Mentally tougher ON COURT: Jordan or Kobe?

[HeartBreakKid]

Jordan would stop shooting halfway through a Game 7 just to prove a point to the media that the team's worse when he doesn't score. Advantage MJ.

Pettiness and insecurity of what people think is mental strength to you?

[IG2]

I think they both approached every situation with equal confidence and aggression. Be it a close game, big run by the opposition, going through a shooting drought, being down big, nothing fazed either player. They always had supreme self-belief. That IS mental toughness - dealing with on-court adversity the same way you would deal with any other game situation. I do think MJ was a little less likely to get frustrated when things weren't going his way and start forcing the issue. He could, just not to the extent Kobe was prone to sometimes.

Mental toughness is NOT what separates MJ and Kobe, btw. They are pretty much equals at that. MJ was just better at basketball.

[Greed]

I don't think Curry's a great qualifier for a beacon of mental toughness seeing what occurred in the 2016 Finals when CLE and especially LeBron were in his head. That moment where he got so upset he threw his mouthpiece at a fan is known as boiling over/melting down, however you want to put it

That said

Jordan would stop shooting halfway through a Game 7 just to prove a point to the media that the team's worse when he doesn't score. Advantage MJ.

Jordan actually did something quite similar to this against the Pistons in 89, though not in a Game 7

Tim Duncan is probably one of the most underrated yet consistent players as far as mental toughness goes.

[Dr Spaceman]

Although I agree that ego has nothing to do with it, I'm not sure why you would balk at describing Kobe or Mike as people that have mental toughness. And actually I do think playing through pain is indicative of mental toughness. As admirable as respect, humility, and being graceful to the media are, that's not what the OP is talking about.

Kobe's ego is not what makes him tough. It is, as you mentioned, his work ethic. But I think more than anything what people refer to when they say "mental toughness" is their inability to be daunted. They can be down a lot late in the game, but they just never give up and they impose their will. If things just start to crumble and not go their teams way, you can sometimes see in the team a tangible discouragement and acceptance of the inevitable, that they can't stop the bleeding -- the mentally tough ones are the ones who in that moment don't crumble, who exude confidence and impose their will no matter what. Their decision making at that point is secondary -- but their attitude lifts the entire team, and restores that spark that seemed to vanish. It makes everyone play better and harder. That's extremely valuable, even if it doesn't show up in any stat, regardless of whether you agree with his decision making in those moments or not. Kobe definitely had that. In that regard, he was one of the greatest.

Steph Curry may be a much nicer human being that Kobe. He may make better decisions on the court. But it's puzzling to me that you would use him as an example of mental toughness over Kobe. It seems to me you have to redefine mental toughness to mean a lot of other good qualities.

If he willing to entertain this line of thought if you could show me examples of:

1. Kobe willing his team back into games with this approach
2. Steph Curry failing to do it

Because frankly this to me is just a case of the book on Steph being written after the collapse against Cleveland. That was big, but it’s jsut one series. Why wasn’t Kobe able to use his mental toughness to stop a complete meltdown against Detroit in 04? Why not against Dallas in 11? Why didn’t his mental toughness save them then?

Here’s a brief history of Steph Curry vs. adversity:

Game 4 2015 vs. Memphis. Warriors down 2-1, media frenzy about Steph being a choker, jump shooting teams don’t win, etc. Steph responds with 33/8/5 on .64%, Warriors win the next 3.

Game 5 vs. CLE. Series tied 2-2, media frenzy about Steph being a choker, Steph responds with 37/7/5 on .75%.

Game 5 2016 vs. OKC. After suffering two straight blowouts at the hands of OKC and on the verge of collapse, Steph rallies for 31/7/6 on .64% in game 5.

In game 6, he rallies for 31/10/9 on .60

In game 7, he rallies for 37/5/8 on .71%.

It seems like he fares just fine against adversity aside from 1 series against the best player in the world where everything else went wrong as well. This, to me, is just more of the way Dirk was treated.

Oh please.

Where was Curry’s “mental toughness” when he played like a whimp against Cleveland in 2016 and they got tough with him and threw him way out of his game? And don’t bring up the bulls**t about injuries.

Cheers man Here’s to a long stay for you on this forum

[Winsome Gerbil]

Steph just seems like an odd choice, because I have very specific questions about his mental toughness. I have seen him shook. Seen him challenged on the biggest stages and blink. He presents as a bit of a frontrunner only too glad to hand the baton off when somebody pops him in the nose. Just on such a wildly talented team that that rarely happens.

[Pg81]

I'd take Bird over both of them.

[The Realist]

I have Jordan ranked at #36 and Kobe at #127.