Better lockdown defender: Jordan or Kobe

kensei

kensei

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Hi All:

Just wanted to get some thoughts on who was the better defender in their prime: Kobe or Jordan? Comments are appreciated. Thanks!
 
Well they each have 9 1st team appearances.. but Kobe has 3 second team while Jordan has none. So probably Kobe
 
Answer: The one with the Defensive Player of the Year
 
asharak said:
LeBron has been better than either.
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01d
 
They both were lock-down defenders for a long time, I'd take Jordan since he was a tad more athletic. Then they both started playing way too much free safety.
 
Kobe is the GOAT at guarding empty space

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Jordan guarded a bunch of cans and the one time he did have to guard a top 10 sg he got hilariously embarassed. I don’t recall ever seeing this happen to Kobe when guarding Wad(number 3 sg all time right behind Jord) or Gay Allen.

2mi5v.gif


Meanwhile

07-08.gif~c200


Open and shut case LMAO
 
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jordan was a great defender, no denying that. however, he was a bit like nolan ryan towards the end of his career. nolan had the biggest strike zone of any pitcher ever. umps would call strikes for him when the ball was a foot outside because everyone wanted to see him get the K.

same was true with Jordan. He always got the benefit of the doubt. He did more than Harvey Weinstein did to some aspiring actresses when he defended players. he could get away with anything and never get a call against him. so it was a lot easier to be great at defense when they never called anything on you.

same went for kobe and most superstars, but it was exaggerated in the case of MJ.
 
Corona said:
Jordan guarded a bunch of cans and the one time he did have to guard a top 10 sg he got hilariously embarassed. I don’t recall ever seeing this happen to Kobe when guarding Wad(number 3 sg all time right behind Jord) or Gay Allen.

2mi5v.gif


Meanwhile

07-08.gif~c200


Open and shut case LMAO
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absolutely. both played for like 15 years, but we only need 3 seconds to prove kobe was better
 
Jordan via actually trying to play defense his whole career. If you're asking who was best at their peak it's close. But Kobe stopped playing defense halfway through his career (except in the big moments, like Lebron has) and literally refused to take a charge almost his entire career.
 
iwhoopedbatman said:
Jordan via actually trying to play defense his whole career. If you're asking who was best at their peak it's close. But Kobe stopped playing defense halfway through his career (except in the big moments, like Lebron has) and literally refused to take a charge almost his entire career.
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Kobe is the most overrated defender of all time. Lets just leave it at that. I could bring in charts with numbers that show Kobe at the bottom when it comes to guys making all defense teams, year after year in terms of DRPM, APM, RAPM etc etc etc

Kobe got voted to all those defense teams because he is Kobe and he used to play great defense for a portion of his career. To point at them at proof he is one of the best defenders in a long span of time is not really proof of anything but voter bias when it comes to ALL NBA teams. They should mean nothing in any argument.


Somebody like KG is an infinitely better defender than Kobe over the length of their careers yet they have the same amount of selections like they are equals. They arent and it isnt even close.
 
berimBOWLoh said:
Kobe is the most overrated defender of all time. Lets just leave it at that. I could bring in charts with numbers that show Kobe at the bottom when it comes to guys making all defense teams, year after year in terms of DRPM, APM, RAPM etc etc etc

Kobe got voted to all those defense teams because he is Kobe and he used to play great defense for a portion of his career. To point at them at proof he is one of the best defenders in a long span of time is not really proof of anything but voter bias when it comes to ALL NBA teams. They should mean nothing in any argument.


Somebody like KG is an infinitely better defender than Kobe over the length of their careers yet they have the same amount of selections like they are equals. They arent and it isnt even close.
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I don't know that he's the most overrated all-time. He was outstanding on the ball in his prime. Remember how effortlessly he used to take the ball from guys like Ason Kidd? But yeah, that was my point. Kobe stopped putting forth effort on the defensive end well before he stopped getting All-Defense team nods. About half of them are hilariously bullshit. But he earned the first half.

Absolutely KG is a better (or at least far more valuable) defender for their careers. TBF though, rim protectors will always be far more valuable than perimeter defenders.
 
iwhoopedbatman said:
I don't know that he's the most overrated all-time. He was outstanding on the ball in his prime. Remember how effortlessly he used to take the ball from guys like Ason Kidd? But yeah, that was my point. Kobe stopped putting forth effort on the defensive end well before he stopped getting All-Defense team nods. About half of them are hilariously bullshit. But he earned the first half.

Absolutely KG is a better (or at least far more valuable) defender for their careers. TBF though, rim protectors will always be far more valuable than perimeter defenders.
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i agree when Kobe was younger and fully engaged he was an amazing defensive player but that lasted what, 5 or 6 years out of 19?? Then he would turn it on when needed much like LeBron as you said.


DBPM Jordan has one negative year his whole career. Kobe had 14. By any metric over the span of their entire careers Jordan was a far superior defender. People just like to remember a few years of Kobe going super hard and scattered highlights when he turned it up the rest of his career. Most nights you would see Kobe half ass his defensive effort for the majority of the game.

I cant blame him, its tough as you get older and as you realize it doesnt really matter as much in the regular season. That is why i give LeBron a pass for how he does it, too. He knows when to turn it up. He also knows how to QB his defense so he doesnt have to work as hard lol he just directs traffic and plays safety
 
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