LeBron vs. Kobe

I've watched basketball for a long time, and the last two games at Madison Square Garden were probably the best back-to-back regular season games at the World's Most Famous Arena ever. Of course, the Knicks lost both games and it featured two of the great performances of all time by an opposing player. That's what it's like to be a Knicks fan nowadays. Although they are better than they were last year, a much more likable team that has an decent chance of making the playoffs, right now we're at the stage where the best thing that could happen at the Garden is a great player making a transcendent performance. And we got that in two straight games.


Kobe Bryant @ Knicks 2/2/09
37 mins, 61 points, 19-31 FGM-A, 3-6 3PM-A, 20-20 FTM-A, 0 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 1 PF, +19

LeBron James @ Knicks 2/4/09
44 mins, 52 points, 17-33 FGM-A, 2-7 3PM-A, 16-19 FTM-A, 10 REB, 11 AST, 0 STL, 2 BLK, 3 TO, 1PF, +7


People are making a big deal about Kobe getting a standing ovation and MVP chants at the Garden. New York City is full of people from other states and cities, meaning there are a lot of bandwagon fans, and the biggest bandwagon team in the NBA is the LA Lakers. Kobe gets cheered in Utah and even got MVP chants in Boston two years ago. It's not a phenomenon that the bandwagoners come out of the woodwork and annoyingly take over the home crowd, especially when the Lakers are as good as they are right now. It's amazing that the sports media hasn't figured this out.

Who had the better performance? LeBron. What's impressive about Kobe is that he scored 61 it in 36 minutes and he took less shots than James did, but the 0 rebounds and 3 assists stat is jarring in comparison. A triple double WHILE scoring 50+ points is ridiculous. I never played organized hoops, so the only thing I can compare it to is playing NBA 2K9. I'll tell you as an expert of video game basketball, it is much tougher to get a triple double than it is to score a ton of points. LeBron's game isn't just a video game stat line, it's a video game stat line with the difficulty on rookie and the opposing team sliders turned to zero.

LeBron is the best player in the league. This is somehow an argument, but it shouldn't be. With LeBron, the Cavs are the best team in the league, without him, they're a lottery team. He has Magic Johnson's court vision, Kobe Bryant's scoring ability, and like Charles Barkley he's so big and quick he just bowls over people. And he keeps getting better and better. He could probably score 50 if he had to go 1 on 5 against a team of tigers. And I don't think thats hyperbole.

I thought it would happen this year, but it seems like we're about a year away from LeBron being acknowledged as the undisputed best player in the league. It takes the mainstream sports media a year or two to catch up with what everyone on message boards and blogs are saying. Which means that we're about 2 or 3 years away before people start taking a serious look at THE question: How does LeBron James compare with Michael Jordan? I'm talking comparing LeBron James with World Champion Michael Jordan, the MJ that owned an entire generation, the Jordan that has entire era named after him, not the "at the same age" nonsense that writers use to tip-toe around the topic.

And that means we're about five years away from...I don't want to jinx it. I'm not brave enough to even tip-toe around the notion. I'll just say it would be tremendous if he was playing in Madison Square Garden full time when it happens.