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For most sports fans, this topic has been a continuing debate for years. Love him or hate him, Kobe Bryant might possibly be the biggest star in basketball, maybe even bigger than Jordan.

Taking a closer look at the comparison of Jordan and Bryant requires more than just subjective standpoints based on fan bias and common assumptions. Jordan played in a different era when NBA basketball was much more open and fluid. Jordan faced legends, played without the sissy hand checking rules and girly fouls, and didn't have one of the most dominate centers ever on his team.

However, Bryant is the closest thing to Jordan we've seen in the history of basketball and is one of the best players in the league today, but does he compare to Michael Jordan?

Most NBA fans will argue that Michael Jordan is the superior player. However, many fans choose Bryant over Jordan. Jordan was an ambassador to basketball and was instrumental in globalizing basketball during his career, not to mention humble that and a much more likeable player. Bryant with his unique athleticism and graceful cockiness is invincibly confident in his strengths and at the same time astonishingly unaware of his weaknesses.

When looking at a full analysis, it becomes quite clear that Jordan is the better basketball player, and possibly the best of all-time.

Jordan has six championships, scored 3000 points in a single season averaging 37 points a game while only shooting 66 three pointers, averaged six rebounds a game nine times in his career, made more than 50% of his shots 6 times in his career, averaged more than 6 assists three times; including a season where he averaged 8 assists a game, averaged more than a block a game 4 times in his career, averaged more than 2.2 steals a game nine times in his career, and averaged more than 3 turnovers 5 times in his career.

Kobe has three championships, has shot over 500 three pointers to average 35 points a game, has averaged over six rebounds a game 3 times in his career, only once has he averaged more than 2.2 steals a game, not once has averaged more than 50% from the field, only once has averaged 6 assists a game, averaged more than a block a game 4 times only once, and has averaged more than 3 turnovers 7 times with his worst season being 2004-05 where he averaged more than 4 turnovers a game, something Jordan never did.

Jordan never won without Pippin and Kobe hasn't won without Shaq. There is a slight difference here though. Jordan was the Batman to Pippin's Robin while Kobe was the Robin to Shaq's Batman.

Jordan will always be the original. He created a culture and some would even say a cult of sorts.

So as the “hoopla” continues, who do you think is the greatest of all-time?