In general, if I’m comparing players, I probably look at their best 2- or 3-year span… established peak value. It’s totally arbitrary – comparing career accomplishments is different but just as important. But when I think about who would win an imaginary matchup, I’m thinking about each guy in the season they were on top of their game.

Sorry I’m not buying this. Yes MVP awards aren’t the be-all end all of comparison. But when Magic is consistently in the top 3 in 9 seasons, I think that says something about him, or at least the perception of him. And let’s not forget that during his era he had to compete against Jordan and Bird for these awards (and lots of other great players as well).

“So other than assists is there anything Magic will have more of than Kobe at the end of Kobes career (titles?). ”

I don’t think career accumulation is as important as averages. Granted I think it’s an accomplishment, but not nearly as important as doing it per minute. Magic beats Kobe in just about every non-points per-minute stat, and many of them aren’t close. His TS% is 60 points higher. That more than makes up for the 5 points per 36. Throw in the assists & rebounds, and he towers over Kobe.

Thomas B – Back off, I am supposed to be the crackpot around here…

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=johnsma02&y1=1996&p2=bryanko01&y2=2009

And the idea you would put Isiah in the top anything is seriously bothersome. Not as good as people think he was.

We may as well be discussing whether Obama is a better president than FDR, or Lincoln, or Van Buren, or Reagan, or Harding, or Truman. Barack stands out from the pack for various reasons, seems to most analysts that he will probably be in the conversation someday, but it’s completely impossible to measure him up at the moment because his failures and accomplishments are far from complete.

Kobe is only 30. He hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down. He’s adjusted his game as he’s aged. His franchise is healthy financially. His teammates are younger than him and dripping with finals experience. He could probably miss 30 games a year and still find himself perennially in the conference finals. He took a big step this week in shutting up his critics and he’ll have many more chances to prove himself on the biggest stage.

Maybe Kobe will contract an incurable, life-threatening disease and will be forced to retire this summer. Then, like with Magic, the rest can be left up to speculation and hardware can be compared. But as of now, there is no reason to assume Kobe WON’T win 3 finals MVP awards, or more league MVP awards, or have more championships than Magic and Robertson and Maravich and Stockton and Drexler combined!

What we CAN be debating, though, is the statement: “Undoubtedly the greatest PG of all time”, especially if hardware is the measurement of choice. There was a PG that won 6 rings (still the most ever for a PG), an MVP (which was unheard of for a point guard at the time), was the PG of the greatest dynasty of all time, had the most ever all star appearances when he retired, and was the all-time leader in assists. He even coached Oscar Robertson, teaching him everything he knows.

Bob Cousy, not “undoubtedly” the best, but certainly as much in the conversation as Magic– career eFG% of .375 and all!

Of course you can.

Honestly, I think you have to throw out things like MVP and titles because I really don’t think they say enough about the ability of the player. The MVP evaluates the player vs his peers and we cant use that to compare player of seperate era’s as they have different peer groups. MVP is not always the best player. Kobe was the best player in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. But forget that because awards are subjective. Numbers are less subjective.

So other than assists is there anything Magic will have more of than Kobe at the end of Kobes career (titles?). Kobe scored 5053 more points than Magic in the same number of games. Thats three plus seasons worth of Magic’s scoring in the same amount of time. Yes, I know magic kills on the assists but Kobe’s complete body of work is catching up to Magic. Stockton was better than magic. And why isnt mark jackson on the list?

Jordan
Stockton
Magic
Thomas
Kobe”

Again I could argue a half dozen names other than Kobe (And Isiah).

“And he is gaining on Thomas and Magic quickly.”

Magic? You’re kidding right? 3-time MVP. 6 other times he was voted in the top 3. 3 time Finals MVP. Undoubtedly the greatest PG of all time. Kobe would have to be Jordan for 3-4 years to touch Magic.

The legend of MJ has a huge impact on the perception of the careers of both Kobe and Clyde. But the impact is very different. Kobe is actually helped by Jordan, because he never had to play against him while they were both in their primes, he kind of looks like him and kind of plays like him, so people assume that he was as good as him. Meanwhile Drexler actually DID have to play against MJ, who quickly made it obvious that while Drexler was great he just wasn’t on MJ’s level, and people punished him way too much for this. The same would have happened to Kobe if he’d come along earlier.