Barack Obama probably had to answer a lot of difficult questions this week. But there was one question that should have been a no-brainer: Who is better, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant?
The President of the United States was asked that on Thursday. His answer was Jordan.
“Oh, Michael,” Obama answered in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I mean, Kobe’s terrific. Don’t get me wrong,” he added. “But I haven’t seen anybody match up with Jordan yet.”
Why this question was asked to the President, I have no clue. It seems like a pretty random question to ask the President of the United States. But Obama is a huge basketball fan, I’m sure he has seen both Jordan and Bryant play a lot, and on this issue, I have to agree with him.
Kobe is a great player, no doubt. But he’s not Jordan.
In my opinion, and the President’s, Jordan is the greatest player of all time. He is a legend. He has six NBA championship rings, 10 scoring titles and he may be the most iconic player in NBA history. The NBA’s Web site says, “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.”
Here are some Jordan’s NBA accolades: five Most Valuable Player awards, 10 first-team All-NBA selections, nine selections to the All-Defensive first team, 14 NBA All-Star Game appearances, three All-Star Game MVP awards, 10 scoring titles and six NBA Finals MVP awards. He was also the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He owns the highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game), as well as averaging a record 33.4 points per game in the playoffs.
Bryant has done well himself — four NBA championships, two scoring titles, the 2007-08 MVP award and this year’s NBA finals MVP award. But Jordan had a career that is unmatched.
Statistically, Jordan is better than Bryant in every major category. His 30.1 points per game average is five points more than Kobe’s career average. Jordan also averaged nearly one rebound and one assist per game more than Bryant. He had a much better shooting percentage, averaged more steals and blocks, and had fewer turnovers.
In the playoffs, Jordan stepped up his game even further, averaging more points, rebounds and assists than he did in the regular season. Kobe’s numbers, meanwhile, have pretty much stayed the same once the postseason began.
This year was the first time that Kobe won the NBA title as the Lakers’ best player. His other three titles were won with Shaquille O’Neal at center, and that makes a big difference. Shaq was the Lakers’ franchise player back then, and having him on the court took a lot of pressure off of Bryant and made things easier for him.
On the other hand, Jordan was always the star. Sure he had Scottie Pippen playing with him, and Pippen is a future Hall of Famer. But there was no doubt who the Bulls’ franchise player was. Jordan carried those teams to championships. When the Bulls needed a big play, No. 23 almost always made that play.
I know why people debate Jordan and Kobe. Jordan is the greatest shooting guard in NBA history, and Kobe is the best shooting guard now. They have similar styles of play (you can’t blame Kobe and a lot of other players for trying to be like Mike). But Kobe has scored fewer points, won fewer NBA titles and his game has always been less polished than Jordan’s was.
Jordan also had a huge off-the-court appeal that Kobe can’t match. Few athletes have ever been able to sell so many products with their endorsements. Nike’s Air Jordans probably rank second to Chuck Taylor All-Stars as the most popular basketball sneaker of all time (and Chuck Taylors are almost seven decades older). Jordan’s whole line of Nike apparel made a fortune for both himself and the company. Like many boys in the 80s, I begged my parents to buy me a pair of the original Air Jordans (thanks Mom and Dad!). Kobe has had his own shoe, too, but most people could only identify it if they saw his name on it. And Gatorade drinkers were urged to Be Like Mike, not Be Like Kobe. Jordan also starred in a movie with Bugs Bunny and a Michael Jackson music video. He was also one of the biggest reasons for the NBA’s immense rise in popularity in the 1980s, both domestically and internationally.
Kobe Bryant has done a lot in his career, and there is a spot in the Hall of Fame waiting for him once he retires. He will go down as one of the NBA’s greatest players. But he still doesn’t measure up to Michael Jordan as a player.
President Obama is absolutely right: Jordan is the best.
Local Sports
Column: Jordan definitely better than Bryant
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