High School Days: Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James

March 29 08

Message boards, chat rooms, and water coolers are split on whether Kobe Bryant or LeBron James is the NBA’s best player.

Simply put, this debate divides fans. Half support Bryant because of his superb skill-set. The others back James based on his physical gifts and athleticism.

Of course, there is no middle ground. Bryant and James polarize like Manchester United, the New York Yankees, and ‘Dubya’ rolled in one.

Instead of drawing conclusions from both players’ most-recent stats, I decided to look back. Bryant and James each enjoyed storied high school careers and then jumped straight to the NBA.

No NCAA Tournament. No march madness. Just sink or swim in the pros. Obviously, Bryant and James swum like Olympic champions, developing into the game’s brightest stars.

Still, watching their formative years is fun. As always, check out the clips, form an opinion and give us your impression on Bryant and James’ days as prep stars.

Kobe Bryant, Lower Merion High School …

LeBron James, St. Mary/St. Vincent High School …

Kobe or LeBron? What clip impressed you? Get at us in the comment box with your thoughts. Click here to read Oly’s NBA blog and get his daily AM Take. Image appears courtesy of photographer Nate Kasco at Flickr.com.

29 Comments: High School Days: Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James

Posted by
Quan
on 06.1.2008

Man real talk number 23 all day Lebron all the way thats the next next Jordan yea kb all right but Lebron got some thangs for him when you see kobe gettin on bron level hit me up the number is 3217047729 or hit the gray.cornelius@yahoo.com Tell me as soon as you see that yeea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

Posted by
colton
on 04.10.2008

lebron has so much more talent than kobe. Lebron is also more of a team player and he is also more of an all around player. No doubt, lebron is so much better! .

Posted by
steven [stunna]
on 04.2.2008

lebron might not have a bench as good as the lakers but he still has Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, damon jones, and daniel gibson. if u want to talk MVP, lebron wont get it even with his monster year. his team is stuggling at the moment and in 4th place. lakerz r finally on the right track again and 3rd in the hard west. kobe mvp. i will note the other candidates r close but with nash out of the picture and kobe having a better year than last year, it shud be pretty easy to see hes the best. .

Posted by
AL19
on 04.2.2008

OOo Kobe was better in highschool. .

Posted by
AL19
on 04.2.2008

Kobe and Lebron are virtually tied, But Lebron does not have a supporting cast like Kobe does.Technically Lebron is the whole Cleveland Cavaliers. Kobe has Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and a great bench. So the better player has to be Lebron James because he picks up the slack and does all the work on a daily basis. .

Posted by
steven[stunna]
on 04.2.2008

"that one guy" is the only one who actually made any sense! both r over hyped? overrated? not any good? do u know who both of the pplz are??? kobe bryant! lebron james! 2 of the best players in the nba!!! im a kobe fan more but everyone has to give respect 2 both when due. bron is sick. i actually liked his vid more but kb24 just kills. bron cant shoot a jumper?! r u serious? did anyone actually watch the vids??? boring dunks??? dude is posterizing players!!!!! who said they both suck? they r #1 (kb24) and #2 (lbj) in the MVP race!!! whos more entertaining than these 2 highlite reels with legs????? dont bring up the nba. the question asked was "who was better back in high school" and "that one guy" is the only person whos answered it aside from me. im comment 24 and thats who im choosing. kb24 was sicker back in the days. .

Posted by
filanto from ghana
on 03.31.2008

lol so folk you all read the comments its only kobe haters that will talk against him but even james knows kobe is better. i love you kobe and i will always do .

Posted by
filanto from ghana
on 03.31.2008

lol so folk you all read the comments its only kobe haters that will talk against him but even james knows kobe is better. i love you kobe and i will always do .

Posted by
BALLER
on 03.31.2008

MMM YOUR CRAZY!!!!!!!! .

Posted by

on 03.30.2008

lebron can’t shoot in the nba (the shots he’s making in the vid are against loser high school players). all he can do is use his body.if you’re not wowed by kobe, you need to go to youtube and see what he can do .

Posted by
yo
on 03.30.2008

i would never say anything about KOBE like WOW, i dont like the guy never did never will and dont find him at all fun to watch, that lbj video showed a lot of nice shots and what not but i dont even like watchin lbj no more bc he cant hit shots like that in the NBA and he was just playin against lil kids .

Posted by
ba ba
on 03.30.2008

i no seriosuly theres a lot more players entertaining than these two overrated losers......KOBES NOT THE BEST AND LBJ IS JUST POWER......THERE BOTH LOSERS ALL YOUS NEED TO GET OF THERE DIKS N WATCH 1 OF THE 28 OTHER TEAMS FOR A CHANGE .

Posted by

on 03.30.2008

Both of these guys are over-hyped. I’m so done with them!!!!!! .

Posted by
Green-and -white
on 03.30.2008

MORE USELESS CHATTER FROM "That One Guy" .

Posted by
that one guy
on 03.30.2008

iatc obviously ur riding lebron’s nuts and u didn’t even watch kobe play in high school. cuz if u did ud know kobe led his team in scoring(30 ppg) Rebounds(10+ rpg) and assists (6+ apg)plz don’t make false statements like that. .

Posted by
*iatc*
on 03.30.2008

lebron got assists rebounds blocks steals evrything!!!1kobe just got scoring talents .

Posted by
donk11
on 03.30.2008

We all know Kobe is a freak but when u talk about championships kobe would have nothing without the Big Daddy. Just imagine what lebron could do with a big man in the middle that is at least half decent .

Posted by
dip
on 03.30.2008

put lebron in the west and see wat happens... come on kobe is the best! .

Posted by

on 03.30.2008

to yo: you shoulda seen kobe play in high school. this video doesn’t even capture it. this was back pre 96, youtubing and ma-------video communication wasn’t as big as it is now. if you really saw kobe play, you wouldn’t say s---like that. .

Posted by

on 03.30.2008

kobe is a basketball genius and artist. kobe is amazing in this video, but even this doesn’t do him justice. you should see full games of this guy in high school, kobe had mad handles.lebron’s nothing but a strength and size player, like shaq .

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	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

High School Days: Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James

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