keith crime, on Monday, March 26th, 2007, 9:35 PM, said:
My LA friend does claim that Kobe doesn't get the calls michael got - i'm open to hear debate on that
Long Post. I have too much time on my hands.I think this is an interesting topic. Everyone seem to think, like BigDMcGee, that Jordan got more calls that anyone. I'm not sure that's entirely true.First, its tough to even measure that, but the only historical stat that comes remotely close is free throw attempts per game (FTAPG). Even then you have to look at that in proportion to how many shots they put up (FGAPG).I'm convinced that Jordan got that rep from the 86-87 season when he had 11.9 FTAPG. I even remember Magic making a comment about how you cant touch Mike when he's got the ball. Jordan averaged 9.1 in 1984-85, 10.5 in 1987-88, and 9.8 in 1988-89. After that he numbers were much more average. He never broke the 9 barrier again. More importantly his FTAPG were not unusual during his championship years.If you look back there were other guys that did have a high amount of FTAPG consistantly. IMO, Karl Malone got way more calls and he played at the same time as Jordan. Here's a look at a few players with their career FGAPG and FTAPG (I'm only including guys that could actually hit free throws. So guys like Wilt and Shaq are left off because teams intentionally put them on the line).Player FGAPG FTAPGJordan 22.9 8.2Kobe 18.4 7.3Malone 17.8 8.9DRobinson 14.4 8.3West 20.4 9.4ORobinson 18.9 8.8Pettit 21.3 10.3When you look at those numbers, you might actaully argue that Jordan didnt go to the line enough. So I have a hard time saying he got more calls than anyone in history.When you look at the Kobe-Jordan comparison, some important things should be mentioned. First, Kobe hasnt always been a star. When he played with Shaq, he didnt get hounded nearly as much as he does today. But he has been the man for the last few years. Remember how Jordan only broke the 9 FTAPG barrier 4 times. Well Kobe has averaged just over 10 the last 2 years and should get 10 again this season. I'll bet he averages a high number of attempts next season as well. Thats doesnt sound all that different to me.Second, Jordan didnt play with todays rules. Defenders could actually hold people on the perimeter. And if you went into the lane, watch out (no flagrant fouls back then). The Pistons and Knicks openly admitted to trying to beat Jordan up. Trust me Jordan was getting fouled and fouled often. Once again, you could say he didnt get enough calls.People in Kobe's camp will say the zone defense exist today. That's true, but it's only made the game tougher for post players. Thats because of what I call the Dwayne Wade rule: Charge into the lane, run into the nearest STATIONARY post defender, and then go to the line. I actually see shot blockers jumping away from the offensive player. In Jordans day that contact was part of the game. (For the record, I like todays rules overall).I'd say that Kobe and Jordan get/got about the same amount of calls, and that Jordan didn't get more calls than everyone else.