Kobe Bryant Research Paper
Kobe Bryant v. Michael Jordan
Persuasive Essay
18 March 2013
Kobe Over Michael
A popular subject in the world of basketball and sports at that matter, is whether Kobe Bryant will ever be as good as Michael Jordan. Whenever there is conversation about being the greatest to ever play the game, you hear names like Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James and many others. Currently the biggest topic is comparing two similar players such as Kobe and Michael together since they have played the similar position and have had great success in the NBA (National Basketball Association)(Abramson). …show more content…
Recruiting coaches are coming at him all of the time and his ability to play the game the way that he could allowed him to by pass college and go straight to the NBA and live his dream. He was drafted in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers where he has been playing at ever since (Drake Oz). He and Michael played against each other a few times as Michael was on his back side of playing the game, leaving to pursue a professional baseball career (Drake Oz). Why leave a sport you are having such a great amount of success in to play a sport you are clearly not as good in? Obviously it was a personal decision and did it affect him as a basketball player? Yes. He decided to come back and was not the same player as before, then soon retiring from the Washington …show more content…
His mentality for greatness is off the charts and his passion for excellence is the passion that every player should have in the game or in any matter for that case. In his career, Kobe has an average of 83.8 percent from the free throw line, ahead of Jordan, and also a 34.1 percentage from beyond the three point line, which is also better than Michael Jordan's percentage (Drake Oz). A lot of people look at MVP awards and national championships to decide who is the best and things like that. Michael has 5 MVP titles while Kobe only has one, but they are overrated and misleading (Drake Oz). Kobe has had much better seasons than a lot of former winners of the MVP award. Example, in 2006, Steve Nash won the MVP of the league. Nash had a great year, but Kobe put up monstrous numbers and had a fantastic year with the Lakers. You cannot base the potential of greatness off of awards. Yes, they help your confidence and your reputation as a player in the league, but they do not define your greatness and ability that you may have to show. Michael has also won 6 championships and Kobe is only at five, but Kobe is most definitely not done playing either. The age-old argument against Kobe Bryant used to be that "he only won three titles because of Shaq. Well, fast forward to 2010, and Bryant has more titles (five) than Shaq (four) and was the star of those two teams while Shaq played second fiddle to Dwyane Wade. Not saying Bryant would have won all
Persuasive Essay
18 March 2013
Kobe Over Michael
A popular subject in the world of basketball and sports at that matter, is whether Kobe Bryant will ever be as good as Michael Jordan. Whenever there is conversation about being the greatest to ever play the game, you hear names like Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James and many others. Currently the biggest topic is comparing two similar players such as Kobe and Michael together since they have played the similar position and have had great success in the NBA (National Basketball Association)(Abramson). …show more content…
Recruiting coaches are coming at him all of the time and his ability to play the game the way that he could allowed him to by pass college and go straight to the NBA and live his dream. He was drafted in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers where he has been playing at ever since (Drake Oz). He and Michael played against each other a few times as Michael was on his back side of playing the game, leaving to pursue a professional baseball career (Drake Oz). Why leave a sport you are having such a great amount of success in to play a sport you are clearly not as good in? Obviously it was a personal decision and did it affect him as a basketball player? Yes. He decided to come back and was not the same player as before, then soon retiring from the Washington …show more content…
His mentality for greatness is off the charts and his passion for excellence is the passion that every player should have in the game or in any matter for that case. In his career, Kobe has an average of 83.8 percent from the free throw line, ahead of Jordan, and also a 34.1 percentage from beyond the three point line, which is also better than Michael Jordan's percentage (Drake Oz). A lot of people look at MVP awards and national championships to decide who is the best and things like that. Michael has 5 MVP titles while Kobe only has one, but they are overrated and misleading (Drake Oz). Kobe has had much better seasons than a lot of former winners of the MVP award. Example, in 2006, Steve Nash won the MVP of the league. Nash had a great year, but Kobe put up monstrous numbers and had a fantastic year with the Lakers. You cannot base the potential of greatness off of awards. Yes, they help your confidence and your reputation as a player in the league, but they do not define your greatness and ability that you may have to show. Michael has also won 6 championships and Kobe is only at five, but Kobe is most definitely not done playing either. The age-old argument against Kobe Bryant used to be that "he only won three titles because of Shaq. Well, fast forward to 2010, and Bryant has more titles (five) than Shaq (four) and was the star of those two teams while Shaq played second fiddle to Dwyane Wade. Not saying Bryant would have won all