When thinking about post-2000s basketball, perhaps no two names come up more than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. The two stars have headlined the past two decades with dominance, swagger, and plenty of success in between.
Still, there are some glaring differences between them — differences that Coby Kar, an ex-teammate of both, was kind enough to point out.
“It was just a very different time in their careers. But when I played with LeBron, I’d never seen anyone affect the game in so many different ways. He could physically dominate on the defensive end, block a shot, get the rebound, going down in transition, and then dunk on you. Whereas Kobe did it in more of a mental, psychological way.
He was lethal in so many different ways, especially once that you got into the half-court at the end of the game. He was meticulous with his execution there. But he didn’t have the same physicality that LeBron had and youth. LeBron was so energetic at that point, he would do things that – he still does them today but at that point, that’s just who he was and so useful.”
It really is a tale between two opposing styles of play. For Kobe, a huge part of his identity on the court was being an “assassin,” a “killer” who would outwork you, out hustle you, and do everything in his power to break you mentally.
LeBron, in his prime, was all about brute force. He knew your physical weaknesses and exposed them like nobody else could.
Obviously, both players have a physical and psychological element to their game, but comparing how each used them in different ways is definitely interesting to think about…
