We all know about the debate, which is ” Who is the best player in the NBA?”  When this comes up, I know me and my lil cousin always gets into it.  Is the best player in the NBA Koby Bryant or Lebron James?

We know that both of them have a SICK BBall game right?  But which of the 2 has the Swag?  To be honest neither of them has the swag like Mr. Swagga right?  Yall all know that my “SWAG IS SO SICK.”  Naw but foreal which one of these all-stars would you pick?  Do you consider their stats?  Do you consider their experience?  Do you consider who is cheating on who?  Oh damn did I just say that?  Ok I did but what do you go by when you are trying to pick “The Best NBA Player”?  Is it Dywane Wade from Miami?  Alot of questions huh?  Well yall answer them.

But when they’re talking about most skilled — as in, the guy with the most creativity, body control, up-and-unders, flip shots, dunks, shakes, pivots, and all that — Bryant has James by a country mile right? or not?  Just check out Bryants Highlight Reel below and you tel me.

You could easily look at that and give it to Koby Bryant.  But we all know that Lebron James alot more then the average man.  But in all the Bryant Highlights, we would have to agree that their are somethings in them that even James can’t do.

Of course, there’s a lot more to winning games than being creative, though. And in basketball, size is a skill. That’s where the 6-9, 250-plus pound James is much better than the 6-6, 205 Bryant.

One tiny illustration of how that come sometimes matter: Down the stretch of the fourth quarter of last night’s Lakers at Celtics, Kobe Bryant created some miracles for the Lakers by hitting three 3-pointers — often with defenders draped all over him.

But look at the shot chart for Bryant in the fourth quarter and overtime. Bryant never got to show off any creativity. Despite his limitless skill, he was never near that hoop with the ball when the game was on the line — even with Boston’s big mean basket protector Keven Garnett on the bench with six fouls.

Being near the hoop is valuable — it gets you fouled, and it gets you or your teammates high-percentage layups and dunks.

In the fourth quarter, Bryant missed two long 2-point jumpers. In overtime he missed all of his four long shots.

The Lakers won, so there’s nothing much to worry about here. And this small sample size doesn’t prove much of anything. But to me it seems to fit a little bit of a trend. Out of the trio of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant, I suspect Bryant is the lifelong leader in catching the ball, and shooting it, without getting near the basket.

The fact that Bryant can score so efficiently taking such difficult shots … that’s what makes him a miracle worker. He makes tough long shots all the time. But many times, if I were a coach, I’d prefer to see my superstar at the rim.

It’s a challenge to Bryant’s game that is not present for LeBron James.

Against that same Celtics defense, the shot charts reveal, James gets to the rim time and again.

No, this doesn’t settle anything about who’s better. And no, it doesn’t mean Bryant doesn’t outshine James in many aspects of the game.

The thing to keep in mind, though, is that just as Bryant can make shots James could never even think of, the same is also true in reverse — even if it’s not as dazzling.

But I had to put Lebron James Highlight Reel for 2007 in too.  So now you be the judge!