There are always arguments over the greatest players in the history of the NBA and many of them involve Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant and current superstar LeBron James.
One NBA legend recently gave his choice on the debate as well with Julius ‘Dr. J’ Erving being asked who he would take between the two. And Erving explained why he would take James over Bryant.
“I think LeBron is one-of-one,” Erving said when asked by The Schmo. “Kobe’s another sort of, imitation of Michael Jordan. There’ve been plenty of imitations of Michael and Kobe and me and other people. But LeBron is like one of one so I’ma give him his pick.”
This argument is often one that is used against Bryant with many feeling that he was mostly a carbon copy of Michael Jordan, but not quite as successful. Others, however, believe the fact that no one ever came nearly as close to replicating Jordan, who is the GOAT to many, is what places him above the rest.
Erving is certainly right in that James is one-of-one. His physical combination of size, speed and strength, along with his basketball IQ and passing ability, which might be the best we’ve ever seen, is beyond special. Add in his longevity, being the first player to play 23 NBA seasons and still remaining amongst the elite players in the game today, and it is hard to argue taking him over anyone in history.
What Bryant did in his career is undeniable as well. His competitiveness and desire to win at all costs is unmatched and his legend continues to live on because seemingly every great player, past or present, has a story about that famed Mamba Mentality. He might have the most complete scoring package of all-time and was arguably the best perimeter defender at his peak as well.
In fact, both Bryant and James were elite two-way players whose impact stretched well beyond the game of basketball so Erving really couldn’t go wrong no matter who he chose.
DeMar DeRozan plays ‘Start, Bench, Cut’ with Lakers superstars
Six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, a Southern California native, was also recently put into a tough position regarding Lakers legends. DeRozan was tasked with playing ‘Start, Bench, Cut’ with Bryant, James and Magic Johnson, all of whom are in the top 10 players in NBA history. So having to make a choice in cutting one of those three was not an easy one.
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