• Michael Jordan (74%)
• Kobe Bryant (19%)
• Magic Johnson (2%)
• Wilt Chamberlain (2%)
• Larry Bird (1%)
• Shaquille O Neal (1%)
• Kareem Abdul Jabbar (0%)
• Jerry West (0%)
• Bill Russel (0%)
• Tim Duncan (0%)

Total Votes: 249

Here’s the script of the Marko (ahem) and Mon’s  sweet nothings about the subject.

MON:

And rightly so.

Here’s Marko (ahem) and Mon sweet moments about the topic of Michael Jordan versus Kobe Bryant…

Really tough to topple MJ atop the pedestal with his 6 Finals MVPs to boot. Somehow KB24’s first 3 rings are attributable more to Shaq as being the top dog and he as just part of the Diesel’s supporting cast.

The quality and impact of MJ’s game is just so different from KB24’s, notwithstanding the latter’s scoring sprees and potential to win more than 6 rings.

As an aside, can someone name me his top five greatest KB24 moments in playoff history…or better yet, how about in the finals?! Having a tough time?

Admittedly though, KB24 is the closest thing to MJ. It’s just that the closest thing is still way too far.

This year’s most important game has put things in proper perspective as to where KB24 really is alongside MJ - individually. If you’re the team’s top gun, you just don’t shoot blanks when everything is on the line and show your rebounds instead.

MARKO:

its not kobe fault that he got shaq with him in his first 3. and people cant dismiss his stats and contribution in those finals either. some are just seeing the 3 finals series ignoring the first 3 rounds of the 00 to 02 playoffs, when, could be, they wouldnt be out of those early rounds without him. and people should start counting shaq rings from 93 to 99 when he got no closer to bail him out or kobe was still raw. and if people will put asterisk on kobe’s 3 rings with shaq, we better re-write the whole nba history as it is, if who-he-had is big factor. remove an oscar robertson ring coz he got one with alcindor, david robinsons 2 rings dont count, julius earvin has no ring coz he got it when he was already fading, wilt ring has asterisk too, drexler has no ring. magic has 4 rings coz his rookie year, laker was kareems team. even shaqs fourth ring doesnt count - its wades ring. and, almost all of bill russels championships were top loaded with future hall of famers. 3 rings, larry bird was flanked by parish and mchale. so to me, 5 rings is 5 rings. 6 rings is 6 rings. btw, ive seen the comments and facts, mj wasnt that immaculate, he fired blanks as well on many important games. but still i agree, mj place in nba greatness is tough to reach. in fact the whole post above mentioned the near impossible task of kobe playing til 40 and getting 8 rings. but still, it was once impossible, now, slimmer than calista flockhart it is, there is that chance.

MON:

If it’s primarily the rings, Robert Horry should be tossed in the discussion as well.

MARKO:

i know you know horrys rings don’t apply in this discussion.

MON:

Hehe. I thought 5 rings are 5 rings and 6 are 6. What rings count and what don’t then? No matter how we look at it, Shaq was the alpha dog in LA. KB, same with Big Shot Bob and the rest, were the valuable supporting cast.

Not to diminish KB’s accomplishments, but his rings are just somehow not in the same breath as MJ’s.

But credit still to KB, he was able to get two rings for himself without Shaq, and as THE top dog.

It’s just that on a personal note, how good KB, the closest thing there is is, MJ is still too far away; nothwithstanding the ring tally.

Heck, even a Horry has lots of it.

MARKO:

hehe, horry legend - not. he doesnt belong.

horry - kerr - fisher - rodman, kukoc now they can eat dinner together and discuss their fabulous rings.

dont get me wrong i love mj. if you’ll clone a baketball player, you’ll get his dna.

lucky MJ though for peaking at the right time, bird and magic and thomas were declining when he rose to the top. and kobe tim duncan and shaq were still drinking milky shakes.

mj championships… vs old lakers, not enough blazers, so-so sonics and oh my, choker bannered utah jazz by malone. not exactly that breath taking. only barkley suns is the goodest.

can the los angeles lakers 2010 beat lakers 91, blazers 92, suns 93, sonics 96, utah 97 - 98? ahm, i think yes.

MON:

Them guys, Horry, Pax, Fisher etc. can gleefully share their respective pages in the annals of NBA Finals history. And KB24 can butt in one bit and narrate his one and only Finals moment when he drained the game-tying 3 in game 2 of the 2004 edition. Unfortunately, they went on to lose the next 3 games and the title.

It must be more than luck though why MJ was able to dominate and obliterate his and the Bulls opposition during their era. C’mon man, you must know better than that. Give the guy some credit despite the Hitler mustache.

