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“Kobe Bryant won 4-1, while LeBron James lost 0-4 to the same team!”: When the Lakers legend demolished the San Antonio Spurs while the King got swept in the finals

Jeet Pukhrambam
Published

Kobe Bryant gave the San Antonio Spurs a gentlemen's sweep, whereas LeBron James' Cavs were the ones swept in the 2007 Finals.  

Kobe Bryant gave the San Antonio Spurs a gentlemen’s sweep, whereas LeBron James’ Cavs were the ones swept in the 2007 Finals.  

The debates between NBA greats will never stop. The Mount Rushmore of NBA players, as folks call it will constantly change. For now, the attention is firmly on two players, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

The two athletes have been transcendent for the sport. Only Michael Jordan can eclipse them in terms of popularity. So when a team comes around and sweeps LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, it is big news.

The year is 2007 and the San Antonio Spurs have been dominant. They meet Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, led by a young 23-year-old LeBron James.

The task at hand is simple enough and the star power on the San Antonio Roster is enough to brush aside the young king. Tim Duncan imparts some wisdom to LeBron, even thanking him for the title.

Duncan might have heralded the forthcoming of LeBron James, but he still had to defend his title in 2008. The Spurs team, while formidable met their match in another superstar, Kobe Bryant.

Also read: “How does Ice Cube not have LeBron James on his list?!”: The American rapper’s Mt Rushmore is headlined by Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

Kobe gave the Spurs a gentlemen’s sweep meanwhile they gave LeBron James a proper sweep!

While LeBron James didn’t have the star-studded roster required to beat the Spurs, neither did Kobe. The only outstanding name on Bryant’s team was Pau Gasol.

This curious statistic shows us that LeBron and Kobe’s supporting cast put up nearly identical numbers against the spurs. So the case is to be made for Bryant being better than LeBron.

Another important thing of note is that both the superstars faced the Celtics and the Magic over the course of the next two years, LeBron lost to both whereas Kobe beat them both to win his 4th and 5th championships.

LeBron may have been in his early 20s at the time, but it is still a good debate. Was Kobe that much better than him during his prime or has LeBron’s key to success always been his longevity?

One title separates them both, let’s see if LBJ can get his hands on the 5th one and reignite the debate.

Also read: “Brian Windhorst, how dare you Andrew Wiggins’ performance a checkbook win?!”: NBA Twitter rages as senior ESPN writer makes outrageous claim about the Warriors

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

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Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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