LeBron vs. Kobe — same old, same old. And Kwame Brown never gets tired of it. Fresh off trading shots with Lakers diehard Gilbert Arenas, the former No. 1 pick went back to his favorite program: keeping LeBron James humble. This time, he sprinkled in Kobe Bryant, a few stats, and even some GM chatter to stir the pot.

The timing wasn’t random either. Just days after Kobe Bryant’s birthday on August 23, Brown reignited the debate with a fiery take:

“So these guys need to stop comparing themselves to a guy like Kobe when they don’t have the work ethic as Kobe. When they don’t have the will and the mentality as Kobe. We can compare all the numbers in the world. But man to man against Kobe, these n—- will crumble.”

On one side, you have Arenas, who just finished explaining why he’d take LeBron James over Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. On the other? Kwame Brown, digging in his heels and making sure the late Lakers legend stays untouched in the conversation. Not exactly new from Brown or most players who witnessed the Mamba Mentality. James would agree himself. But this was the prelude to what really sparked a debate online.

“Man-to-man in any situation on a basketball court a GM, a team is giving the ball to Kobe. In any situation. At the free throw line with the game on the line they going with Kobe. Not LeBron. Game on line, with 3 seconds on the clock they giving it to Kobe. Not Lebron. Kobe don’t need windup dribbles, rhythm dribbles. Kobe knows how to get to a spot and get his shot off, rise up and thats all he needs.”

So of course fans had to bring out the stats online to back or refute Brown. Considering what Bryant’s former teammate mentioned, the Black Mamba does have a higher free throw percentage (83.7%) across 20 seasons in comparison to James (73.7%) who’s about to enter his 23rd season. James and Bryant are also tied with Joe Johnson for eight buzzer-beaters in their respective NBA careers, the second-highest in NBA history while Michael Jordan holds his record at nine.

Among all of them though, Kobe Bryant cements himself as a clutch player teammates like Kwame Brown rely on.

GMs back Kwame Brown’s LeBron-Kobe take

From 2002 through 2012, Kobe Bryant owned the GM survey’s “player you want taking the last shot” category. Year after year, he pulled commanding vote shares—peaking at 48.1% in 2011-12—cementing his reputation as the league’s defining closer.

Once Kobe’s era tapered off, the mantle shifted. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant became the go-to picks, their scoring versatility and perimeter dominance reshaping late-game trust. In recent years, Curry has emerged as the runaway favorite, commanding roughly 37–40% of GM votes in the 2024-25 survey, while Durant trailed at 23–27%.

One striking constant through this evolution: LeBron James has never been a fixture in this specific category. Despite his all-time resume and countless late-game highlights, GMs rarely, if ever, singled him out as the league’s most trusted closer. That absence underscores the narrative—Kobe defined the clutch era, and Curry and Durant inherited it.

GMs like James as the ‘best passer,’ ‘most athletic,’ and a better starter. Kobe was the GM favorite for MVP in the 2002-03 survey. James got more votes 11 times. Including in the 2007-08 season when Bryant won.

Very few players in NBA history can claim they’ve shared the floor with both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James—two of basketball’s most iconic figures. Dwight Howard belongs to that exclusive group. His career gave him a rare perspective: a turbulent but memorable year alongside Kobe in 2012–13, and later, a championship run with LeBron during the Lakers’ 2020 bubble title.

That vantage point makes Howard’s recent comments especially compelling. The 3x DPOY gave his insight when he was hosted on Club 520 Podcast, declaring, “Everything combined, you got to give it to LeBron,” Howard said. “Scoring-wise, I got to say I like Kobe. If it’s late in the game, I’m giving the ball to Kobe. I’m not going to give the ball to LeBron late in the game. I’m going to give it to Kobe.”

It’s a sentiment that echoes what many around the league have long believed: while LeBron’s all-around game is unmatched, Kobe’s identity was defined by his ruthless late-game shot-making.

Players like Gilbert Arenas – who awed Bryant by dropping 60 points against the Lakers – said that James’ rise overshadowed Kobe Bryant’s prime. “The time when you’re supposed to be fighting Jordan for who was better, he was fighting you for who was better now,” he claimed is his reason for taking Bron first.

As Arenas and Brown will never see eye to eye, Brown said, “Pretty much everybody know in the gym is going in is once he rise up and the ball don’t get deflected, it’s going in,” about Bryant. “If a superstar player can’t do that, then he does not qualify of that tier of superstar player,” is his way of saying James isn’t a superstar.

For GMs it was a toss-up. Bryant was the favorite clutch player. James was the most well-rounded player they could have. But Kwame Brown’s bringing emotion to a stat fight. Can’t argue there.