It’s not MJ’s fault that the Lakers were aging. The same is true for KB even if KG and the C’s have seen better days. Credit that same old C’s though for dragging the high and mighty LA to 7 games.

And it’s beyond MJ if the Jazz are a choking bunch. Somehow that choker of a Jazz team consistently found itself deep into the playoffs, beating the rest of the Western Conference teams including, yes, Shaq and the rest of the Lakers.

Let’s not take anything away from Russell because he played in a 12 team league. Same holds for MJ. They dominated what the rest of the pack in their respective era can offer. MJ doesn’t deserve the ridicule just because he beat whatever opposition had to offer in an oh so ridiculous manner. 72 wins, 69 wins, 68 wins? Those were just bonus to that Bulls teams.

Now, If those Lakers are really that good, how can the Spurs sneak 3 and a half championships in an era supposedly owned by the Lakers?

We’re both lucky because we know it can never happen. But the 2010 Lakers against those ’90’s teams? If my top gun will go 6/24 and nothing from 3 in the ultimate game of the season, I’m just quite not sure, honestly. They needed even the full route and the homecourt advantage to narrowly slip past KG’s banged up knees.

Now, if only that not-so-legendary Robert Horry can somehow rub off his clutch play deep into playoffs on KB, it could be a bit more convincing.

MARKO:

not really blaming mj for his streak. just that the truth is his bulls 90s will have trouble getting 6 rings in the 80s. but luck is part of the game. ask horry. so 6 is 6. hehe. ask boston celtics too coz they were lucky ariza and bynum were injured in 08, could be difference maker. it could be we’re talking about kobes 6 rings had they not been injured. so that, you can dismiss his 3 and we’ll get 3 still. then again, injury is part of the game.

how spurs sneaked in 3? blame shaq for demanding the biggest and fastest contract, as fat as his butt when he is already slipping and eating 12 burgers in one sitting. blame mitch kupchak for bringing in kwame and smush and mihm to go to war during kobe prime years. but i forgive mitch coz he made up by retooling lakers by bringing pau et al. that kwame cant effin hold the ball, his got so little hands and even little brain. i dont know why with MJ’s basketball wisdom drafted kwame that year. ahm ahead of pau btw.

and suddenly kg is banged up and the celtics are old. up 3-2, the boston celtics are rocking. and then, they crumbled. but its alright. “a ring is a ring”

a 6-10 forward not fighting for a rebound during key moments, be the top of the key, wait for stupid lucky tap by divac and hit a three - OR - wait for a stupid double team by rasheed and wait for a pass by manu and hit open three, OR hit shots because hakeem was doubled, legendary lucky to have teammates that can attract doubles and legendary lucky for not mixing it up and lurk outside. id rather have another legendary way of gettings thing done.

MON:

MJ’s wisdom has and will never extend beyond the basketball court. Kwame Brown will immortalize his management blunders, he continues to burn bucks on the ‘Cats. The only upside in recent times would be his fiancee; but again those are all beside the point.

A lot of “could-have-beens”, “blame this, blame that” etc. back there, man. Let’s just stop the whining. No amount of whining and coaxing and pretending will ever make the ball go through the hoop when it really, truly matters the most. Some men, superstars like MJ and some lucky bastards like Horry, can drain it, some just can’t. Many can, when it’s just a regular season game; they even drain an incredible 81 points, 20+ of which came when the game was already safely decided. Truly legendary.

The C’s never rocked; I didn’t even expect them to get past the second round. It’s just (this is without sarcasm) that the very potent Lakers sucked every time #24 tried to do his best Jordan impersonation and totally destroy the team concept to no avail. The C’s were old and crumbling and truly the champion that they are, the Lakers struggled and survived - as a team.

You may opt for any other “legendary” way of getting things done, be it a Gasol put back, or an Artest’s, or a D-Fish miracle, or any other. But it’s definitely not a 6/24, zero 3, 15 rebound performance from supposedly the best closer nowadays.

You see, it takes more than the scowl, the grit and definitely more than the luck to pretend to be better than MJ. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as putting the ball through the hoop - when it matters the most. No amount of hype, belief and advertisements can do that for you. You just have to get the ball, and bury it. Unfathomable as it may seem, your man KB just can’t cut it when all the marbles are on the line.

So to put him, and actually consider him in the vicinity of MJ, by function of proximity of number of rings alone, is just pure basketball blasphemy and stupidity. Heir apparent? Spare me, please.

But yes, he’s already regarded as the most clutch right now. Imagine where that puts MJ. The guy is just as out of this world as his decision to select Kwame 1st overall. You just can’t win them all.

