Alex Rodriguez vs Kobe Bryant

[Matt15]

Who was the better player at their respective sport?

[HeartBreakKid]

Probably Alex. He was the best player more or less for 3-4 years, and had a few years as 2nd best player behind a GOAT level player in Barry Bonds.

Unless we punish him for steroids then he was more of a 1A-1B during his best years which is similarish to Bryant.

[penbeast0]

ARod's a bit short and his handles are really too loose to attack in traffic while Kobe modeled his game after Jordan so he probably can't hit a curve ball.

[DirtyDez]

Without addressing the obvious variable regarding A-Rod and strictly answering the question… it’s A-Rod. Also the fact A-Rod was a 3B while Jeter stuck at shortstop was a hilarious injustice costing the Yankees tons of runs over the course of his tenure there.

[Dr Positivity]

I have ARod as top 5 all time if you actually adjust for segregated competition being worse, I think he should be above guys like Ted that were barely better for their own era

[Cavsfansince84]

I have ARod as top 5 all time if you actually adjust for segregated competition being worse, I think he should be above guys like Ted that were barely better for their own era

I get the argument for ARod over Ted and guys from that era but I think you also have to factor in ARod using steroids starting in hs(I mean I doubt his own hs teammates would just make that up for the hell of it) and also him being seen as a serious slumper in the post season outside of 1-2 playoff series. I also think the argument that everyone was using falls a bit flat since a. I think it always helps someone who has higher end talent to start with and b. it obviously helped hitters more than pitchers since offensive numbers skyrocketed in the 90's. I also think Ted sort of put to bed the segregation arguments by batting .388 with 38hrs at age 38 in 1956(also career 191 ops+ to 140 for Arod so he stood out a lot more as a hitter).

[Dr Positivity]

I have ARod as top 5 all time if you actually adjust for segregated competition being worse, I think he should be above guys like Ted that were barely better for their own era

I get the argument for ARod over Ted and guys from that era but I think you also have to factor in ARod using steroids starting in hs(I mean I doubt his own hs teammates would just make that up for the hell of it) and also him being seen as a serious slumper in the post season outside of 1-2 playoff series. I also think the argument that everyone was using falls a bit flat since a. I think it always helps someone who has higher end talent to start with and b. it obviously helped hitters more than pitchers since offensive numbers skyrocketed in the 90's.

Well ARod leading the AL in WAR 6 times with 2 2nds and 2 3rds, which is rankings that compares pretty favorably to most players in history except a few like Bonds, Ruth, Mays, and Wagner (not sure why Cobb doesn't rank 1st more?) would come against other cheaters, although I agree some players bodies would take to steroids more.

I agree he may not have been the most clutch and I actually think his weird personality is a negative despite baseball being a more individual sport. I think it probably does make a difference to have a crazy intense leader guy like Pete Rose in the lockerroom vs ARod.

[MiltownMadness]

Arod took steroids, jaw literally dropped when I saw Arod was leading this poll on a basketball forum. Kobe did it with passion and hard work, there's no debate to be had

[iggymcfrack]

A-Rod was pretty clearly the best player in the game at points which you can never say for Kobe and he was elite from 1996-2009. That's 14 seasons. Kobe was elite for 12 seasons at best (2000-2011 + 2013) and some of those years you can nitpick. 2013 he missed the playoffs injured. 2000, 2002, and 2005 were all meh. A-Rod had more value in his weaker seasons too. So yeah, I don't think it's that close.

[theonlyclutch]

Statistically, (stupid NYY 3B move aside) A-Rod has a very good argument to be the GOAT SS, Kobe does not have a good argument to be GOAT at any basketball position.

[Asianiac_24]

A-Rod took steroids his whole career, starting from high school, even when steroids were not the norm. He also hasn’t been reliable in post season baseball. I’ll take Kobe

[RCM88x]

The steroid thing is stupid imo. This is A-Rod

[EmpireFalls]

Barry Bonds or LeBron?