Kobe Jordan or LeBron?

This past week there has been a buzz going around the NBA about who you want to take the last shot of a game? ESPN The Magazine recently interviewed twenty-six current NBA players and asked them who they would want to take the last shot of a game: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James. Respectively, twenty-three players rolled with Jordan and three went with Kobe Bryant.

LeBron James obviously got zero votes from the twenty-six players and I am having a hard time understanding that. LeBron James is the best player in the NBA today and some people even think it is unarguable. I am not saying that I would take LeBron over Jordan, but I am saying that I would take him over Kobe.

Since LeBron entered the league in the 2003-2004 season, no one has made more game tying or go ahead shots in the final twenty-four seconds of a playoff game than LeBron. He has shot a remarkable 7-16 from the field on a 43.8% field goal percentage. The league average on those type of shots is 28.3%, so James is way above that mark. Kobe Bryant is shooting 25% on 7-28 from the field and Jordan eclipses them all shooting 50% on 9-18 from the field.

My opinion is that LeBron should have gotten more votes than Kobe Bryant, but that was not the case. I have spent time thinking about why that is and I have came up with a couple answers. First, LeBron has always been thought of to not have a "clutch gene", which means that he does not perform well in the clutch moments. LeBron has always been put on a high pedestal since he entered the league and I think every time he fails it's more of a bigger deal then when Kobe fails. Second, LeBron is a reigning two time world champion so I am assuming the rest of the league is not to fond of him.

"LeBron's numbers speak"
(My image Dominique Neely)