MARKO:

on 81, if a remember it correctly the lakers were down and they needed every single point midway thru that game. and the garbage points? all stars do that. im sure 100% basketball-god mj will do that icing on the cake thing, basketball is part entertainment. you have to cream jalen rose et al for the lackluster defense that they put up, or down. heck, even sasha vujajic creamed the celtics with some swish-thru FTs, borat smile, and porn-face smear.

legends are made in a span of 15 to 20 years. thats how i see mj body of work. and not 12 thousand missed shots. no mentioning of his 7 early playoff exits and 2 funky wizards years either. and acknowledged, he is the greatest of em all . i just mentioned that there are luck involved with MJs or any other player rings. and so if one pure basketball fan chooses to pick certain poor game are career lowlight and point that out at every instance, that’s a fan’s choice, err, thats your choice buddy. thats the beauty of sports.

since were rolling with this, let me mention too that…

i love the 98 indiana - bulls eastern series btw. i watched this series inside a hot and packed carenderia and we were all sweating. i think i had more sweat than pip and MJ’s sweat combined. a team bannered only by reggie and smits and some enforcers pushed almighty MJ to the limit. dont you love that series? you know how MJ fired on a game 7 win a trip to finals game? 9 of 25 for whopping 36% and 10 of 15 FTs for sub standard 67% clip. i bet you can shoot better than 10 of 15 on the line. thats so near my man, no bantay even. MJ shot FT once with his eyes closed, he’s a show man really. then again, MJ stats on that one is awesomer than the kobe 6/24 but kinda chokey still for jordan for the most important game of the season. but forget it, i love MJ, you love mj.

and im not putting kobe over or alongside MJ now, just saying kobe’s career is not patsy either and some haters should at least credit some things, and that, the most most improbable kobe career finish of 8 rings (meaning 3 more rings with lead role at Lakers) and 20 plus years of high level basketball play can put him in the discussion with the greatest discussions, be it with jordan, with russell or with wilt and his 20,000 sex excapades.

on MJ fiancee, that may be his best pick and roll move! kids google MJ fiancee now! i mean now!

save you some work, here it is!

http://www.google.com.ph/images?hl=tl&source=imghp&q=michael+jordan+fiancee&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

MON:

Haha. She’s really fine.

On the 81 pt. game, yup it was a bit tight but LA already tore it open some significant minutes still left in the 4th - if I remember it right.

Yeah. Apart from the Indiana series, you can also look at the Sonics series in ‘96. That sure was ugly ball also. But those Pacers were clockwork in their own right, not marquee but pretty cohesive in Miller, Smits, those Davis dudes, Perk, Mullin, Jalen, Best, Jax with Larry Legend at the helm.

Let’s just say that MJ did suck once in awhile, his commercial beat said it itself, he missed not a few hundred game deciding shots. Willfully for him, he didn’t suck as bad as KB under the glare of NBA Finals spotlight.

Suffice to say that we both agree MJ’s up there. And as far as KB is concerned, he’s already in the discussion. He deserves the credit. He has painstakingly worked his butt off and polished his game to take it to this level.

My only contention is to assert that how good he may be is right now and with what I’ve seen from him, MJ is still beyond compare and without peer, regardless if KB would overtake him in the ring tally.

And you’re wrong, I don’t think I can make more than 10 of 15 without bantay under those circumstances.

I don’t know if you’ll agree with me, but on the side, I’m actually putting Magic ahead of KB as the greatest Laker ever. That could be a new round of discussion altogether.

MARKO:

my allegiance to lakers is because of magic. since the time i was supot, i am for the lakers. primarily because of the magic and showtime.

but will place him on a’ dead heat with kobe for the all time lakers throne.

the argument people are using against kobe (played with shaq) applies to magic as well. and worse is, come to think of it, he actually did not win without kareem. the rings he got are all with kareem and a loaded lakers line up. if at all, magic should hear the “he did not win without kareem” more often. his rookie year, kareem was the main guy. the rest of the way 38-ish kareem routinely chipped in 20 points 8 rebounds game, thats pretty good still, that’s like having amare or bosh everyday. and, he was butt slapped by MJ in 91!

and the thing being thrown around vs kobe? the he is not the finals mvp in 2010, well, it actually happened to magic, 2x he was not the finals mvp. one time it was worthy, i dunno who took the other.

again, i love magic then and his hyperbole commentaries now but i say they are deadlocked right now. only, kobe aint done yet. putting in some more rings, or worse case scenario, no ring but prolonged career will give kobe a bye vs magic.

but if the all time lakers cred involves “whos had the most number of la lakers girls tapped” no question, magic johnson is the runaway winner!

