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According to Jerry West, LeBron James is the best player in the NBA.

With all due respect to the Logo, he’s wrong. Lebron had the better season, statistically – as ESPN’s John Hollinger would remind you, again and again. A note: how objective is it for a espn writer to argue for a player’s superiority using a ratings system he himself came up with? 

A more balanced viewpoint is in order, using not only statistics but observation, and a whole lot of common sense.

Defense:

Lebron joined Kobe on this year’s All Defensive First Team, which Kobe accomplished seven times and counting. Certainly Kobe has been a more consistent defender over his career. Moreover, Kobe was the defensive stopper for Team USA in the Olympics last summer, when the stakes have never been higher for these players or the NBA.

But how about right now, as of this moment? Due to Lebron’s better shotblocking (from the weakside), and helped by the contrast principle (Lebron didn’t care about defense before the Olympics), I would say he’s a better team defender, while Kobe the better individual defender. This certainly seems the case as Kobe relishes the opportunity to guard the opponent’s best perimeter scorer, while Lebron mainly helps from the weakside.

Kobe still has the defensive edge, simply because Lebron is not a game changer on defense (not like Andrei Kirilenko a couple years ago) from the small forward position. On the other hand, Kobe can lock down and limit the opponent’s best offensive threat, which is frequently more valuable.

Some criticize Kobe’s tendency to leave role players to help his teammates. However, this has actually been a mainstay in the Lakers’ defensive strategy. While the Lakers may get burned in a game or two because of this, over the course of a year, or even a series, forcing guys like Ronnie Brewer, Rondo, and others to become scorers for their team has proven to be an effective strategy. 

But make no mistake, when a team has a star offensive player, Kobe will be on him and be very effective. His ability to change the game with his defense explained why Kobe nearly matched Dwight Howard in the All-Defensive Team voting, which the coaches voted for. Meanwhile, Lebron was runner up for the defensive player of the year – which seems contradictory, until one realizes that the media votes for that distinction. The All-Defensive Teams are selected by NBA head coaches, who clearly deem Kobe the better defensive player.

Rebounding:

Lebron averages a couple more rebounds. Due to his size advantage, it’s not surprising. This is a clear advantage for Lebron. However, Lebron’s no Shawn Marion (double digit rebounder small forward).

Passing, ballhandling:

Lebron averages a couple more assists (and turnovers), which is more indicative of the differences between the Cavs and the Lakers’ offenses than any superior skill. The Cavs run their offense through Lebron. For Kobe, although the ball inevitably gravitates toward him, especially in the fourth quarter, the triangle offense involves too many trigger passes and requires a certain amount of ball movement that makes it difficult for any player to average more than 5, 6 assists. 

In fact, 82games.com rates Lebron’s passing one point higher than Kobe’s, 10 – 9. Also ballhandling, 23 – 22. Close enough to be a wash. 

Shooting/scoring:

Kobe’s a better jump-shooter, one of the finest midranges in the game, and a high percentage finisher. Lebron is a decent jump-shooter, and a terrific finisher. The difference lies in the kinds of shots each takes – Lebron takes far more closer shots, so he ends up with a higher field goal percentage. This comes as no surprise, because many of Lebron’s points come off dunks. Likewise, he draws more fouls. At this point, Lebron was like Kobe earlier in his career – relentless going to the basket, and putting constant pressure on defenses. Which one is better? Lebron has the statistical advantage on average, but what happens when teams are able to slow down Lebron’s drives? In that sense, he’s not quite as versatile and balanced a scorer as Kobe is. 

Kobe’s faced some elite individual and team defenses, and maintained his season and career averages. Shane Battier, Ron Artest, Andrei Kirilenko, and even Ronnie Brewer are among the league’s best, if not best, wing defenders. And Houston was among the league’s best team defenses this season.

Lebron’s next playoff series against the Magic will test the versatility in his game. Can he win from the outside? Can he impose his will on the Magic? Will he be limited at all? I think he’ll have to adjust – and again in the Finals, if we get there, because he had trouble against the Lakers (and Kobe’s defense). In the two season matchups against the Lakers, he shot 25% and 36%, which speaks to both to the merits of Kobe’s defense and the limitations of Lebron’s offense.

