No way. Kobe may have a following in China but he knows he is not the man in America. As a hard core Laker fan of the 80's, I never though much of him and when Shaq and Riles went to Miami, it was all Heat from then on. He has been propped up by the stench of Phil Jackson basketball. A designated run and gunner supported by working class ball players. Jordans shooting percentage was marginal but was allowed to take most of the shots in Chicago.

Kobe is a very disturbed individual and will never have the respect that the dream team players have.

Are you kidding me.... Are we stilll brainwashed in 2012 by the 92 Dream Team and Michael Jordan for that matter. You're just a band wagon fan anyway talkin about I was a hardcore Laker fan. No you wasn't. You was a hardcore Shaq and Riley groupie..lol Kobe has been on top in America and the rest of the world for quite sometime now. But I digress.

How in the hell do you think Kobe was propped up by the stench of Phil Jackson Basketball when Michael Jordan won every ring with him. Do people even know that it took Michael 9 years to even get to the finals in the 1st place??? Do people even know that Michael played in a big man era in which their wasn't any other opposing perimeter player that was as talented as he??? The second best perimeter player in the league during his time was Scottie Pippen so I ask where was the challenge??? Kobe has had to go through eras of talented Gaurds and Small Forwards that actually proved to be real challenges athletically but he proved to still be the best. Lets start: Hmmm... So while Michael was preparing for the Bryon Russell's of the world to gaurd him Kobe had to go through the likes of: Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Derron Williams, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson..... Damn did I forget anybody?? Jordan never had to go through what Kobe went through; he had the greatest team of all-time assembled; including the best "working class" role players...

Really?? Carter, McGrady, Anthony etc... Nowhere near HOF. MJ went against Reggie Miller, Joe Dumars, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd (Prime), John Stockton, Mark Jackson, George Gervin, Isiah Thomas. Enough said....

Do you know Michael Jordan won 6 championships regardless of when he won his first??? When the league was not as soft and you could hand check on the perimiter. And you bring up another point, the league was filled with talented big men that would make it difficult to penetrate defenses..


Go look at what Jordan went through. The Celtics, Pistons and Lakers. All time great teams. Are you serious? Aseembled? He three peated on two occasions with entirely different rosters. He went through a number of coahces when he first came in the league and was on some pretty crappy teams.

Joe Dumars, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Mark Jackson would all be regular good players in today's NBA. Shaq would be apart of this era's NBA and he would dominate every big man in the league during Jordan's Era. Crappy Teams = to the Cleveland Cavs that Lebron carried to the NBA Finals by himself. Jordan couldn't carry a team by himself... Reggie Miller is Ray Allen...Their is nobody on that list individually that you could put up and not find an equal or better match-up in today's NBA.

Jordan had better role players than Kobe? Have you forgotten about Horry, Fisher, Fox, Artest...?? Are you really putting Joe Johnson and Josh Smith on a list of "stars" that Kobe has to go against every night? Half of the players you listed suck at defense. Lol! Nobody with any intelligence takes you seriously when you say that Dumars, Drexler, Stockton, and Jackson would be "regular good players" in today's NBA.

As a matter of fact, Jordan was blessed with better role players than Kobe (period). Horace Grant plays alongside MJ in his early ring quests. Then it was the Worm. Horace Grant is an equivalent enforcer that AC Green in Lakers. An excellent inside enforcer, in my opinion, is way more important to a winning team than a wing player. The Worm is once-in-a-lifetime (not generation) talent that MJ was blessed to have when the Worm was in his prime. Then there was others: Pippen, etc.

You're an idiot. Let me count the ways, first Michael Jordan had intangibles that MADE his teammates better. He was a leader and he made sure EVERYONE knew what there role was.

You wouldn't see that little wimp PG for the Thunder or Chalmers talking back to MJ. He punched other teammates for not playing hard enough.

Nobody is better then MJ.

You're right...he was a great talent that got every single call and got away with murder on the court. He started winning his championships when the teams of the 80's were on their way out. He did take the game to another level...but I still think the 80's teams would beat MJ's teams. Go back to the clips...even when they were taking pictures of Magic, Bird and had Jordon standing...you can hear Magic saying, "Don't get too close to MJ you will get a fould called."

Jordan's team could no way beat the Showtime Lakers. Magic, Worthy, and Scott were all at their primes and Kareem's skyhook was still unstoppable. All of them averaged about 20 or more points per game. The other starter was AC Green -- one of the best all-around inside enforcers.

Idiot

MJ didn't get the number of foul calls Kobe did in his prime in the 90s like everyone thinks. MJ became a jump shooter in the 90s but he got away with a lot of traveling calls. The ref started getting soft in the 90s to protect guys like Jordan.

MJ 90's team would've never beaten 80s Lakers, Celtics, or 76er's teams which were more complete.

Oh yeah that's why Kobe has shot 8842 free throws (70 more than Jordan) and Kobe's career isn't even done yet!!! So dont talk about free thows idiot lol. Yeah he won championships when the 80's teams were on their way out but it's not Jordan's fault he wasn't born at the same time as them. As for Magic's comment, can friends not joke nowadays? When he said that he laughed... as you can see in the famous picture, so he wasnt be serious. Just gtfo the conversation.

