LeBron James vs Kobe Bryant: A Complete Comparison

Legitimate Excuses and What-if Scenarios

Every all-time great player has a hoard of fans screaming out their excuses for not winning more rings, or more MVPs, or scoring more points etc. For the most part they are right, because a lot of luck goes into an NBA career. Again, using Tim Duncan as an example, Duncan had luck on his side by being drafted to the Spurs alongside other Hall of Fame players and coaches. Take a look at the best legitimate excuses for each player.

Los Angeles Lakers v Miami Heat

Kobe:

• Bad teammates for several years in the middle and towards the end of his career.
• Shaq's departure while both players were in their prime.
• Chris Paul trade vetoed by David Stern for 'basketball reasons'. Whatever that means.
• The Dwight Howard situation.

LeBron:

• Bad teammates for his entire first stint as a Cavalier.
• Injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love during a championship run in 2015.
• The second-best player in the world joining forces with a 73-win team just to beat him.
• Poor coaching throughout both stints as a Cavalier.

Overall, LeBron's list of legitimate excuses directly impacts his finals record and total resume more than Kobe's. Shaq's departure was the worst thing to happen to Kobe's career if he wanted nothing more than championships, but it did allow him to win two rings as the best player on the Lakers. Also, Shaq leaving wasn't bad luck as much as it was Kobe's fault for playing a role in driving him away. Kobe only suffered three years of bad teammates in his prime, his career was ravaged by injuries by the time the Lakers started their rebuild after Dwight Howard's fabled season with the team. The Dwight situation was painful for Kobe, but the reality is that team just wasn't championship calibre, Kobe was still a superstar but there were better teams, including LeBron's Heat. The vetoed Chris Paul trade will always be the biggest bout of bad luck for Kobe, especially now seeing how Paul was able to fit next to James Harden in an MVP season. Kobe has his excuses, but the NBA has also admitted to rigging the league during his early title runs, so let's not forget that when discussing Kobe's 'bad luck'.

LeBron's list of excuses effect his championship count much more directly. He should have won at least one championship in his first run with Cleveland, but he never had championship-standard teammates. He should have won at least two in his second stint in Cleveland too, but he had to fight without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the 2015 Finals and then had to contest with the greatest NBA team ever assembled in 2017 and 2018. Through both stints as a Cavalier he not only dealt with bad teammates, but terrible coaches, too.

While Kobe didn't get a full career with Shaq, he got more luck by having Shaq as a teammate for a few years than LeBron ever had in Cleveland. Of course, LeBron found his good luck in the form of a four-year run with Dwyane Wade and Miami. Still, overall, Kobe was blessed with a lot more luck throughout his career than LeBron was, and LeBron was handed more adversity.

What if everything had gone right for the superstars? How many rings would Kobe have won with Shaq if they stayed teammates? Would Kobe have ever won Finals MVP? Would he have won one or more championships with Chris Paul?

And what about LeBron; could LeBron have won a championship before he won with The Heat if he had better teammates in Cleveland? What if had good teammates and a good coach? Would Cleveland have won The Finals in 2015 if just one of Irving or Love was healthy? If KD never joined the Warriors, could LeBron's Cavs have won two or three instead of just one?