What exactly did Jordan steal from Dr. J? Did Dr. J have a patented go-to move? I think people say MJ stole from Dr. J because they were both athletic high flyers. The only thing I say MJ stole from Dr. J was the free throw dunk in the dunk contest. Even if he did steal from Dr. J's game, Jordan ended up with way more accolades than Erving. Kobe stole from MJ (most notably the fade-away) but Kobe's accolades aren't on par with MJ's.
Stole his fade-away from who? Who used that move more effectively than MJ? He unleashed it in 96 after he came back from retirement.
The charts actually make the competition seem closer that I personally thought. When Kobe averaged his 35 ppg, he still had a 49% true shooting percentage? That's actually quite impressive. Unless I read the chart wrong.Jordan was more efficient in every facet of the game:
At least, I think most people will agree that Jordan did more in his career than Kobe. But I also suspect that Kobe is “like Mike.” In other words, I imagine many people think the gap between these two players isn’t that large. The data, though, seem to tell a different story. Jordan isn’t just better than Kobe; in fact, when we measure the difference, we see that no one should suggest these two players are similar.
The NBA tracks a variety of box score statistics to measure player performance. When we look at these numbers for Jordan and Kobe, it is clear that the former has a significant edge. For example, when we compare what Jordan did for the Chicago Bulls to what Kobe did for the Lakers (before this season), although their scoring totals are similar, Jordan was the more efficient scorer. With the Bulls, MJ had an effective field goal percentage of 51.83%. In contrast, Kobe’s mark with the Lakers is only 48.72%. To put that in perspective, the average shooting guard in the NBA (since the 1979-80 season when the three-point shot was added to the NBA) has an effective field goal percentage of 48.56%. In sum, Kobe has not been much better than average with respect to shooting from the field.
Jordan’s advantages with respect to Kobe, though, are not confined to shooting from the field. On a per-minute basis, Jordan also did more than Kobe has with respect to rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. Jordan was also less likely to commit turnovers, less likely to draw a personal foul and more likely to draw a foul. In sum, with respect to everything in the box score, Jordan was simply better.
Let’s begin with each player at his best. In 1988-89, Jordan produced 26.5 wins as a 25-year old shooting guard. Kobe’s best season was in 2002-03. As a 24-year old shooting guard for the LA Lakers, Kobe produced 13.0 wins. So each player hit his peak in his mid-20s (that is actually fairly normal for a basketball player). And at each player’s peak, Jordan was nearly twice as productive.
Across each player’s entire career (up until this season), it’s the same story. Jordan finished his career with the Bulls in 1998 (we will ignore his ill-fated return to the Washington Wizards when he was 38 years old). Here is what MJ did for the Bulls:
Meanwhile, here are Kobe’s career numbers before this season:
- 35,887 minutes played
- 204.8 wins produced
- 0.274 wins produced per 48 minutes
- 45,225 minutes played
- 138.7 wins produced
- 0.147 wins produced per 48 minutes
Kobe’s inability to excel with respect shooting efficiently was noted recently in an article by Henry Abbott for ESPN The Magazine.
Bryant has fired away for nearly two decades. He’s fourth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, trailing only Kareem, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan. He’s also just a few weeks’ play from setting an all-time league record for misses. “The problem is, he’s just not as good as he thinks he is,” says one source in the Lakers’ inner circle. “He’s just not as efficient as he thinks he is.
This passage essentially captures the weakness in Kobe’s game. Kobe will soon pass Jordan in scoring totals. But he will also soon pass everyone else in missed shots.
Those missed shots matter. The key to evaluating players is to make sure you measure accurately the positives and the negatives. In other words, accurate evaluation requires you get past the “scoring illusion” (i.e., placing too much emphasis on scoring totals in evaluating basketball players). When you take that step, it becomes clear that Jordan did much more than Kobe, and Kobe is nowhere close to being “like Mike.”
Steve Nash was the engine of those Phoenix teams and they wouldn't have done shyt without him. They usually give the award to the player who has the most impact on a playoff team. I don't think the Lakers were in the playoffs when Nash won those years. James Harden should have won this year over Steph. This year was a popularity contest, as you say.
Worst I've seen
nikkas reachin ignoring the numbers that matter most.
Worst I've seen