'No1SpursFan' - Simply counting total foul shots isn't a fair way to compare that. Look at it this way: Jordan had 8,772 FTA in 41,011 regular season minutes (4.67 FTA per minute). Kobe has 8,842 FTA in 42,377 regular season minutes (4.78 FTA per minute). Those numbers are almost identical, but the playoffs are a different story. Jordan had 1,766 FTA in 7,474 playoff minutes (4.23 FTA per minute) while Kobe has 1,617 FTA in 8,641 playoff minutes (5.34 FTA per minute). (Source: NBA.com)

Wilt is. Russell is. Jabbar is.

MJ wasn't blessed with better role players. Just not true. You think they were better because MJ made them better.

Actually Kobe teams had better role players. Only better role player for Jordan was Pippen. I rather take a prime Shaq over Pippen anyday.

Fisher was better than any guard on the Bulls (period)
Kobe had Glen Rice, Rick Fox, Horry, Artest, and Odom at small forward vs Pippen and Kukoc. Jordan barely wins
Kobe had Odom, Gasol, and Grant vs Grant and Rodman.
Kobe had Shaq and Bynum vs Cartwright and Longley

I think that demonstrates Kobe had better teams around him.

In no way shape of form did Kobe have better role players than MJ. Let's go down the list and compare:

-Steve Kerr is top three 3-point shooters in NBA history.
-Kukoc was arguably the best all around player in the game during that time. At 6'10 he could play all 5 positions and would often run the point in Phil Jackson's triangle offense
-Horace Grant led the league in field goal percentage for many years with the Bulls.
-Ron Harper is much better than Derick Fisher. It's not even close. The used to call Ron Harper "Baby Jordan" for a reason.
-Scottie Pippen was voted top 50 players to ever play the game (Wilkins should have took his spot but that's another story).
-Dennis Rodman is the best rebounder/defender to ever play the game
-Jordan had many more peremiter shooters than Kobe did, Craig Hodges, John Paxson, BJ Armstrong.

Kobe Bryant had Shaq, and aging Glen Rice, aging Rick Fox, etc.

That Bulls team went 72-10 for a reason!

Ok, let's address this. Basically players were just better at time which the whole article is about. 2012 vs 1992.

-Steve Kerr is the top 3 point % leader in NBA history with around 700 made 3s. Around 50% so he only took 1500 3s in his career. The top 3 point shooter in NBA history is Ray Allen. Glen Rice, Nick Van Exel, & Eddie Jones all made more 3s than Steve Kerr. Also attempted more obviously.

-Kukoc was a great player so were many other during this time period.

-I love Ho Grant, but he's not on the all time field goal % list. Shaq is though he's #2.

-Ron Harper better than Derick Fisher. True, but b4 he started playing with MJ. He blew his knee out the year b4 he signed with Bulls. No longer Baby Jordan.

-Scottie Pippen can't argue that. Your right he was good but MJ is the reason he is a top 50 player. Without being a Bull I doubt he makes that list.

-Dennis Rodman the worm was a beast, but unpredictable to say the least. MJ and Phil controlled him. That says a lot about Mj's leadership abilities.


This is the roster that went 72-10
Michael Jordan
Scottie Pippen
Toni Kukoc
Steve Kerr
Ron Harper
Luc Longley
Bill Wennington
Dennis Rodman
Jud Buechler
Dickey Simpkins
Randy Brown
Jason Caffey
James Edwards
John Salley
Jack Haley

I do agree with you, there was a reason they went 72-10 and his name was Michael Jordan. Also gotta throw Phil in there.

Toni Kukoc was soft and couldn't play defense.

Those 'Regular Good Players' happen to be in the Hall of Fame.

Kobe had Shaq!!!!!!! Kobe has two of the top three big men in the league? You need to find another sport to follow!

I completely agree with you BigDawg23.

Lebron may have carried the Cavs to the final but he could not win it. And rather than try again he bolted to Miami. Still think he took the short cut to his championship. As was said before no one from the other Era would have considered teaming up like that. Also Shaq could not dominate the Hakeem the Dream!!!

That shows you how weak the league was idiot! Lebron is no Jordan! Not even close!!

LOL Spoken like a true Laker fan... So closed-minded and can't see passed his own city... I also live here in LA and most of the Laker fans disagree with you

cominf from a Laker fan..

How you gonna claim Shaq when he and Christian Laettnaer graduated from college at the same time? Stop talking out the side of your neck. Furthermore Shaq isn't even on this olympic squad????

You have things backwards. The current NBA is in your words "crappy". They play no defense what so ever. That's why Lebron is able to take the Cavs to the FINALS.

lol Clyde Drexler would be a regular good players in today"s NBA, you went a bit far there, even Jordan on a few occasions look less athletic guarding "The Glide" and I am Mike's fan. I suggest you go on YouTube and watch the 1992 Finals then you tell me if Clyde is still "a regular player" in today's NBA. It is what it is, let people say what they want including today's player and years from now people will say the "Dream Team" of that era is better than the 2012 Olympic team.