How about Wade?

Dwayne Wade also deserves some mention. During the Olympics, both he and Kobe showed which players rose to the occasion when faced by adversity. 

Nonetheless, Wade has his weakness: a somewhat unreliable perimeter game. Although Wade clearly needs better teammates, against a prepared, decent defense (Atlanta), he was limited to well below his season fg% and a very high turnover rate. 

Kobe suffered a similar fate against Boston last year (as did Lebron), but that team, for that one season, was quite possibly one of the greatest defensive teams in the history of the NBA.

Back on point, as it stands, due to his individual ability on defense, and more versatile offensive moves, Kobe is still the best overall player in the league. Jerry West, even while lauding Lebron’s game, qualifies his statement with Kobe’s superiority in the clutch – something that most NBA head coaches agree upon.

“If I had to have somebody make a last-second shot, it would be Kobe Bryant.”

So for the intangibles, the assassin mentality, the ability to rise to the occasion when the game on the line, most informed people would pick Kobe.

And to me, that says it all. Beyond the stats, hype, and spite.

The redemption of USA basketball is a testament to what kind of qualities Kobe has, spoken and unspoken things that Lebron simply does not possess. Not only did Kobe demonstrate a quiet, substantial leadership, leading by example, dedicating himself on defense, and taking over the game when his teammates (and fellow stars) looked overwhelmed.

The true mark of Kobe’s quintessential qualities can be found in the improved games of his understudies, who discovered how deep they must reach into themselves, their bodies and their souls, to achieve greatness.

Once again, Bill Simmons puts his foot in his mouth regarding Kobe Bryant. He wrote a long apology trying to defend himself against charges of being a “Kobe hater.” 

His defense rested on two points. One, that Kobe gave up in two playoff series, 2006 and 2008. First of all, any objective reporting on these series would acknowledge that Kobe didn’t have enough help, but more importantly, had the maturity to trust in his teammates. Kobe has always been in a damned-if-he-does, damned-if-he-doesn’t situation.

Heres’s what Bill Simmons failed to point out: In the playoff series against the Suns, Kobe scored 50 pounds, made 20 out of 35 shots, and the Lakers LOST by 8 points. Bill Simmons forgot to point that out – maybe that was the reason why the next game Kobe tried to move the ball and get his teammates going. It was a sign of maturity and trust in his teammates, not giving up on his team. It wasn’t Kobe’s fault he was surrounded by Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, and Luke Walton, but how else would anybody else figure out a way that Lakers team could beat Phoenix? Kobe scoring 120 points by himself? How else would Kobe have made his teammates better – even Jordan was surrounded by a future hall of famer and some of the greatest role players of all time in Pippen, Rodman, Kukoc, Harper, Kerr, etc. Thus, in short, Kobe was surrounded by a bunch of scrubs, and although he carried that team into the playoffs out of his sheer individual brilliance, in the playoffs he was in a no-win situation, because the Suns were just point blank better and would win that series regardless of what Kobe would have done.

And how did Kobe quit against Boston? He never took less than 19 shots, never more than 26. That’s balanced. Kobe had 10 assists in a loss. One assist in another loss. He shot 48 percent in a loss, 38 percent in a win. There’s little rhyme and reason to those stats, except that Kobe shoot below his season average (40%) turned the ball over more and stole the ball more than his season averages. Lebron shot even worse against the Celtics defense (35%) and turned the ball over more than Kobe did. Thanks to Tom Thibadeau, the defensive assistant coach of the Celtics, whom Jeff Van Gundy owes for his reputation as a defensive-minded coach, Kobe Bryant was stymied by the zone defenses anchored by Kevin Garnett (who also had the benefit of not being called for defensive 3 second violations). Boston took away the lanes for Kobe by putting 3 defenders in his path, Gasol and Odom couldn’t consistently hurt Boston inside, and the Lakers settled for jump shots, which they generally missed, and Phil Jackson couldn’t think of anything to beat Boston’s defense. That was the series. 

