And defense is not an individual effort-it’s a team effort and Jordan played against many of the best defenders. Many people argue that there were no great wing defenders that could defend Jordan, but it is virtually the same argument for Kobe. Kobe’s era has players who are also exceptional interior defenders, but contain very few Hall of Fame caliber players. There were also many excellent interior defenders in Jordan’s era who altered shots and clogged driving lanes. Not only do players in Jordan’s era play great defense, but almost all players are exceptional scorers, while many players in Kobe’s era are defensive specialists and lack offensive skills. Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Alonzo Mourning, Jason Kidd, Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, Bruce Bowen, Scottie Pippen, Doug Christie, Andrei Kirlenko, Dwyane Wade, Marcus Camby, Larry Hughes, Tayshaun Prince, Gary Payton, Eric Snow, Theo Ratliff, PJ Brown, and several others.īased on this list alone, my conclusion is that defensive players Jordan’s era are more intimidating than players in Kobe’s era. Since Jordan’s retirement in 1998, the Kobe’s generation has produced first and second All-Defensive players featuring: That much can't be said for many other players in the game today or even most players who have come in the years before.Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Cooper, Maurice Cheeks, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Joe Dumars, David Robinson, Dennis Rodman, Alvin Robertson, John Starks, Gary Payton, Dikembe Mutombo, Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, and many others. They both get/got it done by being true managers and facilitators of the game. Scoring isn't the only method of attack for both. It's clear that James and Jordan have quite a bit in common when it comes to on-the-court production. Just look at their career averages-Kobe's are included for the sake of comparison. In terms of well-rounded production and efficiency, LeBron and Jordan are in a league of their own. One thing is clear, and it's that no two players have meant more to their respective teams than James and Jordan. If it weren't for Jordan's ill-fated return to the NBA with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged a 20.0 PER for two seasons, his career PER would be 29.1. While LeBron has played for just 10 years, he's only averaged under 26.5 PER for two of those 10 years-with this season sitting at 30.13 as of Dec. Jordan and LeBron are the only two players in NBA history to average above a 26.5 PER for the span of their careers. Kobe's career PER of 23.49 ranks 19th all time, and while that's not bad, it's 17 and 18 spots lower than the other two players mentioned in this article.Īt the top of the all-time PER list is Michael Jordan and LeBron James, Jordan with a 27.91 PER and LeBron with 27.32, according to. But when it comes to contributing to his team, Jordan did more than Kobe has throughout his career. There's no doubting that Kobe was as elite of a scorer as Jordan was. Kobe doesn't deserve to be in the "Jordan" debate because he lacks the one thing that defined Jordan's game-efficiency in contributions to his team. Kobe is four behind Jordan with no 30-plus PER seasons.Īnd that brings us to the focal point of this discussion. Jordan averaged a 30.0-plus PER for four individual seasons, and LeBron isn't far behind with three 30-plus PER seasons. To give you an idea of what an elite PER is, take note that there have only been 16 times in which a player has averaged a PER of above 30.0 for an entire season. There's no debating that LeBron, Kobe and Jordan are all great defenders, so the fact that PER doesn't holistically depict their defensive contributions isn't critically important. It's a way of taking away all of the outside factors and focusing solely on a player's complete contribution to his team.Ĭritics of PER say that it doesn't accurately depict a player's overall defensive impact, and while that's certainly true, it doesn't matter in our discussion. PER is a per-minute "rating" that takes into account all of the following: field goals, free throws, three-pointers, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals, as well as missed shots, turnovers and personal fouls.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |