Data-ism – So, who's better LeBron or Kobe?

While we typically think of data and its' use for marketing intelligence, the sports world eats, lives, breathes data as well. The entire lead-in to the NBA All Star Game was the hotly debated question – who is better – LeBron James or Kobe Bryant? Fans throughout the country compiled numbers and percentages and the chatter among sportscasters continued 24/7 interpreting all this minutia to make their predictions.

Sports bars were sending out mailings to mailing lists in their local markets with game day specials and offering their patrons lots of opportunities to participate in trivia contests designed to interpret the data. There were alot of wings sold and a lot of beers hoisted in this huge debate over which athlete is better. And, what does "better" even mean?

Data-accountability-wise, do we compare LeBron's performance over the past 7 years with Kobe's performance over his first 7 years or over his entire 14 regular NBA seasons? I decided to give Kobe a break and give him credit for his entire 14 year NBA career as we look at some of the numbers.

LeBron played in 548 games, with an average of 40.3 minutes per game; an overall field goal percentage of 48%, an overall 3-point percentage of 33% and an overall free throw percentage of 74%. LeBron averaged 7.0 rebounds per game, 7.0 assists per game and 27.8 points per game.

Kobe played in 1,021 games, with an average of 36.6 minutes per game; an overall field goal percentage of 46%, an overall 3-point percentage of 34% and an overall free throw percentage of 84%. Kobe averaged 5.3 rebounds per game 4.7 assists per game and 25.3 points per game.

So, based on all the numbers – just the data - who is really "better"?

Back to the All Star Game - the West won (again) and Chris Paul got the MVP nod. LeBron James scored 19 points with 5 assists and Kobe Bryant scored 9 points with 8 assists.....but headline on CBS sports was "Kobe Bryant gets the best of LeBron James as West beats East".

In the new religion of Data-ism, we live by the data. To my friends over at CBS Sports, I ask - is that what the data really said? And, where was that editorial board headline decision even made - LA or Miami? Did they use the data...or did they pick a headline that sounded good?

By the way,as an official Dataman Group season ticket holder and die-hard Miami Heat fan, I'll take Lebron all the way.

And, by the way, one of the famous Dataman Group DataDogs is actually named Kobe!