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Tweet of the Night: Brandon Jennings stirs up debate about the supporting cast of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

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Kobe Bryant Michael JordanJames ParkWhen it comes to debating who the better player is between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, there is basically no contest: anyone who has seen both play knows Jordan was the better overall player.

The statistics overwhelmingly supports that idea (particularly in the playoffs). Phil Jackson, who has famously coached both players, has said a number of times that Jordan was the better player on both ends of the floor. Even Bryant himself at some point wished people would stop with the burden by comparing him to a player he considers the greatest of all time. Of course, Bryant is undoubtedly the closest thing we’ve ever seen to another Jordan, but that’s really where the conversation should end.

That said, there will always be a debate when it comes to deciding who the very best were in the history of the NBA. Bryant’s name has justifiably reached the upper echelon in terms of everything he has accomplished in his career, beginning with the five championships he has won. Like it or not, many decide the greatness of a player by the number of rings they have and how all of them were attained. According to Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings, who has been bringing up interesting topics to discuss this summer, the fact that Bryant’s supporting cast during his championship years weren’t as good as Jordan’s supporting cast makes Bryant a greater overall player than Jordan. Here’s how he began the conversation:


 

 


     


 


 


 


 


So that’s a lot of tweets, and Jennings has clearly put some thought into this particular topic. However, it’s a bit hard to tell what his ultimate point is because there are some contradicting thoughts along the way: he first declares that “Kobe really the greatest ever” to indicate that’s the main topic at hand, but eventually says “this not about who’s better between MJ & Kobe”. If it’s not about who’s better between Jordan and Bryant, why the need to talk about who had the better supporting cast? Yes, he’s saying Jordan had a better supporting cast than Bryant did, which technically isn’t a discussion about who had the better skill set as players, but he’s using that notion to claim that Bryant’s level of greatness is higher than Jordan’s because it was Bryant who exceeded all odds with less talented teams.

It’s all a bit confusing. He clearly doesn’t want to compare the abilities of Jordan and Bryant. Yet, he wants to use the supporting cast of each player to ultimately say that Bryant had a tougher path, which makes him the greatest. If that’s the criteria to be the greatest, no one is better than Chauncey Billups, who was once a Finals MVP despite playing without a single player who will be considered a Hall of Famer when all said and done (unless you consider Ben Wallace a candidate).

Jennings also says “Kobe had Shaq” as if to say there weren’t other critical role players on those teams to help get to three championships. It also seems a bit convenient to mention role players like Steve Kerr, John Paxson and B.J. Armstrong for the Chicago Bulls, while failing to mention a plethora of key players that contributed to winning multiple championships for the Los Angeles Lakers like Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Rick Fox and many more. And for the record, there are some out there who believe Bryant wasn’t necessarily even the best player on his own team in the 2010 NBA Finals. We already know he wasn’t the best player on the first three championship teams.

As for which teams had more talent, it’s tough to say that one team definitively had better players than the other because ultimately, both had a different blend of players that fit well enough to win championships, and everyone had a part to play. If there is one generalization you can make about each team, it’s that the Bulls had more overall continuity, while the Lakers had more size to work with. They had plenty of similarities in that both teams flourished under Phil Jackson and the Triangle offense.

Jennings ended his string of tweets about all this with the following:

Again, it’s all a tad confusing in terms of figuring out what he’s trying to say and what he’s not trying to say. Still, his tweets caused plenty of debate on twitter, and that’s usually not a bad thing. Do feel free to share your thoughts on what the point guard had to say.

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James Park is the chief blogger and deputy editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.

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  3. Jordan was in space jam , kobe never beat the monstars so jordan takes the cake. Sorry jennings.

  4. What makes Jordan better than Kobe, James? “Anyone who has seen both play knows that Jordan was the better player” is the most subjective tripe I’ve ever read outside of a political forum. Youtube exists, tapes exist. I know eight people who have watched the NBA since the days before the inception of the logo who think that Bryant is the superior player. Some think he is the best, others believe that that distinction is Wilt’s. I believe that KAJ is the greatest, followed by Kobe, but to present imagined consensus as fact when there is none is weak journalism as well as theory.

    Bryant’s offence incorporates a wider array of moves off the dribble and his range extends nearly to halfcourt. His midrange game from the elbow to the arc is superior to Jordan’s. Their baseline midrange games are equal. Jordan may have been stronger in the post, but so is Charles Barkley and no one would argue that the RMoR’s skills were superior thanks to his strength. Kobe and Jordan possess equal initial footwork, but Bryant’s counter-pivots are more voluminous.

    Their playmaking (passing) abilities are both transcendent. Kobe’s playmaking stems from his individual creativity while Jordan’s was maximized within the Triangle. They’re both capable of dominating games with their passing as much as their scoring.

    Defensively, Bryant and Jordan are equal as individuals. Jordan benefited from playing during an era that, while less complex than the game’s modernity, granted greater individual physicality. Bryant, with the same rules, has proven the be equally adept. However, Jordan was clearly the better help defender.

    I would appreciate a rebuttal replete with analysis rather than sweeping, ultimately unproven opinions.

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