Clyde is top 50 of all time. Regular player. Right.

He should only have 5! That was an offensive foul when he hit that game winning shot over Russell.

You tripping. And Lebron's put his head down and put a 270 lb. shoulder into a defender's chest isn't a foul right. I'm not hating on Lebron he is a great player, but he does that on almost every drive to the hoop.

good call

KOBE IS GREAT BUT HE SUCKS AS A PERSON. LEARN HOW TO SPELL AND WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.

Your writing in all CAPS doesn't look any better.

Unitl you got to Lebron, none of them can play defense and not many afterward. Not a one of them could have contained Jordan.

Are you kidding me? Kobe has been in the NBA First Defensive Team most of his careers. That is.. some 14 years.

So, what does that have to do with anything? It's a well known fact in basketball that no matter how good you are at defense, unless you can read minds, there is no stopping MJ or a prolific offensive player from getting his.

MJ could get any shot off he wanted.

Same way with A LOT of players.

What da heck does that mean? Noone could stop Mj in his prime. Your statements are dumb. Today's player's are too emotional something none of you are considering. As soon as they go down by a couple of points they start hanging their heads. Led by LBJ. This year was the first year he played like he was supposed to. 92 DreamTeam would feast on that and let's not even bring Barkley into the conversation. Who's stopping him on the 2012 team? Plus the DreamTeam played like a team naturally!

For the recrod it did not take Jordan 9 years to win his fist championship. He entered the league in the 1984-85 season and won his first championship in the 1990-91 season

Too late.

On top of that he's play defense when he wants to. Ask Jason Terry about his defense. How da heck Bron let Jason Terry score all those points?

You're kidding right? this is a joke isn't it? either that or you are at the most 25 years old. Well I'm 40 and allow me to take you to school, Michael Jordan was not by all means the sole star in te NBA during the 80's and 90's. By stating that the only other good player in the league was Pippen shows that you know nothing about that era. First there's no way in hell that any dream team today, no matter how many Lebrons and Kobees you add to the roster could ever beat the 92 team. NOT IN THIS WORLD. That team was unbeatable, second there's a huge list of stars that because the played against Jordan their legacy is not that great, but that does not mean they were not great players, even better than any player today. Barkley, Mutombo, Olajuwon, Robinson, Drexler, Stockton, Bird, Miller, Kidd, Johnson, Payton, Dumaris, Malone, Thomas, O'neal, and the other O'neal ,Iverson, Wilkins, Garnett, Ewing.

In 92 there was enough talent in the NBA to make 5 dream teams and still come out with the same results they did back then, the fact that most of the players in that team were past their prime is evidence enough to prove that had they been in their prime it would've been even worse for oposing teams. That team never lost a game, they never came close to losing a game and every game they won they won with over a 30 ponit difference.

And by the way, when Kobe came into the league, when he was the fastest player on the court, when he started to make his name in the NBA, Guess who took him to school over and over again? You guessed right a guy called MICHAEL JORDAN. Oh by the way I reviewd your list, now do some research and find out which player Jason Kidd hated with passion early in his career and why, shoot let me help you MICHALE JORDAN, why? because MJ always found a way to make him look bad on the court. And while you mention all the players Kobe has had to go through to be the best of his time, I'll give you a name of a player Michael went through several times.....KOBE BRYANT

Well said, well said! I'm only 21 but can still remember watching MJ's games with my dad.

Today's NBA talent is soft compared to there 80's and 90's counterparts. Not to mention how many players these days are SO one dimensional.

why is everyone debating Kobe or Jordan? Any true, and knowledgeable, basketball fan knows that Wilt was the greatest who ever played.

PLZ !! MJ. ALL DAY!!

No doubt; only people under 25 think this is true because you know of MJ but you dont' know MJ! He just played differently with more passion than anyone in basketball ever. That's what made him great. Not a shooting % or stats or none of that dumb stuff. Just like the commerical that's on tv now when Phil said "He made me a believer, not in talent but in the will to win. I know they don't know so I'll tell them. MJ and the Bulls were a perfect and I repeat perfect 100% in the FINALS. 6-0 Six trips to the FINALS six rings. 3peated after he left the game for an entire year and a half! Very different from Miami Heat who will win 3 or 4 in a row and their main competition is a 23 year old! KD for the slow people.

Ok, come on...why would you even try to use the few years that MJ and Kobe actually played against each other as the basis of an argument? They were in the league together for four seasons and they're 15 years apart in age. In the 96-97 & 97-98 seasons, Kobe Bryant was just an 18-19 year old kid fresh out of high school averaging 14.8 and 20.0 MPG respectively and was playing off the bench; MJ was a 33-35 year old veteran who already had a HOF resume to his name. I surely would hope MJ would be able to take down an 18-19 year old kid. Comparing them at that point in time is completely unfair.

