For a period of time years ago, people debated whether LeBron James or Kobe Bryant was the best basketball player in the NBA. In the late 2000s, James put up better numbers and won two MVP awards, but while his Cleveland Cavaliers fell short in the playoffs each year, Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers reached the NBA Finals three straight times and won back-to-back NBA championships.
Comparing the two is a little like comparing apples and bananas. James is undoubtedly the better and more capable all-around player, while Bryant was the superior scorer, especially in terms of skill, the better pressure and crunch-time performer and perhaps the better defender.
Shaquille O’Neal, who, of course, won three straight titles with Bryant in the early 2000s and also spent a year with James later on, was asked by the New York Post which player in NBA history he would take if he had the No. 1 overall pick, other than himself. He said he would go with James for one very specific reason.
“I’d probably go with [LeBron James] because Bron — and I know this is a Kobe [Bryant] comparison — Bron had it when he came in,” O’Neal said. “It took Kobe two or three years to get it. Bron had it when he came in, so I’d probably go with Bron.”
Unlike Bryant and some other stars who jumped straight from high school to the pros, James had a man’s body right away and was instantly “the man” for the star-starved Cavaliers. As a rookie, he averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals a game, and while he shot just 41.7% from the field that year, he was clearly ready.
Bryant, on the other hand, got sporadic playing time as a rookie, and he produced sporadically, managing just 7.6 points on 41.7% shooting in 15.5 minutes a game that year. The following year, he increased those numbers to 15.4 points in 26 minutes per game and became the youngest All-Star starter in NBA history, even though he came off the bench for L.A.
It wasn’t until Bryant’s fourth or fifth year that he became the best all-around player or non-big man in basketball. But once he did, he unleashed an ample amount of terror upon the league for many years to come.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Shaquille O’Neal on whether he would take LeBron James or Kobe Bryant
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
