RE: GP vs. Kidd..and the MVP.

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

First let me say that we're talking about two great players. No question.

But if you're reducing Kidd's game to statistics, you're missing the point
entirely. As good as Payton is, I'd wager that the Sonics would be a better
team with Kidd at point guard and the Nets wouldn't be as good with Payton
at point guard. Kidd's stats are secondary when evaluating him as a player.
He makes all the other players better. He makes the team better. Payton does
that to an extent, but not like Kidd. In fact, many of Payton's teammates
hate playing with him, while Kidd's positively gush about Jason. Can I show
you stats to prove Kidd is better? Nope. But you can see it when you watch
both players and their teams.

The closest comparison I can think of is early-career Magic and Isiah. Magic
hadn't become the scorer he eventually was. He wasn't a good shooter. But
even then, he controlled the game. Isiah was an explosive scorer and racked
up plenty of assists, but he didn't dominate a game the way Magic did.
Eventually Isiah improved in that area, but he never matched Magic. Same
with Kidd and Payton. GP doesn't control a game the way Kidd does.

Like I said, we're talking about two great players. But if you're asking me
to choose a point guard for my team, I'll take Kidd.

Mark