LeBron James Faces Off Against Kobe Bryant For The Last Time
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant will have their last battle against each other Thursday night at the Staples Center.
For the last decade, James and Bryant have dominated the NBA, combining for four NBA titles, four Finals MVP awards, and five regular season MVP awards. With two players of that caliber from opposing conferences, one would assume that a rivalry comparable to the likes of Magic-Bird would have naturally developed over the years.
When you look over their head-to-head meetings, however, it quickly becomes obvious that LeBron vs. Kobe is a rivalry that never was.
When Bryant was asked by Fox Sports about the subject before a matchup with James earlier this year, he was clear about the competitive relationship with LeBron.
“I wouldn’t say he was a rival… I just felt like we were completely different generations. I just missed that thing completely. Not like a Magic and Bird sort of thing. It was more like, from the time he came in the league it was more helping him, giving him direction, advice, ’cause I was just so much older by NBA years. So no, I’ve never had that.”
When looking at their regular season match ups though, James appears to have the upper hand. LeBron has managed to win 15 out of the 21 games against Kobe head-to-head. In those games, James averaged 28.4 points, 7.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds, while Bryant has averaged 24.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
James’ actually believes that his bouts over the years with Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics are the closest thing resembling a rivalry, but even still, he’s not convinced that anyone has ever been a supreme foe.
“Throughout my career I would say the Celtics team with Paul Pierce, because I played him here, I played him in Miami,” James said. “Early on it was Detroit, I believe, as a whole, but it’s not like I have a one guy that I can kind of link myself to as far as a rival.”
James made the point that him and Bryant could never be considered rivals because they’re from a completely different generation of NBA players anyway.
For LeBron, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett were the guys who paved the way for his generation, which he pointed out as players like Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony.
When Bryant entered the league in 1996, James was an unknown, 11-year-old middle-schooler tearing up the hardcourt in Akron, Ohio. By the time he reached the NBA in 2003, the Lakers had fallen from a league juggernaut to an average team. When James reached the Finals in 2007, Bryant was dominating individually, but struggling to keep LA competitive without Shaquille O’Neal.
It’s a match up that NBA fans dreamed of and wanted, but one that could just never seem to get any traction.
“I wouldn’t say [it’s] weird,” Bryant said. “It’s just, I don’t know if weird would be the term I’d use for it. Our teams, just, we never crossed paths unfortunately. I don’t want to say it was weird or anything like that. Just the ebb and flows of each season.”
The lack of rivalry between the two will never take away from what they have been able to accomplish in their careers, and Thursday should provide one final opportunity to see two of the greatest NBA players in history go head-to-head.
[Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images]
