cima

Now I keep hearing about how Kobe's 81 point game was one of, if not the greatest performances of all time. But was it? Really? Let's take a looky.

Kobe's line:
42 minutes 28-46, .609 % shooting 18-20 FT 81 points. 6 rebounds. 2 assists. 3 steals. A come from behind victory against one of the worst teams in the NBA that features Jalen Rose, Mike James, Chris Bosh, and Morris Peterson.

MJ's line:
50 minutes 23-37, .621% shooting 21-23 FT 69 points. 18 rebounds (7 offensive). 6 assists. 4 steals. An overtime victory against a very good Cavaliers team that featured Mark Price, Craig Ehlo, Larry Nance, Brad Daughtery, and Hot Rod Williams.

Now let's look at it more specifically. MJ plays 8 more minutes, but other than scoring he blows Kobe away in every major category. MJ was everywhere on the court, as evidenced by his 7 offensive rebounds and 18 total rebounds. He wasn't dominating the ball as much as Kobe was either, as evidenced by the 9 less shot attempts he took and the 6 assists he had to Kobe's 2.

At first I think people were getting carried away and just in shock of what Kobe did when calling him the greatest scorer of all time. I haven't seen the MJ game, so I can't comment but it seems his game was just as, if not more impressive than Kobe's considering the level of talent each played against.

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^ good call, i am a homer.

GTA Addict

Scoring-wise, Kobe was more impressive. All things considered, I like MJ's game slightly more. 69/18/6 on 62%. If you didn't know who MJ was you'd think he was a dominant CENTER looking at the boxscore of this game. Also, both 69 points and 18 rebounds are career highs. MJ was at his best in this game.

Sir Patchwork

Kobe's game was better overall, although Jordan's was better all-around. In terms of positive impact, I think the game Kobe had was just one of the best games ever. They were down 17 and went up 18. It was around a 35 point swing.

If Kobe had played 50 minutes at the same pace, he would have scored 99 points.

Jordan was definitely a better player, but Kobe just had one of those amazing games.

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Pioneer10

Forgot Jordan got freakin 18 rebounds. Man he just got killed in that game. No offense to Toronto but the Cavs were unquestionably a much better team then Atlanta.

That being said 81 points is just ludicrous even if 10 of those came in garbage time.

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Diable

I think Wilt had 25 rebounds in his 100 point game,but that was only an average game for him in '62 and below his rebounding average the year before (27 per game).He was also averaging 48.5 minutes per game in '62 so he must have played every minute of every game plus 8 overtime periods(played in 80 games)

In Jordan's game he was playing with a really good team that included Pippen Grant and Cartwright,but the rest of the team was really cold hitting about 19 of fifty shots.He was also playing a great team that included Daugherty,Nance Mark Price,Hot Rod Williams and Craig Ehlo.

R_Vasa

Can't Compare Kobe and MJ

The eras in which they played are completely different

Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance the other night against Toronto was certainly incredible, but it is unfair to try and compare what Kobe did to what Michael Jordan did in his playing career or what he could have done for that matter.

In the era when Michael played, it was a physical game. Defense was promoted. Guys took pride in it. Today defense is no longer a part of the game. Guys are driving to the basket. There are rules where you can't step in front of them. To me, it is taking away from the game seeing a guy like Tony Parker taking advantage of the rules. He is shooting 55 percent from the field. That says something about the game itself. In the history of the NBA, I'm sure a point guard has never led the league in field goal percentage. It's a different game now. It's really not about being tough and physical because the NBA isn't a physical game anymore. When you talk about how the Knicks and Bulls used to battle in the early '90s, the Oakleys, and Pat Ewings, the Masons, and how they would have the ability to use their hands to put you in a trap position. There is no way you can even triple team a guy now and stop him. Any contact is a foul. I can't compare the two players because I see it as two different games. If I'm guarding Kobe Bryant in today's game, I couldn't be the defender I was known as.

The defensive rules, the hand checking, the ability to make contact on a guy in certain areas, the ability to come over in the lane to stop guys from getting to the basket, that's all been taken away from the game. There is no contact up on the floor. The way I played Magic Johnson in the '91 Finals, I would have fouled out the first time down court. To compare how someone would have played Michael Jordan, Chuck Daly would send someone to wear him down. Even though he may get 30 or 40 points, they're going to be a hard 30 points. But in today's game, you can't put that physical wear and tear on a guy. It's a free ball type of game. If you are shooting it well, you can score 80, as you've seen because you are going to get to the foul line.

