After last night it's not a stretch to say Kobe is one of the greatest NBA players to have ever played. He's been in 6 NBA Finals this decade. I don't think that's a Robert Horry/Steve Kerr type of coincidence. He's won titles with two completely different teams. There are eight players however, that I don't think you can make any argument for Kobe being better than based on career accomplishments: Duncan, Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Shaq, Bird, Magic and most assuredly Michael Jeffrey Jordan

I used to consider Jordan Elvis and Kobe the Honky Tonk Man; a poor, but entertaining imitation of greatness that had achieved a championship and etched a mark in history. But, like Honky, it's understood that he only won because he had ample help and/or outside interference.Honky Tonk Man had the Hart Foundation, Jimmy Hart and his megaphone. Kobe had Shaq, Phil Jackson, and Referees A and F. However, now that Kobe has won a championship without Shaq, I have no choice but to elevate Bryant. He has indeed achieved greatness. Now a more apt comparison should be Jordan as the Beatles and Kobe as Oasis. Kobe is now without question the greatest cover band of Michael Jordan. Like Oasis, Kobe has had a few undoubtedly great seasons/albums. Anyone with half a brain, however, wouldn't compare the two other than saying Oasis/Kobe worship(s) The Beatles/Jordan and has taken great steps to copy their/his style. (The end of game celebration? C'mon now.) This admiration and imitation should cause the public to see how ridiculous both look in comparison to their idols. However there are fools, that will actually say these cover bands are better than the originals. The following will put an end to the Kobe/Jordan comparisons. If anyone says Kobe is comparable or better than Jordan show them this. If they continue to babble on "you are now allowed to officially slap bitches"

What people don't understand is that by saying Kobe is better than or even comparable to Jordan you are saying that Kobe Bryant is in the discussion for the greatest ATHLETE of all time. This would mean Kobe is on par with Ruth, Gretzky, Ali, Rice, Nicklaus et al. Now, honestly, what type of fuckery is that? With each of the aforementioned when they retired they had done one or multiple things of a singular nature. To me that's always been the standard for greatness: "What have you done that no one else in the history of mankind has done?"

If the question is asked of Jordan he could respond:

"I have won 10 scoring championships, including 7 straight, which no one has done. I have won the Finals MVP six times, which is twice as much as anyone else has. I am the only person to score 63 points in a playoff game. I scored in double figures in 866 consecutive games. I am the only person to avg 41 points in an NBA Finals. I have scored more points in the playoffs than anyone on Earth. I have a higher scoring average than anyone who has lived. I have a higher playoff scoring average than anyone who has lived. I am the only person who has won the Defensive Player of the Year Award and the scoring title in the same year. Not to brag, but think about how incredible that is. Could you imagine a football player who played offense like Jerry Rice and defense like Lawrence Taylor? I'd like to think I've made that absurdity a reality in basketball."

And you, Mr. Bryant? What have you done that noone else has?

"I scored 61 points in Madison Square Garden."

Kobe has played 13 years and that's his only record. Perfectly, that's the exact number of years Jordan played with the Bulls. Other things of note during their 13 years of greatness

Scoring Titles: 10 to 2

League MVPs: 5 to 1

Finals MVPs: 6 to 1

If you look at their career averages Jordan and Kobe aren't even close. But honestly it's not a fair comparison because Kobe didn't have the seasoning of 3 years in college that Jordan had. Kobe's first three years were like an incubation period and unfairly pull his statistical averages down. Let's not use those first three years of Kobe and let's instead compare the two from the ages of 21-29, which coincides with Jordan's first run with the Bulls. This goes up until last year for Kobe when he won the MVP award. So this is Kobe's best stretch of basketball we're including here. During this time Kobe, not coincidentally, lol, played 666 games and Jordan played 667. I want as much of an apples to apples comparison as possible. So let's look at the two.

Jordan

32.3 PPG 6.3 RPG 5.9 AST 2.7 STLS 1.0 BLK 52% FG

Kobe

28.3 PPG 5.9 RPG 5.3 AST 1.7 STLS 0.6 BLK 46% FG

Jordan beats him in all categories. Now, lest you think that .06 isn't that big of a divide for FG%, here's a little perspective: .06 was the difference between the best shooting team in the NBA this past season and the worst shooting NBA team. So .06 is a HUGE gap. The 4 PPG gap between the two is more than the gap between Lebron James and Danny Granger's scoring averages last year. You wouldn't make an argument for the worst shooting team in the league being comparable to the best would you? Would you make an argument that Danny Granger is a comparable scorer to Lebron James? Also during this time Jordan had 7 scoring titles, 3 MVPs, 3 Finals MVPs and won Defensive POTY. Kobe won 2 scoring titles, and 1 MVP during this time. This is Kobe's prime, folks.

