Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James: Head-to-Head Stats Comparison | Stathead.com (2024)

FAQs

How does LeBron James stats compare to Kobe Bryant? ›

Rather surprisingly, Lebron edges out Kobe in every major statistical category, averaging 27.1 vs 25.0 PPG, 7.3 vs 5.2 RPG, 7.0 vs 4.7 APG, 1.6 vs 1.4 SPG, and 0.8 vs 0.5 BPG. Lebron's PPG advantage is magnified by the fact that he posts a True Shooting Percentage of 58.4%, as opposed to Kobe's 55%.

Jefferson mentioned both Bryant and James but did ultimately give his answer. "Kobe was gonna do what Kobe does," Jefferson said. "That to me, wasn't the hardest person to guard, it was still LeBron James."

Lebron's been a high scorer throughout his career while Kobe maintained excellent scoring for an 8-9 year period. Looking at their best post-season 5 year stretches, Kobe has 29.8ppg on 57 ts% during the '06-10 playoffs while Lebron has 30.1ppg on 59.4 ts% in '14-18. Adjusted for pace gives Kobe the ppg advantage.

Kobe's accolades and seeming scoring dominance may be impressive, but LeBron's are often considered better. While Bryant's 27.4 points per game outguns James' 26.9, the latter has averaged more points a night (27.6) than Kobe (25.5) on his career.

Kobe had much better footwork, a much deeper bag (probably the deepest bag in history), much more skilled as a jumpshooter from mid range and 3 (while LeBron somewhat struggled with his shooting from both of those areas for the first half of his career, he did get better in Miami.

Kobe Bryant is a little more gifted athletically than Michael Jordan was. Kobe is a much better pure shooter. Kobe has risen into Michael's rare air when it comes to making great late shots. Kobe is a little taller, and just as quick and strong.

“It was just a little bit better, not a great deal but just a little bit better and Michael was a much better defender than Kobe, and I know Kobe made a lot of defensive teams but he wasn't the same defensively as Michael. Michael could just flat out shut you down if he wanted to.

"Kobe has more titles than Shaq. He won more titles without Shaq than Shaq won without Kobe. If Shaq had the same level of skill at Kobe's size, he would do absolutely nothing. If Kobe had Shaq's size, he might've won 20 championships!

Michael Jordan

A young Kobe played against Jordan's Bulls four times in the late '90s.

Over the course of their careers, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have faced each other 22 times, with LeBron holding a 16-6 advantage. Their first encounter was on January 12, 2004. Rookie LeBron scored 16 points on inefficient 6/20 field goal shooting, along with five rebounds and seven assists.

Where does Kobe Bryant rank in NBA history? ›

Jordan was the flashier scorer – 10 scoring titles and the highest career scoring average in NBA history – and the better defender (leading the league in steals three times), while James has been the better playmaker with 106 career regular-season triple-doubles to Jordan's 28.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.