Lebron James brought a championship to Cleveland. The first one in a major sports league since 1964. It was very impressive, and has people questioning where he belongs amongst the greats. I think the experts now see him as being almost eye to eye with Michael Jordan. I've felt, for a while, that his is the 2nd greatest basketball player of all time, and while I still feel that way, this championship further cements his legacy. While Jordan is still considered the greatest basketball player of all time, Lebron has closed the gap. He is ahead of Larry Bird. I've had him ahead of Bird as the greastest Small Forward ever, for some seasons now, but now I don't think it's a good argument. He's played 13 seasons like Bird, his individual accomplishments are better, and now he has just as many championships. He's ahead of Kobe, though many Kobe fans might now think so. Even though I would probably put Tim Duncan ahead of Kobe, Kobe is the guy that many see as being the Michael Jordan of his generation. I understand that Kobe has 5 championships, while Lebron has 3, but championships are a team accomplishment. Kobe had Shaq for the first three, and Shaq was clearly the most dominant player in the league at that time. If two players are close to even in terms of invidual success, I can understand giving the advantage to the guy with more rings, but Lebron is well ahead of Kobe in terms of what he's has done individually. He's won 3 more regular season MVP's, one more finals MVP, and has been the best player on 3 championship teams, compared to 2 for Kobe using stats from basketball reference.
Let's compare their per game stats through 13 seasons
Regular Season
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG MPG
Kobe 25.1 5.3 4.6 1.5 0.6 36.4
Lebron 27.2 7.2 6.9 1.7 0.8 39.0
Playoffs
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG MPG
Kobe 25.0 5.1 4.7 1.4 0.7 39.4
Lebron 28.0 8.8 6.8 1.8 0.9 42.1
Now a look at the metrics
Regular Season
PER Trfg% Win Shares WS/Per 48
Kobe 23.6 .558 136.5 .190
Lebron 27.7 .581 192.5 .240
Playoffs
PER Trfg% Win Shares WS/48
Kobe 22.0 . 539 22.5 .157
Lebron 27.7 .567 41.6 .238
WS/48 is wins shares per 48 minutes, PER=Player Efficiency Rating
Lebron is cleary ahead of Kobe through the same number of seasons. Kobe's best PER in a single season was 28.0, but Lebron has had 4 seasons with a 30+ PER. Kobe statistical advantages have come because he's played longer, but Lebron is just a more dominant force, and dominates the game in more ways, and more consistently. The main argument Kobe fans have is rings, but Lebron has so many clear edges, that he should be ahead of Kobe.
Off topic, I would also put Shaq ahead of Kobe. When you compare the two, Shaq was better in his prime than Kobe, but the feeling many may have is that Kobe lasted longer as an elite player. Still Kobe finished his career as a shell of his former self, and he had been that for the past 3 seasons. In two more seasons Kobe only played 139 more games, and he has less career win shares than Shaq.
Right now Lebron James is looking right at Michael Jordan, and Jordan's legacy. That's the only thing between him, and the status of being the GOAT. They are almost mirror images in terms of peak success. James has a different style of play than Jordan. Jordan was more of a great scorer, who could also produce all around numbers when he had to. Lebron is a great all around player, who can score a lot of points if he needs to. Both had four seasons in which they finished with PERs of over 30. Jordan was more clutch, he had a greater edge in terms of consistency of his career, and he has 6 championships and 6 finals MVPs, but Lebron is right there with him. In my book he is the #2 basketball player of all time.
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