I understand why Kobe gets that rep, I respect his game, but I don’t know why MJ is known as a “killer” when LeBron isn’t. MJ has 0 career ejections, 52 career techs, and 2 career flagrants. Meanwhile, LeBron as 2 career ejections, 90 career techs, and 8 career flagrants. He had a career high of 10 techs in one season, whereas MJ at his best only had 5. LeBron is much more dangerous on the court than MJ ever was, and is more likely to bite when provoked. MJ just barked, and had to recruit guys like Rodman to do his biting for him. LeBron did his own biting when pushed far enough, which is rare since he’s a scarier dog anyways.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/1035/type/nba/seasontype/2
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/1966/type/nba/seasontype/2
Kobe was a true killer though. Bro was out for blood every night. He has 7 career ejections, 196 techs, and 9 flagrants.
A serious answer, and I am not getting into who was better, blah blah. But in sports having that killer drive to go at your opponent and basically say “I am going to beat you and finish you myself” is well received by other athletes and many fans. Lebron has always had the “Make the right play” mentality, which means very often throughout his career he will pass to role players for crucial shots. This gets taken the wrong way by many. You also have to factor in that it took Lebron a long Time to get respect as a top 2 all time, literally till 2016 with the Cavs. His early playoff failures hung over him for a long Time. Getting beat by Orlando in the ECF, having that terrible series against Boston where he was a no show while in Cleveland, getting beat by the 1 superstar team Dallas Mavs in Miami. And even when he won in Miami, there are a lot of fans that view it as the KD rings in GSW, as too easy and expected. It is why the Cleveland win is what started to turn the narrative for Lebron from a choker to a winner honestly.