to the playoffs.
How is this horseshit upvoted?
If the league was trying to rig it I’m sure they’d have the Cavs shoot more than ONE free throw more than Orlando in the final game
r/nba when Dwyane Wade shoots 97 free throws in 6 games of the 2006 NBA Finals against a Mavs team with zero interior defenders - “IT WAS RIGGED AND YOU’LL NEVER CONVINCE ME IT WASN’T”
r/nba when Lebron James shoots 94 free throws in 6 games of the the 2009 ECF against a Magic team with the DPOY Dwight Howard anchoring the paint - “that series wasn’t rigged Lebron is just a god”
Never change Lebron nutsuckers
Cheers mate.
I’ll forever be of the opinion that Kobe is the best difficult shot maker of all time. That was good defense by LeBron down the stretch, but it simply didn’t matter.
Easily
Phil Jackson said this as well when comparing Kobe to Jordan.
If we’re going off “did the defender play good defense,” i would give it to KD. The shots aren’t difficult though lol, he just rises up
KD is much taller. When KD has someone taller than him reaching over to attempt to block it, KD isn’t nearly as efficient and more than likely doesn’t take the shot, tries to fumble a pass and then the shot clock expires. Kobe would still take it.
You’re just talking out your ass lol. KD is a 7 footer, and if somebody taller than him guards him he would blow by the guy because 7 footers aren’t really mobile.
The type of defenders that has given KD problems has always been mobile wings. And even those defenders weren’t really trying to stop his jumpers, the game plan was to take away the driving lanes and pray he misses his jumpers.
PJ Tucker played the best defense anyone’s ever played on KD and he’s just 6’5.
lebron would have got smoked by the lakers if he trotted to the finals with those cavs teams in 09-10. vice versa with kobe in every year after that.
If only David stern didn’t cheat the lakers out of cp3 we would’ve got 1-2 finals at least of peak.
2013 Kobe plus CP3 vs 2013 Heat would be cinema.
Kobe’s “Vino” season was ridiculous. Mf reached basketball grandmaster Splinter level right before tearing his achilles.
Only vetoed trade in NBA history btw
owners veto GM trade all the time, we just usually don’t see it reported first. More like only reported vetoed trade in NBA history.
Owners veto a trade their own GM makes, sure. Owners/commissioner vetoing a trade not involving their team is crazy.
Have you heard Jeanie Buss talk about the trade?
That’s basically what happened, but it gets very wonky because since the NBA owned the team, so Stern acting as owner vetoed the league-appointed GM. And it was all tied up in some messiness with the lockout.
It would be crazy indeed. But that’s irrelevant as the CP3 veto was done by the owners involving their team.
The NBA owned the team at that point, they were perfectly in their rights to veto the trade.
Yeah but….. They shouldn’t have. The GM was league appointed…. They only did it to stop Kobe and force Lebron into the winners circle.
A GM saying no is one thing, happens often. Owners vetoing never happens brother, regardless of your top 1% commenter status and being confidently incorrect.
How did he cheat the lakers exactly? He vetoed the trade as the owner
Because when the league took over the Hornets, he said that Dell Demps, the GM, would have autonomy in making team personnel decisions and then went back on that. By vetoing the trade Stern did the exact thing he said the league wouldn’t do.
making decisions doesn’t mean the owner doesn’t still have to give final approval…… all gm’s have decision making autonomy, then when they find a deal they want to do, both owners need to sign off on it
this was just bad media reporting being blown out of proportion (on purpose likely lol)
You’re arguing semantics
Don’t even start with people here. The argument will not get anywhere and it’s a giant waste of time.
yeah… because they apply to the situation lol, i’m responding to semantics with more correct semantics :)
all gm’s have autonomy to look for and make deals. if/when they find a deal that all the gm’s involved agree to, it doesn’t become an actual deal until the owners sign off on it
the nba owned the hornets, the media reported a deal that was not approved by their owner (the nba), so it was never a finalized deal (i wouldn’t be surprised if this was on purpose too, to try to put pressure on the nba to approve it)
it was also a bad deal for a team in their position. a bunch of mediocre and expensive players in a very cheap and difficult market that the nba was desperately trying to sell, but struggling to find buyers for.
the deal they ended up going with was much more appealing for potential buyers. way less salary commitments and a very attractive pick
having a team sit for sale for so long without a buyer is bad for the entire nba and all of their owners, so they made a decision with that in mind.
the deal should have never been made public in the first place other than as a rumor, which is how we normally see these kinds of stories, but the ownership situation was weird and complicated, and the laker/media/kobe tax is very powerful lol
It’s because Kobe didn’t take no for an answer, so naturally Lakers fans can’t either. For all intents and purposes, David Stern vetoed the trade for basketball reasons. People love to frame it like he was EVIL and did it for fun, but like yeah no shit you’re not trading Chris Paul for end-of-career Lamar Odom and a single first rounder
Not because Mark Cuban and Dan Gilbert were calling him and whining, right?
Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Louis Scola, Goran Dragic, and a first round.
What the Clippers eventually gave them was objectively worse.
Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a first.
So tell me what the “basketball reasons” were other than preventing the Lakers from getting CP3.
Firm believer that if Chris Paul goes to the lakers he’s Kobe helicopters are fucking stupid lol
Stern didn’t, the other owners in the league did.
The Lakers always get everything they want. The one time they don’t 15 years ago, and fans still complain about it. Talk about spoiled.
2010 cavs were the best defensive and 3 pt shooting team. Theyd have had a shot for sure. Its revisionist to think otherwise. Everyone had cavs smoking the celtics and they did the first 3 games of the series but lebrons mom slept with teammates so the team imploded mid series
They were the 2nd best 3-pt shooting team and the 7th best defensive team, and don’t you think having LeBron on the team drove both of those stats up, i.e., LeBron bringing 3 defenders into the paint on a drive and kick?
Right the team that didn’t make it would have beat the team that beat the team that beat them in 6. Sure bud
Cavs blew celtics out first few games. Like embarrassing fashion. Cavs were heavy heavy faves.
Lebrons mom slept with his teammates so the team imploded. Came to light during the playoffs
Sure. It’s never Lebron’s fault when he loses. Hypothetically he hasn’t lost a game. In 2010 the series was split 1 to 1. Not sure where you’re pulling your info from. They blew them out one game. The Brons mom think blew up after the series. Brons PR team and the NBA had to find an excuse for The Chosen One. Really wish the CP3 trade didn’t get vetoed Bron might not have won a chip until 2016 if that happens. NBA had to veto it so their little media darling could finally get a ring. To bad he had to ring chase his whole career and couldn’t ever develop a team to win. That and the fact his teams were HOF heavy. Took 7 HOF teammates 10 All-Stars to get 4 rings.
That’s the difference between Kobe and Bron. Kobe needed a borderline big who could catch and a wing that could knock down wide open 3s. Bron takes 2 HOF and a bench full of starters playing reduced roles to win. But the metrics… Yeah when you play to them they are going to look great.
Lebron absolutely deserves blame for losing 2010 as such a big favourite. He sucked over half that series. His cast was good that year. He got rattled due to off court stuff. Thats always been lebrins weakness hence his underperformances for a decade of his career
Insane conclusion from a game that literally could not have been closer lmao
There was quite a trade made in the 08-09 season…
Idk, that one year we dominated the Lakers both times in the regular season. I can’t remember which one but we we’re like the only team that could match their size. Z, Shaq, and Varejao. I know Shaq gets memed on, but he was serviceable. We got him to defend big centers like Dwight, and to a lesser extent Bynum.
Kobe had no cartilage in his knees after his last championship. Context matters
You’ll get downvoted for “riding” Kobe’s dick
Rapist
Doesn’t change the fact that Kobe would’ve whoop the GOAT (Get On Another Team) lol
That first three from Kobe is such a great example of how the game has changed.
Got defender off balance and jumping at him. Instead of leaning into the contact, he sidesteps a little, waits for defender to land, then nails the tough shot.
Idc what analytics tells me is the “smarter” move here, I know which style of play is more fun to watch and it’s not the current era.
I might be in my Unc era now, but I agree here. I don’t want to watch guys playing the percentages and flopping. Make the tough shot.
That being said, Kobe was one of if not the best in the league at getting free throws from airborne defenders.
This is part of the reason(maybe) we see more injuries, guys want the foul instead of a bucket.
-
Theirs differences though, some players draw a foul, then put up a good shot.
Others once they feel contact, flop around, scream “ayyyy”, and chuck the ball.
I miss when games were 99-98
I don’t mind if scores ended 105-99. 2006-2016 was a great stretch of basketball
Most people hated the defensive brand of basketball that the Pistons played in that era, which is understandable, but I prefer that over the 3 pointer chuck-fest that the current game has turned into.