Dude just stop it. Kobe's not better than Mike. How old are you? Did you see Mike play? That's what you judge. You can make numbers and stats look like whatever you want. Kobe has the mentality of MJ's generation. Of course he said this I wouldn't expect him to say anything else. This is KOBE'S actually quote "It'd be a tough one, but I think we'd pull it out,"

Come on dude he didn't say they would destroy the DreamTeam. There's actually a little uncertainity in his comment. They both have HOF resumes, but MJ is the best.

Did you hear what Coach K had to say on the subject. I know you're not going to tell me Coach K doesn't know what he's talking about. He said "I don't think ANYBODY is better than Mike!"

You can say what you what but just know this one fact. MJ's record in the FINALS is a perfect 6 for 6! 100% NONE of todays star's can claim that! Look at what I posted earlier with the roster that went 72-10. 72-10 dude! The funny thing that most people forgot is the following year they posted a record of 69-13! MJ lost 23 games in two years!

You are simply lost when it comes to basketball knowledge. Todays NBA is super weak with a couple of stars. No centers at all. No hand check!!! All the people you named were not in the same class as larry bird, barkley, malone, mchale, thomas, pippen and many other hall of famers! The Thunder or the heat would never have won a championship against those teams. The old ass celtics took the heat to the max with half their roster injured. The heat beat an inexperienced young team lead by a 23 year old? The 2012 NBA is garbage compared to the older NBA. Look at the rosters around the league. Very athletic but most players can't shoot! Tyson Chandler is the starting center? Jordan went through the best players that ever lived.

Hand check is called 'The Jordan Rule' after John Starks kept Jordan in check...he didn't shut him down. No one could, but he did slow him down. I agree that the NBA is watered down and has been since they expanded the league. Jordan did not go through the best players in the league...father time got a hold of those guys. Bird's back went out and is still trying to recover from his playing days and Magic's career was cut short due to the HIV virus. He did face them for a bit in the 90's, but they were on their way out. I don't think Jordan would've won more that 2 or 3 titles without Scottie Pippen by his side...just throwing that out there.

You buggin.

"The Jordan Rule(s)" had nothing to do with hand checking. The Jordan rules involved double teaming MJ without the ball and triple/quadruple teaming him with the ball as well as fouling him hard (plays that would get you suspended today) every time he went to the basket. And it referred to the Pistons, not the Knicks. If you think that hand checking has anything to do with John Starks you know nothing more than what you read in a book. Hand checking was something everyone did, all the time, every possession, to every player in the league.

Pistons were the dirtiest team ever. Bill Laimbeer was hated around the league and Isiah was right there too. Cant believe anybody is debating the Kobe is better than MJ. Kobe isn't in the same class. Kobe is the fifth best Laker behind Magic, Jabbar, Worthy, Shaq and West.Oh wait Sixth best.

What are you talking about? It didn't take Michael Jordan 9 years in the NBA to when a championship.

He was a Rookie in the 84-85 season and won his first NBA title in the 90-91 season. Do the math. Take 90 minus 84, or 91 minus 85. Six years you buffoon.

It really took him 5 season because we all remember in his second year he missed 64 games due to a broken leg.

Are you serious lakerfan26?? Michael had no talent that could guard him? Let's see...the Pistons wrote the book on defending him by sending not 1 or 2 players but at times 3 players at him and that didn't even stop him!! Other teams did the same. Remember something called the Jordan rules. MJ was the best baller of all time that they had to change rules because of his talent. Let's see, talented players that played in Jordan's era...Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Magic, Mark Jackson (yes, one of the top assist leaders of all time), Charles Barkley, Iverson, Reggie Miller, Penny and Tim Hardaway, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton. These are not just scorers but true defenders minus Iverson (he played many years during Kobe and Jordan's years).

You mentioned that it took Jordan 9 years to win his first champoinship but it was only 6 years but it was because the Bulls owners never never gave him the support he needed until they started to draft players like Scottie and Horace. Kobe walked into a title contending team that had Shaq, Van Exel, Derek Fisher, Ceballos, Horry, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell not to mention other talented players. Jordan is above Kobe as the best player. Kobe's career avg is 25 with FG of 45%, Jordan's career avg is 30 and FG of 50%. One of the best defenders as well with steals and blocks! MJ is and will always be the best over Kobe and LeBron and so forth. MJ's the real king!!

kobe is washed up...lakers are pathetic trying to get Nash and Howard...I know Jordan had Pippen but come on! ...Gasol, Howard, Nash, Kobe??? really???...oh yeh heres some names you probably never heard of becaue you dont know jack about basketball...hersey hawkins, joe dumars, gary peyton, detlef schrempf, chris mullin, reggie miller, glen rice, larry johnson, john starks, allan houston, magic johnson, larry bird, clyde drexler, george gervin, allen iverson, jerry stackhouse, isiah thomas, bernard king, jeff hornacek, john stockton, byron russell, damon stoudemire, dale ellis, dominique wilkins, gerald wilkins, i could go on for days ...so go suck kobes you know what you #$@&%#$@!!!!!!!!!!

