Today, I keep hearing the argument that Kobe Bryant is the next Michael Jordan and he is just as good as Michael was. Whenever I hear this, whether it be from a distinguished commentator from the TNT network or just a friend, I can't help but strongly disagree.  While watching the NBA Finals, I heard Marc Jackson, former point guard for the Knicks who played against Jordan, say how Kobe is more of an offensive threat now than Jordan ever was simply because Kobe had a much larger repertoire of shots than Jordan had.  To me, having a variety of different shots doesn't make you a greater offensive threat.  

Then I started focusing intently on Kobe Bryant and how he was faring against the Celtics in the Finals.  I watched Kobe closely on both ends.  After observing him, there is no doubt in my mind that Bryant is a great player, and in today's NBA, he is by far the best all-around player in terms of playing on both ends of the court.  However, one thing stood out to me while watching him play the Celtics and it wasn't just a problem in the Finals, but all season.

Throughout the Finals, Bryant would go through scoring droughts and wouldn't really influence the game the way he should have or was capable of doing.  In game four of the Finals, he scored just three points the whole first half and couldn't get his team out of a jam toward the end of the game.  It was moments like that where I would think back to the comparisons to Jordan, and completely dismiss them.  When Jordan played, he wasn't going to be denied — no matter what.  He would never let the opposing team dictate what he did on either end of the court.  He was always attacking and always aggressive, and he did it with such elegance making opponents look silly.

I'll never forget seeing the highlight of Jordan against the Trailblazers.  It was the 1992 NBA Finals, and he had just made his sixth three pointer of the game. He looked to Magic Johnson on the sideline and shrugged as if to say, "How can I be this good?" At that moment, I thought to myself, "Now that is greatness at its peak."

Sometimes I hear people say that the competition today is so strong and the athletes are so much better than they were, but I tend to disagree. Keep in mind that Jordan was competing night in and night out against some of the top players to ever play the game and in an era which produced so many Hall of Fame players who we think of as transcending the sport of basketball. Bird, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing are just a few of the players that Jordan had to compete against for a good part of his career and he not only competed successfully against them, he dominated on a scale so out of this world, we can't even fully appreciate it to this day. Today's game — which lacks the dominant centers of that time — makes Jordan's feats almost more amazing.  Just think of all the great big men of that time and what it took to finish at the rim and score. Defenses were also much tougher in Jordan's era with fewer rules than we now have.  

Think of the way Jordan abused the "Bad Boys" of Detroit back in the late '80s. Although the Pistons won their playoff series against the Bulls in 1989, Jordan dominated those games in ways players today can't even imagine. Eventually, Jordan learned to channel that aggression into a team concept making the Bulls of the '90s one of the most dominant teams in NBA history.

What made Jordan so great was his ability to take his game to another level in the games that really mattered.  This is what defined him, and this is how we remember him, especially later in his career.  Whether it be guarding the opposing team's best player and not letting him score or simply knocking down jump shots with ease and grace, he refused to let his team lose.  

Put simply, Jordan is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.  

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