MON:

Finals MVP… a balding Kareem in ‘85 and Worthy in ‘88.

I’m going for Magic and the “tiebreaker” would be his 1980 Finals performance; becoming only the Rookie Finals MVP. 42 pts. 15 rebs. 7 asts. in the clincher when Kareem was out. That’s just tough. Admittedly, his greatest game ever according to Magic.

I don’t mean to rub it in, but a guy like KB at this juncture of his game can even suck in a clincher game. It might be shallow, but because Magic had more “magical” moments deep into the playoffs, makes me still pick him over KB as the face of LA. Besides, major championship belts are won not during sparring rounds and undercard bouts but in the main event, right?

You’re right though, Magic’s 5 rings all had Kareem in tow. But one thing really in common, looking at Magic’s LA then and Kobe’s LA now; saying both are really solid, potent and powerhouse are understatements. That’s why really, KB’s one man act has no place in the scheme of things. He just makes the team weaker when he embarks on a personal Jordanesque display.

But that’s that; they have the ring and the trophy by season’s end. And that’s what really matters most. There’s no “I” in “Team”; but there’s one in “Win” and in “Rapist”. hehe.

MARKO:

major championship belts are won not during sparring rounds and undercard bouts but in the main event, right? - wrong.

sacto - lakers, blazers - lakers both not finals but those were the defacto finals. to mention a few.

yikes, how the heck kareem took the finals mvp out of prime magic hands. i guess magic had too many lakers girls that june 85.

with women and “raping”? compared to magic, kobe is an amateur. kobe is incomparable to magic. kobe is gay. i mean, look it up, “magic” is synonymous to words like “showtime”, “winner” and ahm… “orgy”.

MON:

What I meant by the “main event” would be deep into the playoffs - including the “de facto” finals you mentioned, which looking back, hasn’t seen much Kobe moments. Sparring rounds and undercards are the regular season, where TMacs bloom and where KB scores a lot, and drains winning shots aplenty.

Magic not winning the ‘85 and ‘87 Finals MVP is like a Cedric Maxwell being named such in ‘81 over Larry Legend. While that may seem unthinkable, a rookie Finals MVP is once in… well, since the NBA’s second season. Remember Kobe’s airball extravaganza against Utah? He wasn’t even a rookie anymore. Had Magic cracked up like that, it’s certainly a different story.

On a different note, there’s also talk that Magic’s kinda gay. That’s why in his and Larry Legend’s book “When The Game Was Ours”, he sort of hit on his former buddy Isiah Thomas for insinuating issues about the Magicman’s sexual orientation. Could have been a confusing season back in ‘85 for him. Good thing old Kareem played like a true Captain.

There’s an “I” in “win” as well as in H.I.V. Curiously, it hasn’t progressed to full blown AIDS after almost 20 yrs. I’ve always suspected something amiss about that Magic-has-HIV thing. Same as MJ’s retirement at the peak of his career.

I meant Magic not being named Finals MVP in ‘85 and ‘88, not ‘87.

And check this Michael Jordan - Kobe Bryant statistical comparison.

• Smart Gilas Pilipinas National Team (48%)
• PBA-backed Team Pilipinas (36%)
• Screw it, let’s quit playing hoops! (16%)

Almost half (48%) of the respondents (105 voters) picked Smart Gilas Team as the team to beat, err, to be in the next big hoops fight in Asia. Reading the reports surrounding PBA or Gilas, the majority really sided with Smart Gilas taking it over. And I agree.

After another failed attempt by PBA-backed team, I too voted for the programmed version of SBP’s Smart Gilas. Thirty year-old PBA superstars are simply over-riped for them to learn a whole new ballgame (so to speak) and in such a short time. Too old to be taught of the game that suits international game. Too hardheaded to throw away their fetish for one-on-one showtime. We’ve been wanting a basketball program for the longest time, and now that it’s here, let’s support them.

For PBA backers and fans, you don’t need to pout, looks like SBP is to hook up with at least 3 pro PBA players anyways, so we’ll get a taste of both (amateur & pro) worlds anyways. Guys like Jared, Gabe and Japeth were mentioned. The three, certainly, will get heavy minutes plus one naturalized player. The core will still be PBA players + an import, so c’mon SBP, show us your “non-PBA” national team next year, we’ll support you (and hit you) all the way. Be better than 9th, eclipse the 8th!

(AND I WILL JUST ADD THIS: If this Smart Gilas team does well, I mean triple-very well in its international forays, this could be the end of the PBA as we know it. You can save, bookmark, quote, me on this.)

• Alaska? (44%)
• San Miguel? (25%)
• Talk n Text? (23%)
• Sta. Lucia? (9%)

Total Votes: 101