mitch richmond, kevin johnson, tim hardaway, penny hardaway, veshon lenard, jamal mashburn, glenn robinson, nick the quick van exel, eddie jones, shall i go on??? lakerfan must be 12 years old talking about joe johnson and josh smith lololoololol....josh smith ???? are u kidding me???

yes you forgot dwayne wade

sure the guys nowadays are athletic but how about real basketball skills??? show me a pure shooter beside ray allen??? who also played in the jordan era. who can play the post like ewing and "the dream" or McHale ...lets see dwight howard do moves in the paint like the old timers....i bet Hakeem could still beat howard in the post with just pure post moves...doesnt even have to jump.,....pump fake and dwight will be nowhere to be found ....." jimmy dolon shake and bake" you probably have no idea what im saying...kobe will never perfect the fade away jumper like jordan...oh how he wishes he could do that...you cant imitate his jumper with a 38 inch vertical...hit the gym like jordan and put 10 more inches on that vert and maybe you have a chance at shooting down at the rim like his "airness"....kobe: i dream i move, i dream i groove, like mike, if icould be like mike, i wana be i wana be i wana be like miiiikkkkeeee....bum bum bum bum bum bum BUM BUM BUM BUM!!!!!!!!

I am thinking you just posted this to get feedback. Your an idiot. Jordon would stuff Kobe out...

This is a lie. MJ won title in 7th year not 9. While Lebron was switching teams MJ was winning titles.

What da heck? Prepping for Bryon Russell? How about prepping for the Utah Jazz buddy. Who had Stockton and Malone on their team. See what we have here is the case of out of sight out of mind. MJ would own any of these players. They are great athletically, but lack the drive and heart of the 92 team. They would get killed in the paint.

"Kobe had to go through".. haha Comical... The only one at Kobe's position that he "had to go through" that could play any sort of "defense" ( or lack there of) would be Lebron. The phrase "offense wins games, Defense wins championships" is a thing of the past now. Defense does not get played anymore in the NBA. Its an offensive show. When Jordan played, Defense was still being played. Get off of Kobe's dick and open your eyes. you were probably a 90's baby that never got to see the NBA at its finest moments. When you played for the love of the game at both ends instead of just the money. Kobe is a great player, dont get me wrong. But if you got to watch MJ play as much as you Watch Kobe then your opinion would be much different.

It's funny that you're accussing others of being brainwashed or band wagon. You might want to take a look at your own behavior. The NBA since 2000 may be more athletic, due to advances in supplementation, but their basketball/team skills are lacking. The game has also changed since the Jordan era to promote more offense and less defense because the NBA believes offense sells tickets. Your credibility is lacking since most of the guards you listed that Kobe has competed with are average to poor defenders at the most. You also fail to disclose that Jordan continued to excell against the same competition Kobe had at the end of his career. Your comparison sucks. The NBA is much weaker in 2012 and it continues to get worse due to the influx of younger, immature players with little to no college experience. The college experience teaches a player how to play as a team and that includes defense. The college experience also teaches a certain level of humility and maturity that seems to be diminishing in the current NBA. I rarely watch the NBA anymore because it sucks with exception of a few teams who play with the maturity of good teams. There's too much focus on dunking/hollywooding and less focus on playing good basetball. Jordan vs Kobe is a good match-up. Wade vs Pippen would be a good math-up. Lebron would use his size advantage to overpower an guard that attempted to defend him but that doesn't mean I think he's a great player. Nobody in 2012 will touch Malone at PF with his size and mechanics, not even if Lebron guarded him. Malone is the poster child for PF's and there's nothing Lebron could do against Malone's fade. The over-all match-up is about team basketball, maturity, and leadership. The original team beats the 2012 team. The athletic abilities of the 2012 team would make this match-up competitive if they used the current rules. I think the 2012 would be humbled if they were forced to play in a much tougher, Jordan era game. The exceptions being Kobe and Wade. BTW, this 2012 team is Kobe's team. I really don't understand how you can reason that this team is Lebron's. What once set Jordan apart from Kobe was his leadership. That seems to have changed a bit since Kobe crossed paths with Jackson. Lebron has no leadership abilities. He's a very selfish player who expects his teamates to improve on their own. This proclomation is based on observation from afar but Lebron's actions seem to prove my claim. We never saw Jordan on court side hollywooding during the game, instead we saw Jordan on the bench coaching other players. Lebron is all about having fun and hollywooding, probably due to his lack of a college basketball experience. Where's Bobby Knight when you need him? Real champions make the people around them better not just by residual opportunities but through efforts extended off the court to improve his teammates physical and mental abilities. Kobe seems to have evolved to this level after crossing paths with Jackson. Lebron? Lebron fled to Miami because he had no desire to improve the game of his teammates in Cleveland. Lebron is selfish and his selfish exodus from Cleveland will follow him his entire career. It's why Lebron should never be considered a real champion when being compared to the likes of Jordan, Kobe, Magic, Bird. Lebron is no where near the clutch player that Jordan was or Kobe is. He chokes when he's under pressure with no lead. Lebron is the poster child for the NBA player with no college basketball experience. There are few exceptions, like Kobe and Garnett, but overall the NBA is weaker and the rules of the game have been adjusted to seemingly accomodate those weaknesses. Lebron's team? Not even close. The 2012 team beating the original team? Kobe needs to get Phil Jackson back in his life.

