This question has been asked probably 1.5 million times or more: Who had the better game? Michael Jordan’s 69 or Kobe’s 81?
Mach 28, 1990 the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113, led by Michael Jordan who scored 69 points that night, which accounted for 59% of the Bulls point total. And he did it by shooting 23-37 from the floor which was a blistering .621 percentage, not only that he was almost perfect from the foul line, shooting 21-23 which was .913. He also grabbed 18 rebounds (7 offensive) and still managed to dish out 6 assists. It wasn’t only his offensive game that was going, he put in work on the defensive end as well, stealing the ball 4 times. Jordan was always known as not only the best offensive player in the NBA but the best defensive player as well. Jordan put on one of the greatest single game performances of all-time.
On Jan. 22, 2006 the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-104 in which Kobe Bryant scored 81 points which is 2nd all-time for a single game behind Wilt’s 100 back in the 1800’s. The 81 points scored by Bryant accounted for 66% of the Lakers point total. He did it by shooting 28-46 from the field which was a .608 percentage, shot 7-13 from 3-pt land and 18-20 from the foul line. He grabbed 12 less rebounds than Jordan, with 6 total and barely passed the ball getting only 2 assists. He also added 3 steals.
Now looking at the stats, who would you say had the better game?
Michael Jordan scoring 69 points or Kobe’s 81?
proballerslounge 
Jordan. By the way, Kobe’s 26-46 is not a .608 FG%. It’s .565.
Give Jordan 9 more shots at merely .555 (not unreasonable considering he shot .621 for the game), and he makes 5 of them. Jordan also hit 21 FTs on 23 FGs, .913. Give him 4 more FTs made on the additional 5 FGs made (a mere .8 clip), and that leaves him with 83 points on 46 shots, assuming no additional 3PT made. Not only was Jordan a more efficient scorer in his 69 pt game, but completely obliterated Kobe in rebounds, and topped him in assists and steals. Kobe wins for pure gun-slinging/minute, but Jordan most definitely had the better all-around game.
Kobe was 28-46 not 26-46
my mistake, Kobe was 28-46 which was .608, it was an error on my part by hitting 6 instead of 8. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I agree, Jordan had the better game and even played against the better team. The Cavs finished 42-40 that year while the Raptors finished 27-55
Forget free throws and Kobe wins, scoring about 1.5 points per minute to Jordan’s just under 1 per minute. Throw in rebounds and assists and its a toss up. Cleveland had some dud players as well.
I Would say Jordan based on his overall game. Both put on some of the greatest performances ever though