Lebron vs Kobe

This topic has been on everyone's mind lately. Will Lebron James be better than Michael Jordan? This is a fair question that cannot be answered today. Michael Jordan is the GOAT plain and simple. He won 6 championships with 6 finals MVP's and more importantly never lost in the finals. When it is all said and done this will be Lebron's achilies heel as well as Kobe's. I don't think Kobe is as great as Lebron James is and i will explain that in here as well. But Lebron could win 9 titles with 9 finals MVP's and he will always be hit with the "had to leave to win" or the "didn't go undefeated" the only person who can say that in this conversation is Jordan. He changed the game of basketball the way Lebron is doing it right now. Jordan left you in awe... scratching your head as to how he was able to do that. Lebron has me giggling like a little school girl with the wonderful things he does on the court. But when all is said and done we really can't have this conversation until Lebron's career is over. But we can discuss Lebron vs Kobe.

Kobe is one of the greatest scorers and players of all time, but he shouldn't be in Jordan's category or ever mentioned in the same breath. All the Laker fans will argue "he has 5 rings" so what? Horry has 7 does that make him better than both Kobe and Jordan? nope! not by a long shot. Kobe only has 2 finals MVP's, which means the first three he won, he wasn't the best player on their team. And it is 100%  true. Shaq carried that team, because when he left they never made it out of the second round, until they traded for a few all stars and then it was Kobe's time to shine. He carved up the league after falling short to the celtics and made sure he left his stamp on the Lakers franchise by winning 2 more championships to put his ring to 5. Again i am not taking anything away from the black mamba or what he's done but Lebron his hitting his prime and doing things no else has seen in... well ever. He got the monkey off his back and doesn't seem to taking his foot off the gas pedal as he is well on his way to another MVP. If the Heat win a title this year and Lebron wins the finals MVP he will signify that he is better than Kobe. Meaning when they won he was the most dominate player on the team with still years to play ahead of him. Kobe is great one on one but he doesn't have what Jordan and Lebron have. Kobe doesn't make his teammates better, as you can see from the dismal .500 season the lakers are having with  arguably the best lineup in sports. Lebron makes everyone better and still gets his points boards and asists. Kobe has never done that. Lebron takes what is given to him in the game. He plays the game the right way, game on the line they bring a double team to Lebron he'll pass to the open man for the shot. People confuse this with shying away from the pressure and i will admit it would frustrate me to see him do this, but then he started demanding the ball, the way Kobe does the way Jordan does and he started getting to basket. He now takes games over late and punishes you inside and when you play off of him to take away the penetration he is having his best shooting year from beyond the arc. Lebron makes everyone around him better, Kobe is great one on one and can shoot over double teams and make em. But it doesn't make him the GOAT or even close. Lebron will never match Jordan but he will surpass Kobe and Laker fans don't want to hear it but it's the truth. Anyone who doubts this is simply in denial.

Barry Bonds: The Hall of Famer

 



Steroids. Cheater. Fake. BALCO. These are words synonymous with Barry Bonds. The reason i bring this up is because for the first time since he has retired he is up for the Hall of Fame. I personally feel he deserves to be in the Hall much more than Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and i will explain why. The day Barry Bonds joined the 600/600 club. (600 HR's and 600 SB's) no one noticed. The whole world was captivated by the man in the Cardinals Jersey hitting the ball a country mile. Barry swiped the bag raised his and there was a brief announcement to the stadium, but it didn't mean much. When you turned on SportsCenter there was no talk about how rare it is to have 500 Homeruns and 500 stolen bases. In fact he is the sole member of this club. Every game was cut to bring you the next Mark McGwire at bat. While this was great for baseball that was slowly dying, the bigger story than chasing the majestic HR record was the fact Barry Bonds was playing at the top of his game and doing the right thing, yet he lacked all the glam that followed McGwire around. Barry knew Mark was using, hell i bet everyone in the league knew he was juicing. Barry reached a plateau no other athlete has ever reached and did it correctly and got nothing in return.

He then made a decision. If Mark was getting all this support by using why shouldn't he? He was already one of the best players to ever play the game and now he was using enhancements that 50% of baseball was using. He even the playing field for himself, and well we can all see the numbers. He was the Michael Jordan of baseball. I use that very loosely of course because Michael never cheated. I use it in the sense that they both dominated their respective sport. Again i am not condoning what Barry did I am merely stating he was a hall of famer before he started juicing and shouldn't be condemned because we as a nation fell in love with the HR.

This brings me to my next point. Steroids are terrible and destroy your body and tip the playing field in the users advantage, but these are professional athletes who get paid to preform at the highest level day in and day out. While most of you will sit there and criticize these athletes for "making that much money they should hit HR's every at bat" I would love to see one of you turn down that much money to do something you love so much. Or knowing what kind of pressure comes with that kind of contract. You will do anything you can to win. Just ask Jordan who punched Steve Kerr in the face at practice. Or Lebron James becoming the most hated person in the state of Ohio because he wanted to win more than anything. It is hard to win, and people say athletes are role models to young adults so they should act more appropriately. I say that is a huge cop out for parents. Athletes and Movie stars shouldn't be these kids role models. That falls squarely on the parents shoulders and if they are letting athletes and Actors influence their children then they are failing at parents. These athletes get paid to be criticized about their game and deserve to be if they are not preforming but don't turn them into these role models when it should be police officers, teachers, firemen, and of course parents. My role models are my mother and father. They will continue to be.

So in closing Barry Bonds is a Hall of Famer and deserves to go in on his first appearance on the ballot. Anyone remotely close to the game will agree. Did he cheat? yes and the Homerun record should be the only thing tarnished by what he's done as a baseball player. I would want this man on my team.

Adversity Doesn't Build Character It Reveals It

This is what everyone has wanted! From the start of the shortened NBA season there have been two stars that night in and night out have been at the top of the sport and they are going head to head in the NBA Finals. In one corner you have the younger more publicly like Kevin Durant who might very well go down as the purest scorer in NBA history. His road to the finals has been one of loyalty and respect to the game and is very well deserved. The other is one of the most hated athletes in the entire world. He is by far the best player on the planet and has gone through so much criticism about his game, him not being able to close, or him going to Miami to chase the elusive title so many great NBA players can't get. The difference between both Lebron and Kevin is Lebron has had this pressure since day one and is in the process of turning in one of the greatest postseasons in recent memory. The man can will a team to win as he did in Game 6 against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. While his skill set may be getting better (if thats possible) he is maturing right before our eyes the once "look at me" attitude he carried has turned into anything I can do to help the team win. Lebron has had to overcome far more obstacles than Kevin Durant and I ultimately believe this is going to be the X factor and why the heat will win the finals this year. LBJ has set his sights at 16 wins he has 12 and need just 4 more to raise that gold trophy high and solidify his legacy as one of the greats to ever play the game. But he must get by a young man who is trying to prove you can win on any team and you don't need to leave for more money to be a winner. I don't care who wins I want Lebron to get his ring but it's going to be an amazing finals one that basketball so desperately needed.