Hey A**hole it only took mj 7yrs not 9yrs !! U KNO NOTHING!!! EDIOT!!!!

Okay i can tell by your name "lakerfan26" that NOTHING will make you change your mind because your obviously wear Laker goggles everywhere. But let me educate your dumbass real quick and answer your questions.
1st Q: It took Michael 7 years to win his first championship not 9 idiot.
2nd Q: Really no opposing perimeter players in his era? I guess Miller, Drexler, Magic, Isaiah, Wilkins, Hardaway(prime), and Stockton are nobodys right?
3rd Q: All of the players I just named are better or as good as Pippen.
4th Q: I think the HOF are better than all the players you named lol
5th Q: Jordan basically only had Pippen, and Rodman but he only played with him for 3 seasons(Later MJ's rival with Detroit's Bad Boys) ... Kobe on the other hand had the 2nd best Center Shaq, Horry, Odom, Gasol, Bynum, World Peace, Fisher, Nash etc. I think we know who has had the better teams ;)
SOLUTION: Jordan > Bryant

Does anybody remember that Kobe wasn't GREAT upon entering the NBA? He sat the bench alot his first season and ultimately shot the Lakers out of the playoffs in Utah with airballs. Shaq was the man for those first 3 championships and Kobe was a sidekick.

Laker fans wear the KOBE goggles these days. Kobe is not even the best Laker. Magic, Jabbrar West, Shaq all better than Kobe. Kobe more along the level of Baylor.

Anybody who says 2012 team would beat Dream Team is completely clueless. The fact Kobe would say that says it all about himself. Dummy. For example Kobe is going to stay up with Jordan at the start of his run to 6 championships? As a Kobe fan if you can get by his personality and his personal conduct and are still a Kobe fan you may not be too bright yourself. The guy is a black hole even Steve Nash wont be able to change that. Oh, and who would guard Barkley, Bird, Magic, Robinson, Ewing, Mullin. Oh yeah as good as Chris Paul is he would guard Magic?

What does his personality have to do with being a fan of his "on-court" talent?

Who the hell cares. Are you a girl?

jMichael was never the second best player on his team like Kobe has been for most of his championship teams. Shaq was the most dominant player in the world for those 3 championships. Not even close. Stockton would be as good as any of the point guards playing now. The guy wasn't flashy just knew how to play the game. Kobe might be the most athletically gifted player ever-just never learned how th play the game to make others around him better. Just watch good players stand around when he has the ball because they know they won't get it if they are open anyway. As dumb a player as i have watched in 40 years.

Kobe was not the second best player on that team...as much as I love Shaq. He was the laziest player in the league! He always showed up to camp outta shape and clamied that he as trying to bulk up so he can bang more. He was the kind of player like Bynum is today...if I don't touch the ball on the offensive end then I'm not running back to play defense.

Stupid comment. One of the 50 greatest players ever! Next. lol, Bynum everybody plays like that today. None of them get back on defense!

how has it been all heat from then on. they have 2 rings since thats happened. kobe has 2 as well since shaq left. wat r u talkin about.

This is the said truth of life. No matter how great the accomplishments of a person, a team, or a country in time people forget and consider those accomplishments exaggerations. If we started a blog over who the stronger country was/is the US or Rome, most people would say the US. Despite Rome ruling the world for over 1200 years. The dream team was the greatest team assembled and will probably remain so with the NBA trending away from competition and more to entertainment. During the Jordan era the league learned fancy dunks sold TV spots so it implemented rules to minimize defense. But international play does not have these rules and some of these countries play solid fundamentals with good players, so instead of comparing the 2012 to the dream team lets just hope that 2012 wins and does not embarrass us as some team USA's after team 96 have in the past. Teams Kobe was on. More and more people confuse packaging for quality and Kobe, his comments, and those who agree are victims of that. Once products were made of steal and the corporate world convinced people plastic was just as good, 92 dream team versus 12 team is the same trick. I am a former college player (big ten) and a current high level executive with a global corporation and although I don't feel good about it that is what we do now, sell you crap in a nice package.

Kobe you should go and sit down somewhere you are out of your mind. You just want to be Michael Jordan so bad that you just can't help yourself. So I need for you to get off that CRACK PIPE. And just face it you will never be like MICHAEL JORDAN. You try and talk like him hang your tongue out like him. There is know one like Michael Jordan and there will never be. SO LIKE I SAID GET OFF THAT CRACK PIPE.

What the hell are you talking about? Riley left over 20 years ago and since Shaq left, Kobe has been to the Finals 3 times and has won 2 championships.

As for this team against Dream Team 92?

