Great thread on Kobe vs. West by @Wilts_GOAT

My thread is a little different.

For both players, I'll adjust from their era to median era of the 1955-2020 period.
West played in the highest PTS & REB era; Kobe played in lowest.

I'll use per 36 MP to further level the field. https://twitter.com/Wilts_GOAT/status/1318452522223345664

Career adjusted era & per 36 MP:

FG%, FT%, TS, R/36, A/36, P/36
.504, .835, .587, 3.7, 6.0, 23.0 West
.465, .837, .541, 5.5, 4.9, 26.9 Kobe

West more efficient: TS+ 112-103
West more AST. But played PG for 1/2 career.

Kobe higher PTS & REB. This shows importance of adjusting.

West is incredibly consistent, especially in scoring, after his rookie year. He really had a 12 year peak.
You can see his assists go up in second half of career as became PG.
His TS% is consistently far above Kobe's.

Kobe's 2006 (33.8/36) is an all-time monster scoring year.

Kobe fans claim that his last three years after his 2013 injury don't really count.

But without 2014-16, his career adjusted stats don't change much:

FG%, FT%, TS, R/36, A/36, P/36
.465, .837, .541, 5.5, 4.9, 26.9 (1997-2013)
.471, .838, .547, 5.5, 5.0, 27.2 (1997-2016)

West vs. Kobe: RS Advanced Stats:

WS/48:
.213 West
.170 Kobe

OWS/48:
.164 West
.121 Kobe

DWS/48
.050 West
.050 Kobe

PER:
22.9 West
22.9 Kobe

WS & PER include all stats.
But OWS is sensitive to efficiency, so West > Kobe.
PER is more sensitive to scoring, so PER is closer.

Kobe has significant advantage in longevity, 33% more MP:
48637
36571

So let's look at Kobe's career through when he had played about the same number of MP as West's entire career. That is a more apples-apples comparison.

Through 2010, Kobe played 37366 MP, close to West's 36571 (795 more).

But Kobe's average career stats through 2010 aren't much different than his entire career.

FG%, FT%, TS, R/36, A/36, P/36
.504, .835, .587, 3.7, 6.0, 23.0 West
.473, .839, .549, 5.5, 4.9, 27.0 Kobe 1997-2010

Advanced stats: West & Kobe through 2010:

MP:
37366 Kobe
36571 West

WS/48:
.213 West
.187 Kobe

OWS/48:
.164 West
.134 Kobe

DWS/48
.050 West
.053 Kobe

PER:
22.9 West
23.5 Kobe

TS+:
112 West
105 Kobe

So regular-season stats (adjusted for era & MP) and RS advanced stats are close.

So:
West > Kobe if you like TS%, AST, OWS.
Kobe > West if you like PTS, REB, PER.

Kobe has a 1/3 longer career in MP, so I'd take him.
(Ofc, Kobe able to start in NBA 4 years younger than West.)

West vs. Kobe: Playoffs

Career PO stats, adjusted era & 36 MP:

FG%, FT%, TS, R/36, A/36, P/36
.503, .830, .579, 3.5, 5.6, 24.2 West
.477, .820, .539, 5.0, 5.1, 26.3 Kobe

Very similar to their RS stats. Also similar to each other's stats.

Note: All Kobe's POs before injury.

West vs. Kobe: Advanced Stats in Playoffs:

WS/48:
.203 (.213 in RS) West
.157 (.170 in RS) Kobe

OWS/48:
.162 (.164 RS) West
.117 (.121 RS) Kobe

DWS/48:
.041 (.050 RS) West
.041 (.050 RS) Kobe

PER:
23.1 West
22.4 Kobe

Kobe vs. West: Summary

After adjusting for era & 36 MP:

Kobe > West in PTS, REB
West > Kobe in TS%, AST, OWS

Defense: DWS/48: EVEN

Kobe's post-injury stats didn't bring his RS career averages down much. (No POs after injury.)

Kobe 33% more MP. (But he started 4 yrs younger.)