Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Why Does LeBron Own the Lakers Head-to-Head?

There are plenty of heated story lines going into today's highly explosive matchup at the Staples Center between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, from Mike Brown coaching against his former superstar to whether the Lakers can pass a major litmus test. 

Although those stories are intriguing, there is no doubt the Kobe-LeBron dual is going to be the one headline that will captivate everyone.

Kobe Bryant raised eyebrows this weekend by saying that he's never had a rival throughout his NBA career.

Shot at LeBron?

Perhaps. 

For as long as we can remember, many people, especially Laker's fans, want to make the conjecture that Kobe is better than LeBron and their only argument is that he has five rings compared to James' goose egg. 

However, that argument isn't fair. Championships are not individual accomplishments. Teams win titles, not players. Let's face it, Kobe's title-winning Laker teams have all been stacked with guys like Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. 

LeBron, on the other hand, had Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the most part. And he was still able to go to the Finals with very little help in 2007. 

For the most part, it's hard to blame James for his lack of playoff success. The only fair argument would be last year's NBA Finals, but even then the only reason why Miami made the Finals was because of James.

And for Kobe to say that he's never had a rival when James has been absolutely tearing it up in Cleveland and Miami is foolish.

In fact, James' Cavs and Heat are 11-6 against Kobe's Lakers in head-to-head matchups and it can be argued that in most of those games the Lakers had the better team. 

So what has lead to LeBron's success against the Lakers?

Here's a thought: James is the best player in the game and has been for a long time, and Kobe shoul...