James is a prime numbers god.Īs we laid out when we pitted him opposite Tim Duncan, Bryant’s career apex depends on your preference. He scores as much as Bryant, more efficiently, while owning a sizable edge in almost every other category, and has done it all for two more years and counting. We will get to the question of how much weight Bryant’s two extra rings carry in comparison to James’ two additional shots at one, and what their supporting casts meant to both, but if you were starting a team with the knowledge of what both would bring to the table statistically for their primes, you would take James and not think twice. He spent last season with a starless team in Los Angeles before luring Anthony Davis to the Lakers. He joined All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for four seasons on the Miami Heat before returning to Cleveland, where he teamed with All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for another four years. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams each made a single All-Star appearance during James’ first seven seasons on the Cleveland Cavaliers. James has been the best player on all three of his championship teams.
Over the past 15 years, he has averaged 28.9 points (57.9 TS%), 8.9 boards, 7.1 assists and 2.8 blocks/steals in 42 minutes over 239 playoff games. James’ teams have made the playoffs in all but the first and last of his completed prime seasons, winning three titles in nine Finals trips and never losing a first-round series. He also has a handful of top-five Defensive Player of the Year finishes, peaking at second in 20. On that run, he has 13 top-five MVP finishes, winning four times and placing second twice (with another likely coming this season). Excluding the 2011 lockout and the current hiatus, he has averaged 76 games per season and played fewer than 69 just once. James entered the league as advertised in 2003, averaging a 21-6-6 en route to 2004 Rookie of the Year honors, but he made his leap to superstardom as an NBA sophomore and has remained in his prime since.įrom 2004 to the present, James has averaged 27.5 points (59.2 true shooting percentage), 7.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.4 blocks/steals in 38.3 minutes per game. Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard also made All-Star appearances alongside Bryant. In his prime, he never played with more than one active All-Star, sharing the court with Shaquille O’Neal for the first five of those seasons and Pau Gasol the final six. In that 14-year span, Bryant averaged 27.7 points (54.3 TS%), 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.1 blocks/steals in 41.5 minutes over 192 playoff games.īryant was the best player on two of his five championship teams.
Kobe vs lebron stats head to head series#
The Lakers lost three first-round series in that stretch, including a 2013 set when Bryant was nursing his Achilles injury. He placed top five in Defensive Player of the Year voting on three occasions, peaking with a third-place finish in 2002.īryant’s Los Angeles Lakers made the playoffs every year but once in his prime (2004-05), winning five championships in seven trips to the Finals.
During that span, he finished top five in MVP voting 11 times, winning in 2008 and finishing runner-up the following year. Excluding the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season, he averaged 76 games per season and never played fewer than 65. From 1999-2013, Bryant averaged 27.8 points (55.6 true shooting percentage), 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.1 combined blocks and steals in 38.8 minutes per game.
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