Jordan Clarkson Describes Differences Between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as Leaders
Jordan Clarkson is one of few guys in the NBA who has had the pleasure of playing with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant during his career.
Clarkson suited up with Bryant on the Lakers for the first two years of his career and has spent his last six games adjusting to life with James on the Cavaliers. Recently, during an appearance on Newsradio WTAM 1100 show CavsHQ, Clarkson spoke on what the differences are between playing with the King vs. playing with the Mamba.
He said one big part of playing with James is that he is "just giving us all confidence, and pushing us all to be better," compared to Bryant, who isn't as comforting when taking a more hands on approach.
"During my rookie year, Kob was always on me," Clarkson told hosts John Michael and Rafa Hernandez-Brito. "Get in the gym early with him, getting shots and stuff like that. When we got on the court, he was kinda, not as vocal as LeBron in terms of like being with everybody and encouraging and stuff, you know, Kob had his own of encouraging guys. But it was something similar."
He added that when Bryant was taking the time to interact with his teammates, it could get pretty aggressive.
"Two different styles of leadership," Clarkson said. "LeBron, very encouraging, bringing everybody along. And Kobe, he testing you, seeing what you gonna give him. He gonna yell at you, he gonna scream at you, he gonna cuss, he gonna do whatever it is. An elbow. He had his own way of leading guys as well. It's two different sides, I'm just blessed to see both of them."
In his handful of games with James, Clarkson is averaging 14.2 points on 40.7 percent shooting from three compared to the 13.9 points on 33.8 percent shooting from deep he had during his first two years in the league when he shared a backcourt with Bryant for a good portion of the time.
One aspect of leadership Clarkson can't compare with the two players however is what they are like in the postseason. Clarkson has not seen the playoffs yet in his four-year career, so this season will be his first taste of the postseason.
