i respect Lee for his goal of "seeking truth", and i agree his style of street fighting would be hard to replicate in a tournament style of fighting to see who is the best.
But i have to say, after competing quite a bit myself, in wrestling, sub grappling, pankration that it's easy to be a bad ass in practice and talk a good game. True warriors compete, real men compete.....If you have never stood across the ring from some guy who was bigger, stronger, younger than you with a professional fighter as a coach at his side and you are on the other side of the ring without a coach, and there are about a hundred cameras and video recorders trained on you. And you are now both looking at each other waiting for the signal to start.....Then you wouldn't really know anything about how much or what kind of respect Lee deserved. Putting yourself out there for the ultimate test where you are almost sure to be in some kind of pain and possible be permanently injured is the ultimate in being a man and really seeking truth in combat.
Bottom line....Lee may have been a good competitor but you really can't say that either. Being a good competitor takes the heart of a champion, nerves of steel, and a fortitude and grit that we will never know if Bruce had. You could be the best fighter in the world on paper. But if you don't have the attributes i just mentioned you will get your ass handed to you FAST in a competitive environment.