Quote:
Originally Posted by Chiron
True, they're skewed, but even without considering Kobe's 1st three seasons his career averages were:
45% FG%, 34% 3PT%, 84% FT%, 5.9 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 3.2 TOPG, 2.9 FPG, 28.3 PPG.
Just to recap Jordan's were:
49.7% FG%, 32.7% 3PT%, 83.5% FT%, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 2.4 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 2.73 TOPG, 2.6 FPG, 30.1 PPG.
That's not even considering Jordan's drop in stats after coming out of retirement twice which would lower his averages. Statistically Kobe is an awesome player but Jordan is still still hands down better by the numbers. I admit this even though I'm a Lakers fan and I've hated the Bulls ever since they beat the Lakers in the finals.
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Yeah, removing Kobe's 1st few years closes the gap a bit. It's kind of hard to do traditional statistical comparisons across generations.
For example, in 1987 when MJ averaged 37.1 ppg, the league average was 109 ppg and the worst offensive team in the NBA averaged 103.
In Kobe's best scoring season (2006), he averaged 35.4 ppg, the league average was 97 ppg, and their was only 1 team that averaged over 103.
With that said, I find it nearly impossibe to compare their stats at face value. Had Kobe played in the mid-80's at a faster pace with less micro-managing by the coaches, I think he would have comparable stats to MJ's. Heck, maybe he would have a 100 point game on his resume. Similarly, if MJ's prime had come during this generation, he might not average so many points.
I don't have time to research the per possession breakdowns and efficiency rankings, but I think the gap closes pretty significantly when you take offensive pace into account.
PS- I love this type of discussion. I'm an NBA junky. Thanks for posting this, Terry.