You'll constantly hear the echoing of "Not since Michael Jordan" when it comes to Kobe. Here's one: "Not since Michael Jordan has anyone averaged 35 points per game as Kobe did in 2006." What people fail to do when they say things like this is couch the statement with proper qualification. I will. Let's compare both of their 35 PPG seasons shall we. This is a great comparison because Kobe didn't have Shaq and this was Pippen's rookie year and he didn't start any games; playing less than Michael Pietrus did this year for Orlando. This comparison is indicative of the "Not since Jordan" shortsightedness

Kobe 2006

35.4 PPG .450 FG% 5.3 RPG 4.5 APG 1.8 STL 0.4 BLK

Jordan 1998

35.0 PPG .535 FG% 5.5 RPG 5.9 APG 3.2 STL 1.6 BLK

In 1998, Jordan won the scoring title, MVP, and Defensive POTY. He led the league in steals and set the all-time record for most blocks by a guard. In 2006 Kobe won the scoring title. Now the league FG% during Jordan's year was higher than it was in Kobe's. Some oldtimers say that's because the players were more skilled and/or intelligent. For the sake of argument let's say that during Kobe's year the players were in fact more skilled/intelligent, but the AWESOME defense Kobe and his peers have to face is what limits the offense. Okay. I'll go with that. Seems like it helps Kobe's case, right? Wrong. Let's see who dominated their peers more effectively and compare Mike and Kobe's shooting relative to the rest of their leagues. In 1988 the league FG% was .480 and Jordan shot .535. In 2006 the league FG% was .454 and Kobe shot .450. If you're not good with math let me explain. Kobe shot LOWER than the average player in the NBA. Just for emphasis, Kobe led the league in field goal attempts that year, also. I don't know, I'm not that bright, but it would seem to me that if you have a player who shoots worse than the average player does, you wouldn't want him to shoot more than any other player in the league. Would you say that person who shot that much had a high basketball IQ? Would you call that person a ballhog? Or would you compare that player to great athletes like Jerry Rice?

Kobe Bryant has NEVER had a season where he made more shots than he missed. If you look at any so-called great player of the last 40 years they all had at least some stretch where they made more than they missed. It's even more ridiculous when you think he had Shaquille O fucking Neal drawing the defense. So if I'm in Vegas and everytime Kobe shoots I bet he will miss, by the time the season is over I'll be rich. That is super wack. But he's up there with Ali, huh?

That's just regular season, though. Let's talk about "winning time,"since THE BLACK MAMBA is "the best closer in the game" Now that they've both completed 6 NBA Finals let's compare the two in the Finals.

Jordan

33.6 PPG 6.0 RPG 6.0 APG 1.9 STL 0.7 BLK 48% FG

Kobe

24.6 PPG 5.2 RPG 5.3 APG 1.7 STL 0.9 BLK 41% FG

Damn, the gap widens. Also, let's not forget Jordan played 3 of these finals at the age of 33, 34, and 35. Kobe's not 31 yet. It's made even worse when you think of who Jordan's sidekick was and who Kobe had. Let's look at the scoring stats of their sidekicks in the Finals.

Pippen - 19.0 PPG 42%

Shaq - 33.6 PPG 60%

Gasol - 16.5 PPG 57%

Jordan had a weak shooting second option in Pippen. Pippen was an elite defender, great finisher, and decent three point shooter, but he was extremely limited in offensive fundamentals. He also was a complete pussy in the clutch. Jordan had no choice but to carry the offensive burden. Kobe on the other hand, had the good fortune to play with the greatest half court offensive weapon of all time in Shaq and Gasol at this point is the most skilled post player in the league. Certainly a 33-year-old Tim Duncan isn't superior. In these Finals Gasol averaged 19 and shot 60% with the Defensive Player of the Year opposing him. So with two elite low post players drawing double teams and freeing up other players for open shots, Kobe managed to shoot an abysmal 41% from the field. Twice in the Finals he shot below 40%. Well below his low post superstar teammates. But he's comparable to Babe Ruth?

Let me make this clear also. All this "best closer in the game" is bullshit. He's the Lee Smith of closers. He's gotten more opportunities and it inflates his numbers. But if you look at his blown opportunities and "close" percentage you see he really is overrated in that regard. Take these Finals. He got his potential game winning shot blocked by Hedo fuckin Turkoglu. The next game with a chance to tie or win the game he wildly dribbled into a double team and had the ball stolen from him by Michael Pietrus. But he's the best closer in the game? Wait what's Kobe's greatest playoff moment? .............. Exactly. I can tell you what I remember. Giving up a 3-1 lead to the Suns in the playoffs and scoring 0 points in the second half of Game 7. I can remember the Celtics blowing them out by 39 points in Game 6 last year and him shooting 32% from the field; being outplayed in those finals by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. I can remember the 2004 Finals when Kobe shot 38% from the field and shot 29 more times than Shaq, who shot 63%. Those Finals he was outplayed by Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton. Jordan, on the other hand, was never outplayed in any Finals. Playoff moments? Both shots on Russell. Shot on Ehlo. Shot on Wilkins. Shrug Game. Shot to send the game into OT in game 3 of 91 Finals. Not to mention the shot at UNC. Jordan in the playoffs has hit 3 shots that ended the other team's season. That's a closer.

More on the second fiddle topic:

In 1998 Scottie Pippen missed 35 games. During that 35 game stretch the bulls went 24-11 for a .686 winning percentage. Projected over 82 games that's a 57-25 record, which would have been second in the Eastern Conference. In 1993 the Bulls had a record of 57-25 and finished second in the Eastern Conference. They won the NBA Title that year. So, yes Pippen helped, but I'm just sayin....

Beyond all the quantitative and qualitative analysis outlined above, there is this:

Bryant told detectives in Eagle, Colo.: "He should have done what Shaq does ... that Shaq would pay his women not to say anything" and already had paid up to $1 million "for situations like this."

But he's up there with Jordan, huh?