The NBA today is the biggest, strongest, fastest, and most athletic in NBA history. Jordan played against short guards and bean pole forwards. The defenses today are thee best than any time in NBA history according to DRTng system which is on a possession system so you cant say it was the flow. Todays NBA has 7 footers skying to win dunk contests as well as Three Point shootouts which was unheard of in Jordans day.

I would like to see today's players going against Morning, Mutombo, Robinson, Shaq, Rodman, and a host of others on a nightly basis. Any Journeyman center in 92 would be a superstar today. The flagrant foul call on Fisher in game 5 of the finals for denying LeBron free access to the rim would have been a no call or a charge in 92. Today's superstars get to the rim but there isn't another superstar at the rim to challenge them.

The 92 Dram Team would dominate easily. Back in the day you could mug somebody on defense and they would not call a foul. Today's player get a small piece of your breath on them and it is a foul. You think Kobe would average as many points a game in late 80's? I do not think so, he cries today with a brush foul. Today's players are allowed to shoot and have the benefit of NBA rules set up for the scorer.

Kobe would average 40 easily in Jordan's era. Did Jordan have to worry about zone defenses??? NO. Did Jordan have to worry about great perimeter players defending him and challenging him stride for stride?? No The second best perimeter player in the league was Scottie Pippen and they were teammates. Jordan played in a big man league while Kobe played in a Perimeter player league. Think of all the talent Kobe had to play against every season to win. Jordan being Gaurded by Bryon Russell is a joke. They had better team play back then but not better individual play; which is a lot more challenging. This Dream Team with Kobe, Lebron, and Kevin Durant would be enough to wipe out the 92 Team with Chris Mullins. We could put Kobe on Jordan to go step for step or we could put Lebron on Jordan and just take him completely out the game...

didn't Jackson, who has coached both Jordan and Kobe, say that Jordan would average like 45 in todays game? And LArry Brown, another decorated coach, say Jordan would average 50?
http://hoopsapedia.webs.com/mj50ppgtoday.htm

Hell I think Jordan could average 100 in todays game haha.

Since when was individual basketball play harder to beat then team play?
God you must be the dumbest Laker fan.
All other Laker fans should disown you.

It's also really funny you think LeBron could shut down MJ completely.

Seriously you must be 17 or 18 because you have no idea what you are talking about.

Ok, I really don't know how old you are but there's no way you're old enough to have appreciated basketball during the 80s and 90s. What you know of the game is obviously from highlights, stats, and what other people told you. 1st off-zone defenses. Are you kidding me? Jordan was triple teamed literally every time he got the ball. There was an entire defense named after him by one of the best defensive teams of all time that was specifically designed to double team him without the ball, triple or quadruple team him with the ball and foul him as hard as possible every time he tried to score. Kobe Bryant has never faced anything CLOSE to the Jordan Rules. You keep talking about how it's a perimeter player league now. Of course it is. Do you know why? Because the NBA saw Michael Jordan and realized perimeter players were more entertaining than big men. That's why they got rid of the hand check rule. The hand check rule made a HUGE difference. When you can be pushed off your line of attack it is immeasurably harder for a perimeter player to get in the lane than it is now. Add on to that today's flagrant fouls would be plain fouls or no calls in the 80s and 90s, the fact that it was a big man league (by your own admission) with much better big men and it makes for a game in which it is ridiculously more difficult for perimeter players to score. Scottie Pippen was by no means the second best perimeter player in the league. I don't know where you're getting that, aside from directly out of your ass. You think individual play is more challenging than team play-and that alone shows you know nothing about basketball and are nothing more than a Lakers fanboy. For the record, it's Chris Mullin. At least learn to spell the name of a HOF player you're trying to insult. Neither Kobe nor Lebron could guard Michael in 1992. Not even with help defense, much less alone. If you want to talk about basketball, don't talk about players of which you know nothing.

Dude you on one. Lebron would be the one completely out of the game. He's not D. Rose. lol

haha u retard. lbj couldn't take him out

lakerfan26 is an oblivious idiot. Do you not realize that Jordan was winning championships in the same league Kobe was in for many years? Kobe didn't start winning championships until Jordan retired. Jordan would have won a few more had his team not been dismantled and Kobe may have never won as many as he did without Phil Jacksons influence.

KOBE WOULD'VE DID THE SAME THING JORDAN DID OR BETTER!! THE BEST GUARD DEFENDER WAS DUMARS BACK THEN!! AND HE WILL GET ATE UP TRYING TO CHECK A 2 GUARD THESE DAYS!! 2012 TEAM WE WIN!!!

How old are you? Did you ever watch a single game before the year 1999? Oh, and the all caps thing makes you seem very ignorant.

Are you kidding? Todays NBA is garbage. Lebron is a great help defender but he is not a great one on one defender at all and he says that all the time!

Your crazy...were you even alive during Jordans era. Karl Malone...not exactly a bean pole forward!!!! Manute Bol could shoot the three..he was 7'7...7 footers win the dunk contest because no one worth a damn enters it now. In Jordans era, great players were in it every year!!!!

