Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two of the NBA players whose names have been compared to Michael Jordan as the greatest players of all-time. If it was possible to turn back time, most fans will surely love to see Bryant and James go one-on-one. However, as of now, Bryant is already a retired NBA player, while James continues to make his name resound in the league.
Despite being officially retired, Kobe Bryant is often seen interacting with active NBA players, and at times, giving analysis about certain games or superstars. On Sunday, Bryant had an interesting discussion with Chris Mannix and Caron Butler on their show, Chris and Caron . One of their topics is the greatness of LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers , wherein Bryant gave his own take on how “King James” was able to dismantle opponents in the playoffs.
“He is able to control the tempo of the game,” Bryant said, via Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports . “The game, especially in the playoffs, is all built on momentum shifts. What he has been able to do in these playoffs is control the momentum.”
LeBron James is almost unstoppable in Cavs ongoing matchup against the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In the last three games, James is averaging 35.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks on 53.6 percent shooting from the field. In Game 3, James hit a game-winning shot to give the Cavaliers 3-0 lead against the Raptors.
LeBron James beats buzzer for second time these playoffs to give Cavaliers 3-0 series lead over No. 1 seed Raptors. https://t.co/Dt8E8ElAj3
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) May 6, 2018
At 33, LeBron James shows no sign of slowing down, and Kobe Bryant believes the evolution in his game helps him in conserving energy. However, like other NBA players, James is also a human and has his own weakness. Bryant revealed how opposing teams can limit James’ production on the offensive end.
“For one thing, you have to stop letting him go left,” Bryant said. “Every big shot that he makes is going left. He’s remarkable about getting to that left hand, raise up and shoot. That’s the first thing I would do — disrupt his ability to go left.”
If they want to extend their series with the Cavaliers, the Raptors should consider following the advice of Bryant, who was named to an All-Defensive team 12 times in his career. However, Toronto will definitely need a player who can keep up with James’ speed. During the final seconds of Game 3, Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey admitted that their main plan was to trap James and force other Cavaliers’ players to take the final shot. Unfortunately, Casey said that their defenders were unable to catch up because James moved “100 miles per hour.”
If the Raptors can’t find a way to stop James’ dominance, the Cavaliers could once again defeat them in Game 4 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 4 between the Cavaliers and the Raptors will be on Monday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