Don’t forget flop fest
For real. Today’s game is so predictable now because you know players are looking for a 3
Ya I miss when games werent all just 130-110 with the winner essentially being determined by which team shot the better percentage from 3 on that given night.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they changed the rules at some point. The game is highly developed at this point, but the product is suffering at points because of it.
The same was happening to the NFL in the 2010s with the air raid style coming back, but defensive minds came up with their evil schemes of flexible defense, shell coverages, hybrid zones, etc.
I much prefer the back and forth offensive/ defensive adapting teams have been accelerating the past 7 ish years. Call more flops, but other than that let teams figure it out.
Personally, I agree with that. I’d rather let the teams figure it out and ref the game a little better. If they start changing major rules, people will get weird about it.
The games were always determined by which team shot the better percentage, that’s what basketball is and has always been.
What a simplistic viewpoint to have that completely disregards how the game has changed…
The average score of the NBA finals this year was 104-102.
They are in the finals
Lebron’s athleticism and Kobe’s shot-making were both just unreal.
What an era of basketball.
Those Nike puppet commercials with these two were so good. The ‘good luck buddy’ was my favorite one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw6pYcvHKMU
I wish we saw those two in the Finals that year.
LeBron lightning lemonade gum era, that stuff was crack
You could blow the biggest LeBubbles with that stuff.
Dwight saved Bron’s legacy by not letting Bron get smacked in the 09 finals by Kobe.
Absolutely. Imagine the argument from a hater’s perspective, “how could LeBron be better than MJ when he couldn’t even beat MJ-lite?”
09 yea but 2010 cavs were elite. That’d have been a close series if lebrons mom wasnt sleeping with his teammates
Yeah… The Lakers washed the Magic. Not sure how the losing team to the Magic would be better. Bron fans have no chill, just Bron better no matter what.
What are u replying to
Everybody has forgotten that the Cavaliers were the heavy favorite in the series against the Magic. Cavs swept round two while the Magic were coming off a 7 game series with the Celtics. Everybody at the time thought the Magic had taken out the Cavs achilles heel for them, paving the way for the Cavs to easily make the Finals. Then the series happened and the excuses as usual had to come out
I don’t remember excuses. I just remember the Magic suddenly turning into the best team of all time. It was like they actually had magical powers for one playoff series.
Ah yes, the classic “it’s better to lose before the Finals than in the Finals” thing.
It’s not but how would they compare Lebron to MJ when Kobe beat him in this hypothetical scenario.
I’m not sure. Bron’s team was worse in 09 but he got his team to the same level as Kobe’s and was way more dominant that year
Kobe was on god mode after losing in 08, Cavs would have had no chance. Only reason why Cavs didn’t lose 4-1 to the magic was because LeBron hit a game winner
I agree, which is too bad cause I genuinely believe that version of LeBron is up there with 2013 or 2018 LeBron as “best version”
No one was beating the Lakers in 09,
Celtics had a crazy record like 29-2 before KG started going down that year. I think the Christmas game Lakers win is one of those losses.
They had their big 3 and Rondo was almost an all-star level starting from this year. It would have been tough.
Healthy Houston definitely wins that series. Lakers barely edged it out in 7 despite Yao missing the final four games and McGrady missing the entire series
Mcgrady missing the series isn’t anything new lmao he a 1st round merchant for a reason
Okay. Even without him, they likely win the series with healthy Yao. Also Boston was even better in 09 before KG’s injury, saying “no one was beating the 09 Lakers” is just a crazy take from anyone who isn’t an insane homer.
Loll
This is just 10 days before Kobe’s 81 point game
Lakers would’ve destroyed that Cavs team
That’s the difference with Kobe. He was one of the only players that when it’s crunch time the ball is coming to him, you both know he’s going to score it and there’s nothing you can do.
LeBron so fucking explosive, and Kobe just smooth as ever. Fun watch.
Love that congratulatory little ass kick Devean George gives Kobe at the end there.
I do wish we could’ve gotten this just for the history books alone. Would’ve been an all-timer
The different styles of play clearly on display here. Kobe taking and making all the big shots down the stretch; Lebron dishing to teammates, trying to make the right play.
Never got the Finals match up despite both of them being in the Finals from 2007-2018.
Yea… All because the damned Spurs
And the Magic
I forgot this announcers name but he is so good
The legendary Marv Albert. Yus!
Yep, love Marv
Kobe would have absolutely murdered LeBron in the finals. Kobe is like MJ with that killer instinct. LeBron does not have the same killer instinct. It would have been a fun series to watch, and ultimately Kobe would have murdered LeBron.