Officials have very quick whistles now because they're promoting scoring. Let's not forget, three years ago, this league was trying to figure out how they could get the scoring back up, how they could drive the fans back into loving the game, and this is what they were building on. They changed the field of rules. Those rules are huge in the game today. They benefit the perimeter guy. Back in the day, you may get one guy to score 40 points in a month. When Michael Jordan scored 40, it was all over the front page of a newspaper. Now you can pretty much have 40 points at halftime. Until the league went and changed the rules and tried to get some of that bully ball out, you couldn't come out and perform like that every night. The game was too physical. You were too sore the next day and you were just tired and physically worn down. The game seems so fun and free now. Guys are making a living just standing out there shooting jumpers.

If you want to say that Kobe could get 100, I would say that Michael could get 100. If Kobe could get 81, I think Michael could get 100 in today's game. I think the psychological style that Michael was able to master in the game, puts him far beyond Kobe. But Kobe's youthfulness has put him in a position where it looks like he is overtaking Michael. Kobe has 10 years in this league. That is a lot of experience to have and still be a very youthful player.

I would love to see what would have happened the other night if the rules had been the same as in past years. Kobe is as close to being like Mike as anybody, but you can't make the comparisons anymore. Tracy McGrady can probably, from a numbers standpoint, put up the numbers Michael Jordan put up. He has that type of ability. Dirk Nowitzki can put up those kinds of numbers. The game is built for those guys to put those shots up. If they get touched, they get to the foul line. I would say Kobe is the most polished of all of them as far as being able to handle the ball and create his own shot and opportunity. But this is what the game is going to turn into. Guys are going to start to score 40 points regularly. It may become an average.

I don't think Kobe will get 100. What he did is what like Wilt did, a once in a lifetime experience. Given the fact that he shot a heck of a percentage it could have been better, but I don't think he still could have gotten to 100. It would almost have to be perfect and the game would have to go to overtime. I think a lot of things would have to come into play for him to get that.

With that said, I am sure Phil doesn't want to coach that type of game. It's not his style. I don't expect it to happen again. Phil will probably do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't. I don't think Phil is going to try to promote what Kobe has done more than anything because he has damaged his whole team. You just scored 81 points. Do you need your teammates? Are they going to step up when you need them or are you going to continue to pound them like you've been doing and be selfish just to get some individual accolades?

From a leadership perspective I think Kobe has taken a step back. Look at what he has to live up to now. You just scored 81 points. If you scored 81 points, your team should pretty much go out and win at least 75 percent of their games the rest of the year. Is that fair to say? You just compared yourself to Wilt. Can you go out with your team and do that or are you just going to go out and score tons of points every night? Are you going to get back to the point where you are shooting a lot of shots and you're teammates are not shooting and you're losing?

Right now, Kobe has willed the Lakers to a 22-19 record. It will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the way.

Posted by Scottie Pippen - Jan 24 2006 4:28PM

pac4eva5

IMO, tayshaun prince could score 81 on 50 shots.

but kobe gets credit for just having the GUTS to shoot that many times! plain rediculous!

MJ's game was slightly better because the assists and the 18 rebounds!!! kobe's game was far more EXCITING and rediculous all at the same time!

LameR

MJ's game was better statistically, but Kobe's was better in terms of the situation. MJ had help (people could pass to to get the assists, etc.) while Kobe was left as the lone ranger against Toronto's (weak) army. The fact that Kobe took over so much when his team (that was incapable of anything) needed it (down 16? 18? I forget) makes it a greater performace.

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Sir Patchwork

Tayshaun Prince averages 14.4 points on 12.5 shots per game.

So at his current efficiency, it would actually take Tayshaun Prince 70 shots to get 81, and that's assuming he didn't get tired, which is a big assumption. Most players who commented on Kobe's performance said their arms are pretty much done after 30 shots, which would drop the efficiency a great deal.

If Tayshaun Prince can get 81 points on 50 shots, then Luol Deng could score 69 points on 40 shots while also grabbing 18 rebounds.

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UCLAccord

man, i'm the first to vote equal. kobe gets props for blowing them away with the 2nd highest single performance ever, but mj gets props for having an all-around game with major scoring.

the one game that will be more remembered is kobe's, because of the placement in record history, but the player that will be more remembered most likely will be mj, because of the influence he had on the game, the reputation, the leadership, the 6 rings in 8 or so years, and the dominance that brought all of that together.

tempe85