Originally Posted by Mike33

A lot of people here are taking too much away from Kobe because he's being compared to Jordan. Kobe is a phenom. He's the next best guard and comparable to Jordan in many ways. He's very colorful and a brilliant athlete. He's done things that are awe inspiring in the same way Jordan did. Part of the difference I see is that Jordan didn't come off trying to be a flashy. It just turned out that to put the ball in the basket he had to contort his body is interesting ways sometimes. He was the guy to make the clutch shots. Sometimes when I watch Kobe, and I feel like he's forcing it.

If we're looking at pure numbers and stats Kobe may surpass Jordan on SOME measures, but not most (like 81 points versus Jordan's 63 - still, neither broke Wilt's record, 3-point shot average), but you have to consider how the game has changed, the type of players Jordan faced (Magic, Larry), and the fact that Jordan wasn't deliberately trying to rack up points for himself all the time. He was just trying to win. Jordan is much more fluid than Kobe or any other player to ever play the game.

There are one-on-one moments between Jordan and Kobe in the 97-98 season and the all-star game that makes me wish they shared more court time against each other. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BC5sW1Xnj3g&feature=related