That's because they do not shoot as well today. If you played and coached the game, you would know that often these statistics are more reflective of the game of today and not a good comparison of the games in the past or future.

I'm sure defensive 3 secs. clear path fouls, and other rules changes assist those stats. Nobody plays defensive like Pistons or Celtics or Bulls or Trailblazers or Rockets, get my point, from 20 years ago.

Great point on the defensive 3 seconds and path to the basket bs, but don't forget the 90s Knicks! They were a dominate defense, especially in 92.

Go back to basketball school tcbdog. Size doesn't make you the best. Take Dennis Rodman for example. IF size and athletic development made a difference, then how could someone built like Rodman slow down and frustrate any big man in the game. You ever watch Rodman defend Malone, the most highly physically developed and talented PF in the history of the NBA. What made Rodman a great defender was not his size. His athletic ability helped but it was his tenacity and his efforts off the court that made him the defender he was. Today's defender lack those efforts. Today's NBA players have an entitlement issue. Today's NBA player thinks they are all entitled to a championship once they've been in the league for a few years without making the necessary sacrifices. Defense in today's NBA is not the best. Today's NBA average player is more physically developed and possibly able to play better one-on-one defense but today's average NBA player takes plays off and plays poorly with others due to lack of college basketball experience. Today's average NBA player takes too many plays off on defense, even if they do play good one-on-one defense or good team defense. Today's average NBA player is unable to guard an offensive player as tightly as an NBA player could in the Jordan era. The overall competition in the NBA is weak compared to the Jordan era due to the excess of immature players entering the league with little to no college experience. So today's players have the potential to be better defenders due to their increased athletic development but most of them fail to do so because they lack good team skills they should've developed in college. Therefore, today's NBA is by no means the best of any time period in the NBA. The mentality of today's NBA player is that of a typical player one might encounter at a play ground. Today's average NBA player would prefer to score and play no defense. You see, the NBA sucks compared to the Jordan era and so do it's fans. The typical fan of the NBA has very little pure basketball knowledge and is easily amused by a simple dunk. Today's typical NBA fan thinks someone who can dunk over another player is a good player, regardless of his other basketball skills. It's pathetic and what's worse is that the NBA has catered to these idiots who are easily amused by dunks, no defense, and a high scores. Apparently idiots like tcbdog. BTW, the dunk contest is about thee most worn out contest in all of sports. How many times can you recycle the same old dunks and be thrilled by them? What a joke and this idiot, tcbdog, bases his arguement on dunk contests? WOW!? I was really hoping the season would be canceled in 2011-2012. College basketball is soo much better to watch right now.

Today's players have no heart, no determination. Big deal, 7-footers dunking. Have to rach awhole foot for the basket.I certainly wouldn't call Magic or Bird or Doc beanpoles, espcially Charles Barkley. You obviously are too young to know when basketball was good, not just run up the floor and try to slam everything to get on Sports Center.

When we start making comparisons maybe we should go back to the previous era or two and line up players (Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Walter Reed, Dr. J, Bill Russsell, Wilt Chamberlain) that had phenomenal athletic abilities, love of the game over love of the money, and had to play basketball when the rules were still enforced. I still watch the pros but college is the last time a player still has to be a basketball player and not a primadona.

In his DREAMS .... either Kobe was drunk, high or he is Dreaming himself ....

I don't want to get into denigrating others to make a point, but some of the points made here are so short sighted it's almost laughable. First of all the notion that Today's players are measurably bigger and stronger than those of just 20 years ago need a biology lesson. Sorry fellas but evolution just does not work that way! Anyone claiming that there were no 7ft'ers shooting threes in the 90's never saw: Jack Sikma, Manute Bol, Bill Laimbeer Sam Perkins. Anyone claiming that 7Ft'ers (or guys over 6'8") winning dunk contest never saw Larry Lance or Connie Hawkins.

About the teams specifically, don't just look at the tops of the rosters. Look at the entire roster. Jordan, Pippen, Magic, Barkley and David Robinson were simply a better starting five than; Chris Paul, Kobe, Lebron, Kevin Durant and Tyson Chandler. The 1992 would have so many cross match problems it would not prove to be fair. If Lebron has to cover Jordan, who guards Magic? How much help defense does Chandler need against Robinson? Who doubles off to help Chandler? Similarly, the 2012 team creates no such problems for the 1992 Squad, even if a quicker 2012'er were to beat his man off the dribble (unlikely except for CP3) You would have David Robinson or Patrick Ewing creating a strong deterrent at the basket.

If we look at the benches, you also clear advantages for the 1992 squad. great shooters in Bird, Stockton and Mullins; power and size of the bench with Malone and Ewing (freaking HOF'ers). Conversely, outside of Deron Williams and maybe Kevin Love, you don't even have a current top 10 player! Not too mention I could make a case of compiling a competitive team to 2012's offering by who in the NBA did not make the 1992 team lol. Isiah Thomas, Shaq, Reggie Miller and Dominique Wilkins.

This should be put too bed. There is no advanced metric in the world that gets 2012 a clear path to victory, no matter how competitive they would prove to be.