2nd point of defense: Lebron James’ performance was more impressive than Kobe’s. How in the world is that a defense for criticism of Kobe’s game? Most people, including those at MSG, would simply be wowed by two great performances. Some may favor one over the other, but on what grounds could either Kobe or Lebron be criticized? They were great performances in two competitive games. 

Simmons criticized kobe for essentially ball-hogging while Lebron got his shots in the flow of the game. Really? 

Kobe: 19-31 overall, 3-6 on 3-pointers, 20-20 from the line. 2nd leading scorer: Gasol 31 points.
Lebron: 17-33 overall, 2-7 on 3-pointers, 16-19 from the line. 2nd lead scorer: Ilgauskas 15 points. 

Now, who played more within the offense? Kobe took fewer shots and made more. He took fewer threes but made more. He got to the line more and made more. He had a more efficient offensive game. How could Lebron have scored more in the flow – especially if the second leading scoring on his team only got 15 points, while Gasol got off for 31 himself? 

“On the other hand, his teammates stood around and watched him like movie extras.”

What kind of movie extra puts up 31 points?

That’s essentially Bill Simmons talking out of his ass, because he never was a guy who argued based on facts. His primary argumentative technique is humor, as a red herring. But when he tries to argue using basketball terms, he falls on his face.

Bill Simmons is simply trying to find reasons to back up his prejudice (pre-judging) by depicting Kobe as a selfish player: “He may as well have been playing by himself on one of those Pop-A-Shot machines.”

Yet it was Lebron who almost knocked out two of his teammates while tumbling out of bounds, trying to get a statistical triple-double as the game was ending. Who’s selfish, really? That play reminded me of Ricky Davis throwing up a shot at his own basket to get another rebound for a triple double. 

If Bill Simmons prefers Lebron’s near triple-double (the league took away that rebound), that’s his right. Lebron will always rack up more rebounds because of his size, 6′9″ and 260. He’ll always get more assists because the ball is always in his hands, while Kobe plays in the triangle offense with multiple ballhandlers (nobody averaged more than 6, 7 assists in all the championship Phil Jackson teams). 

But all the evidence points to the fact that Kobe was more efficient than Lebron on offense, didn’t ballhog any more than Lebron did (took fewer shots while his second option had twice as many points). These are the facts. 

But Simmons couldn’t simply compare the two in good fun and marvel at the great performances. He had to say “Kobe’s 61-point game represented the best and worst in basketball.” He had to go there. Didn’t have a bone to pick, really? I’m shocked he didn’t bring up Colorado and Shaq. 

It’s funny Simmons quoted a couple people at MSG to put some doubt into how much the crowd appreciated Kobe’s game. Too bad he couldn’t dispute the reality: Lebron’s performance brought boos, then rumblings of frustration and appreciation as the Knicks lost another close game. Which is what it was, another game. But Kobe’s historic night was transcendent, and the proof was in the pudding of MVP chants.

Bill Simmons is played out, he had some sort of relevance in the early 00’s. But he’s a hack now. Is he still bringing up Britney Spears or talking about Star Wars?

Here’s the thing about BIll Simmons. He used to be a funny guy. Not the brightest guy, but he’s been successful over the past few years with his low brow humor, eclectic pop trivia references, and unapologetic biases. Considering the stodgy Marc Stein and the other boring ESPN writers, BIll Simmons was an in-house alternative perspective. 

But with the explosion in blogging, Simmons is just another guy, not quite as wacky as the Free Darko guys, or funny as even Gilbert Arenas’s blog. And he never was as insightful as, say, Roland Lazenby. In short, he’s just another Celtics fan living in Los Angeles. That annoying old white guy in a Bird jersey thinking he can ball. Talking shit about the Lakers and Hollywood…but why are you living in L.A. again? Go back to that frigid, depressing, racist place you call Baaaaston. 

Just recently, I shared Simmons’s article with a group of young 20-somethings. Their response? Who the F is Simmons and why should anybody care? Why indeed.

A few weeks ago, Simmons wrote a nice article about his dog that died. Maybe Simmons should have put something else to sleep. Regardless, his relevance is nodding off.