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He is not better than, as good as, or even truly comparable to Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant tries to emulate Michael Jordan, but that does not make him "The Next Michael Jordan." Yes, Kobe's 81 point performance was remarkable, and he deserves props for that, but making exaggerated claims is not the way to do it.
Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T.: the Greatest of All Time. What we have to remember is that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played in two entirely different eras. By comparing Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan, you're comparing basketball today to basketball in its heyday. Yes, there is still a lot of talent in the league today, but not nearly the amount as there was in the 80s and 90s. The dominating big men that used to play in Jordan's time are simply non-existent these days. When Jordan drove to the basket, he drove it straight into Patrick Ewing, The Dream, 'Zo', Zeke, The Admiral. Kobe does not have to contend with any of that. The dominance of Shaq today was mediocrity amongst the centers of the 90s.
The attitude in the league has also changed, as reflected by the players and rule changes made in the league once Jordan left. Player's now days are far more offensive-minded than they used to be. Offense is where the glory lies. The purely offensive attitude of the players in the league these days has shifted focus off of defense, ergo, players simply can not play defense as well as they once used to be able to. Furthermore, if you recall, once Jordan left, the league fell into a state of desperation to bring back the glory which apparently only Michael Jordan could bring to the league. The years following Jordan's exit from the league, the average score of the games dropped, and consequently, ratings dropped. In order to reverse this, the league changed rule after rule to make it easier to score, and create highlight-worthy plays. The league received what it wanted. Points per game increased, highlight-worthy plays increased, and ratings increased. What was lost was quality basketball. As if the attitude of the newer players about defense wasn't bad enough, these new rule changes actually reinforced those attitudes. Now, defense was not only not respected, it was not allowed, as you can see by some of the touch-fouls that they call in the league now days. Back in Jordan's day, those were never called. When players scored back in the 90s, it was by raw talent, not due to some cheap rule. In fact, this hinders the game so much, that in an interview Mike D'antoni stated that the reason that America has so much trouble in the international game is because of "the physicality of play, they can touch, they can hold, they can push. They play the game within the game and we'll gave to adjust to all of that because we're not use to being touched." One can certainly see that this never phased the 1992 dream team.
Given that the league lacks quality big-men, players don't find defense as important, and that the rules make defense almost non-existent, I think it is safe to say that scoring in the league was much harder in 1986 than it is in 2006. I do not believe that it would have been uncommon to see Jordan have an 80, 90, or 100+ point night were he able to play as he was in his prime today. The discrepancies in the league make Kobe's 81 point outburst insignificant in an argument comparing him to Michael Jordan.
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