THE MULTIVERSE THAT IS MY MIND

First things first: I love Michael Jordan. I grew up on MJ. I had his shoes, his posters, his jerseys. He was my idol. He was simply THE best.
Now, who would I say is better than MJ? 4 years ago, I would say no one could even touch him. Jordan is in a league of his own. He was basketball.

But as of today, I can't help but acknowledge that he has been surpassed or atleast met his match. Watching Kobe do the things he's done the past 12 years are just ridiculous. 81 points - Jan.22, 2006. 62 points in 3 quarters - Dec.20, 2005, 4x he has scored over 60. Ridiculous. (Just fyi: Jordan's career high is 69 pts)

OK let us compare the two.

Accomplishments: 6x NBA Champion, 5x MVP, 10x All-NBA First Team, 1x Defensive Player of the Year, 9x All-Defensive First Team, ROY, 14x All-star, 3x All-star MVP, 2x Gold Medalist.
Career Averages: 30.1 ppg, 6.2 reb, 5.3 ast, 2.35 stls, 0.83 blks, 49.7 FG%, 83.5 FT%, 32.7 3FG%

Kobe Bryant

Accomplishments: 3x NBA Champion, 1x MVP, 5x All-NBA First Team, 6x All-Defensive First Team, 10x All-star, 2x All-star MVP
Career Averages: 25.0 ppg, 5.3 reb, 4.6 ast, 1.5 stls, 0.5 blks, 45.3 FG%, 83.9 FT%, 34.0 3FG%

OK, so Jordan wins stats wise. But, Kobe is just 29. Jordan played on and off until he was 40. Kobe will be on the Olympic team this year, he won his first MVP this year, and may win another championship this year. He may just be peaking.
Also, the demographics for the NBA voting for its awards are all fucked up. Jordan won MVP awards when his team barely made the playoffs just by individual stats alone back in the 80's. If that were the premise of how voting should be, Kobe should have won atleast 4 MVP awards by now, considering he has been the best player in the league the past 7 years, hands down. But then again, Jordan would have won it every year he played if we based it on that. Basically the awards aren't relevant in this debate, since Kobe is just half way through his career.
If we compare stats, Jordan has an unfair advantage. He was drafted into a team where he was the primary weapon (actually, the only weapon) at the time. So his stats were inflated his first 5 or 6 years in the league. Kobe was a bench player when he was drafted. He sat behind Eddie Jones (who is fucking awesome btw) and was in Shaq's shadow for his first 8 years.

Now a lot of people may not remember Jordan's game since it was so long ago. They may remember the Wizard's Jordan that sucked balls or they may remember his legend. Jordan is probably the most hyped and commercialized athlete of all time. But he backed it up by winning championships. At one point, and I truly believe this, he was probably more recognizable than the Pope himself. But people are hypnotized by his marketed persona and thus claim that he was the best player ever. And that is fine, he WAS the best player ever.
Kobe has had an unfortunate public persona starting with the rape allegations. This killed his fan base and his advertisements. It's hard to market your greatness when people think your a rapist. So Kobe's legend was never hyped up as high as Jordan's was.
But forget the public personas and focus on their skills.
Michael Jordan is the best all-around player in the game, ever. No one could guard him, but he could guard anyone. I won't argue with that. He was a scoring machine, a defensive stud, and a winner. Kobe is a GREAT defensive player, but can't touch Jordan in that category. Jordan bitched his opponents. But MJ wasn't even the best perimeter defender on the team, Scottie was.

Both are winners, just look at the rings. But Kobe is BETTER than Jordan offensively. A lot of people may think I am crazy but it is true. Think about it. Both are fundamentally sound, have unlimited post up moves, automatic from 20 feet in, and made/make their opponents look foolish. However, Kobe can shoot the ball from anywhere. Jordan could hit the 3, but wasn't a threat from there. Kobe is a threat everywhere. During the era he played, Jordan had no equal physically. There was no Bird to his Magic, no Russel to his Wilt. The only other guy who could guard him was fortunately for him, his own teammate. I mean, the guys he played: Joe Dumars, Craig Ehlo, Jeff Hornecek, were either white or a head shorter. Kobe has to play against Lebron, TMAC, VC, Melo, Pierce, Ray-ray, AI, just to name a few. You also have freaks guarding the basket whenever he drives, ala Tim Duncan, KG, Dwight Howard, Shaq? Jordan went up against Barkley and Malone, who are great players but not that intimidating defensively. Hakeem was the only stud at the time. Basically what I am saying is that it was easier for Jordan to shine above the rest, cuz the rest sucked. Kobe had his work cut out for him.

When Kobe came into the league, I wasn't much of a fan. Especially since MJ was still around and becuase of those airballs (yeah, you remember those 3 against Utah). But he has grown on me. I can't deny that he IS the best player right now. And watching both MJ and KB play, I can straight up tell you MJ can't touch Kobe offensively. Its true that Jordan made his teammates better (Luc Longley, Steve Kerr). But Kobe has learned to do this as well, this year being proof (Sasha and Luke). Both can take over a game and both are clutch. But Kobe can carry his team back from a 20+ point deficit. I have seen it too many times to doubt him.

Viva La Kobe!