i think i know the difference
as some know, we are well immersed in the nba playoffs. this post pertains to that, so if ur not interested go ahead and forget this.
one of the most perplexing things that i always wonder about is the comparison between michael jordan and kobe bryant. theyre both great scorers, incredibly competitive, and a little bit arrogant. in fact, if u look at kobe bryant's career stats, 4 of his 11 seasons were most comparable to michael jordan at that age, and forgetting age, 5 of his 11 seasons were most comparable to jordan. yet, mj has always been, and will always be, celebrated as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, known worldwide and loved by about 95% of people. kobe, on the other hand, will no doubt go down as one of the greatest players, but i cant see him being thought of as "the best," as jordan is, nor can i see him being loved by more than maybe 50% of people (to be generous). so why the difference? unfortunately for kobe, it was too much too soon.
there are a number of different things that contributed to their different connotations. surely the rape charges against kobe turned off a lot of people to him (although most forget that mj also committed adultery, and then paid his lover to keep quiet). but there was mounting anti-kobe sentiment building before that incident took place. no, the real basis for the enmity was kobe's quick path to success. granted, he went through a couple rough early years, getting eliminated by the jazz twice and being swept back-to-back years; but he still was able to net 3 championships by his 24th birthday and had netted close to $34 million, not counting ad/shoe money. it was a quick rise to stardom, one that was probably too quick for his own good.
jordan, on the other hand, struggled to find true success during the early part of his career. instead of shaq and eddie jones holding his hand through 50-win seasons, mj had orlando woolridge and quintin dailey (i know you're thinking "who?", so i added the link), struggling with him to a combined .439 winning percentage, failing to finish with a winning record even once. then once he did start seeing regular season success, the detroit pistons stood in his way three years in a row, doling out equal measures of physical and mental pain. during this time, basketball fans sympathized with mj, the great player with mediocre teammates, desperately trying to win his championship and attain validation. once he had finally won, there was a collective feeling of "good for him," similar to those for peyton manning this past february.
had kobe gone through a similar period of hardships and failure, playing his hardest and repeatedly falling short, people would have identified with him more, and consequently, looked more favorably on him. instead of comments like "kobe was a ball hog, shooting 31 times and scoring 57 points and causing the lakers to lose," people would be saying "wow, look at those stiffs kobe is playing with. he put up 57 points and it still wasn't enough to win." similarly, his alleged rape would have still been a big deal, but after the girl dropped the charges, the stigma would not have lingered. there would not have been as much assumed guilt on kobe's part, and more animosity towards that girl for accusing a greal basketball star of rape and trying to get attention.
in short, kobe would have been looked on more favorably by the public, more like mj. or at the very least, less like laius