Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are both all-time greats that are generally considered among the top 5 players of all time. They are both legends of the game, and as with most legends, fans often talk about how the two were similar but also different.
Former Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince once revealed the difference between guarding LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. He explained to guard Kobe Bryant one would have to stop him from getting to his sweet spots, while with LeBron James it was about fighting through a lot of pick and rolls.
Tayshaun Prince on guarding Kobe vs guarding Lebron pic.twitter.com/tgKiBn5UW9
— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) August 7, 2022
With Kobe, you had to make sure you don’t let him get to his sweet spot… he’s going to be physical with you and try to wear you down, so once the fourth quarter comes he would get to those spots and everything else is butter… with LeBron, you had to fight through 150 pick and rolls throughout the whole game…. So it was two different things you had to worry about.
There has definitely been some discussion about who was the tougher cover between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Amar’e Stoudemire once suggested that Kobe Bryant was tougher to guard than LeBron James because he had “no weaknesses”.
Kobe has a different intellect with the game. Well, he talked whenever you talked to him, he was all business and it was, like, strategic. LeBron was probably harder to play against because he was also more explosive. Actually, I take that back, Kobe’s harder to guard because Kobe, there was no weaknesses.
Even though one may have opinions about which player was tougher to guard, there’s no doubt that both players cannot fully be stopped, just slowed down. LeBron James is notably known as a pass-first player, but he is still a lethal scorer.
Hopefully, we see both players continue to get their respect in the future. They each presented unique challenges for defenders, and it’ll be interesting to see what other opinions players have on this subject.