In the 2 Lakers-Cavs matchups in 2008-09 both Lebron and Kobe didn’t score much. Lebron scored 23 and 16, while Kobe scored 20 and 19. Game 1 the star of the show was Pau, who had 22 and 13 boards on 11⁄13 shooting. Game 2 the star of the show was Odom, who had 28 points on 13⁄19 shooting
Kobe had a different kind of instinct in Eagle, Colorado in 2003
so fucking corny all kobe fans do is talk about Killer instinct/mamba mentality
Cool cool, tell me more about how LeBron jumps teams. Can’t wait for LeBron to play with Curry on Curry’s team in Golden State. LeBron isn’t even the most dominate player in his era, let alone the GOAT. 🤣🤡
Tell me more about how kobe rapes women 😂🤡
Lakers would’ve swept their ass lmao. LeBron fans better be thankful
We got swept by the Spurs anyway, wouldn’t have changed anything lol
Lamar Odom was so goddamn good..
Not sure why that got downvoted. LO was awesome. Just didn’t have the effort to confidence to excel every night. He would stop attacking it he missed a few early. Was capable of 20 20 games at any time.
I feel like people have forgotten. He was unreal. SO skilled and big and quick, and very smart.
This kind of shows where early criticism of bron came from. Youre down 2 with 1:15 on the clock and the „right play“ is Ilgauskas on 45 into a hookshot? Cmon bruh get to the bloody line
Yeah, LeBron obviously had some great clutch games early in his career like the game against Detroit, but he was often way too passive because a) his shot wasn’t that consistent yet and b) the paint was still really packed in that era so driving was often quite difficult late in the game. He got questioned a lot for passing late even when it was often statistically the right play. It took him working on his game a lot after the loss to Dallas for him to finally get over the hump and put the LeChoke era to rest.
I forgot about the Lebron cant shoot free throws and blows the game arc
forgot that era existed LUL
Because Bron stans won’t let you mention any weakness he had.
Fake lull dribble to the right then spin off with two defenders going to right wing and leaning shot that hits the bottom in the clutch. That wassuch a pure scorer move. He’s so damn good
Man, this is a nostalgia hit. So much speed and quality. Got to have it shots, Kobe pulls up, makes them.
It was better for Bron’s legacy to lose to the Magic in the ECF than lose to Kobe in the finals
I didn’t want this.
Crazy that 1 of the 2 of them played in the finals for 12 years straight and they never matched up
So Marv was doing the “foot on the line” shit back then too? Damn he was washed for a while.
They never met in the finals because LeBron couldn’t make it those years. Kobe was just and will always be better.
It will always be a shame we never saw Kobe vs LeBron in the finals
The Mamba vs da Floppa
Mamba was great and Da Floppa not so great. But the greatest of all time will always be The Larry Bird
Of course they didnt get the match up, eric snow was the starting fucking point guard.
lebron hasnt lost a step *giannis nearly cracks up laughing*
Big Z somehow jumping negatively on that sky hook
Kobe always brought out the best in Lebron when they went against each other.
I will always believe Lebron sold himself short when he ran away from Cleveland to join Wade and Bosh.
Lebron gacked it in 2009, Kobe in 2011.
They both played for the Lakers. We are blessed.
[deleted]
its also kind of overlooked that LeBron made the finals by himself (without another major star) before Kobe ever got there by himself.
It’s worth noting Kobe played in the western conference, and LeBron is not getting to the finals with that team if he had to go through the west.
although technically true maybe its because kobe got drafted into shaq and didnt have an oppurtunity to do that until he left.
still wrong since kobe took 4 years as the front man to get to the finals like lebron. + its not even possible for kobe to do it at lebrons age since he played with shaq like i mentioned.
Lebron made it first yes, but compare their rosters between 2004-05 and 2006-07 and LeBron’s are better, with him also being in the much weaker conference. Obviously still impressive of LeBron but the context is important.
no disrespect but you are the one who added a bunch of qualifiers to make it sound like lebron did something kobe wasnt able to do. basically just setting aside kobe’s first 3 chips for an example.
Who choked to the Magic to dodge Kobe? I’ll give you 1 guess
Man, he averaged 38/8/8 in that series; he could not have possibly done more.
Always an excuse
I know right, he should’ve just averaged 50/15/12 like other superstars have done that’s why he’s not the GOAT smh
4-6 for a reason
Stupid argument. LeBron was the dominant leader of his 10 finals teams while Kobe rode coattails of two HoF centers to a measly 7 appearances.