Originally Posted by trace87

for one, kobe has had far better teammates throughout his career than lebron. shaq, horry, gasol, fisher, bynum, odom, artest, etc... cleveland has surrounded him with crap his entire career(best players being mo williams, illgauskus, gooden, and washed up ben wallace?). i do prefer watching kobe, he is a master scorer. lebron should try to get into the lane more often than he does. i think in terms of who has the greater impact on his club at this point it is lebron. but kobe fills a harder to come by skill with his scoring ability in addition to being underrated as a passer. it seems like teams in the playoffs have figured out how to shut down lebron fairly well. usually he makes the "right" play by passing out of doubles/triples. but sometimes you have to have the confidence in your own play when your teammates are struggling. lebron either isn't good enough to do this or is too passive.