Can you be the best player in the NBA... yet not be the best player on your Olympic team?

Question

Top USA players:

1. Wade

2. LeBron

3. Chris Paul

(Kobe come in somewhere 4-7)

How can he be the best player in the NBA, yet not be the best on team USA? Shouldn't that be the ultimate judgment considering they're playing the same competition with the same teammates?

Answer 1

Dude check out Michael Jordan's page on wikipedia and scroll down to his international career and you'll find out that Jordan wasn't the most productive player in the 1992 Olympics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jor...

or better yet look at the wikipedia page of US Basketball and scroll down to the 1992 Summer Olympics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Team_...

You'll see that MJ was only the fourth leading scorer behind Barkley and Mullin.

Now is Charles Barkley and Chris Mullin better than Michael Jordan?

Answer 2

great point. Further proving that Kobe is not the best. First The finals Now the Olympics. I rest my case!

Answer 3

KG is the best in the NBA see NBA title and 39 point blow out of

who you think is the best.

Answer 4

Rating players is a purely subjective venture. Some would argue that Bryant is the best player in the NBA, others would argue for James, while still others would argue that neither is the best.

But to answer your question, comparing players' efforts on the Olympic team to what they do in the NBA is like comparing apples to oranges, The Olympic is team is, for all intents and purposes, an All Star team so some players' roles are different. A playmaker such as Wade or Paul will have more value because they drive the team but NBA megastars such as Bryant don't have to carry the load as he does with the LaLas, so his value is subsequently diminshed.

Therefore, though Bryant may be top dog in the NBA he's part of an incredibly talented Olympic squad in Beijing and doesn't have to take over the game as he does at home..

Answer 5

No.

Answer 6

Kobe isn't even better than Carmelo.

But in FIBA Americas 2007, Carmelo was clearly the second best player on the team.  Does that make him a great player in the NBA?

No.

However, if you can't even do well on the international stage when defenders aren't even guarding you, you definitely have some problems.

Here's the difference between Jordan and Kobe in the Olympics.

Jordan was the best player in the 1984 Olympics. Jordan didn't do well offensively in 1992 because he was the only player being double-teamed and other countries were more ready for him since 1984.  Jordan was the 4th highest scorer - look at the 3 players ahead of him.  So what? And look at Jordan's defense, it was good.

Kobe isn't the best player in the 2008 Olympics, probably only the 7th best player!  Look at the players better than him... dang! He sucked offensively and they're only playing them man-to-man or zone, and defensively, he still sucked.  

So the next time when someone say Jordan sucked in the Olympics, tell them about the 1984 Olympics and how, in 1992, people were double-teaming him.

Answer 7

they dont get the same minutes so u really cant compare them

Answer 8

KOBE HATER YOU KNOW HES MVP AND U PUT HIM IN CAPTIONS  

Answer 9

No not really.  Competition against the best is how you would compare the best.  USA is not playing the best competion in the world.  How they do in the NBA is how you compare who is the best.  Olympics is a terrible measuring stick for who is the best.  Especially when your sixth man is D. Wade.

Answer 10

Absolutely. The international game is different from the NBA. Also, a star player on an NBA team can be the star and the go to guy and only option but on an Olympic roster, there are 12 stars so everyone pretty much shares a role and no one plays ballhog. Kobe is much more aggressive with the Lakers but with Team USA, he plays defesive specialist and doesn't look to score a lot.  

Answer 11

best player in the NBA plays 80 plus games.

best player in the olympics plays 6 games.

should this be the ultimate judgment considering? (to paraphrase your question...)

Answer 12

Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magics,Center-Forward,6'11,1st pick of 2004 NBA Draft,

-He is the new best player in center position,the new beast of east,and the big man,,

led the Magics in Blocks

led the Magics in rebound

led the Magics in scorer

led the magics in field goal attempted

-He already blocked Kobe,Carmelo,Yao,and many other superstars,,,

-NBA Live 2009,his rating will be above 90