Michael WinterMs. ChoEnglish 102Essay 1February 6, 2012Kobe vs LebronFor the past six or so years there has been a raging debate around the NBA world: Who is the better player, Kobe Bryant or Lebron James? Kobe Bryant is regarded by many to be the best basketball player of all time. Since Kobe entered the NBA in 1998 he has set scoring records and has won multiple NBA championships. Kobe Bryant even scored the second most points in a game in NBA history, eighty one points. On the other hand Lebron James came into the league much later in 2003, but has been the most valuable player in the NBA multiple times, though he has yet to win an NBA championship. Although his career has had less achievements he still has plenty of time left in the NBA. This article argues who is the better player in present day. Referring to a few articles arguing this situation and attempted to analyze them all. I decided to compare the elements of these articles from the viewpoints of Vatz, taking into consideration the exigencies, audience, and other things that relate to rhetoric according to Vatz.Vatz believes that rhetoric defines a situation; therefore this entire article about basketball playersis defined by rhetoric. Overall Vatz claims that the elements of rhetorical efforts are the struggle to create for a chosen audience and make them understand the central claim of the text.The exigency of the article I read first on Kobe and Lebron, is the argument regarding which player is better. The two players play basketball and this argument comes up for anyone who is a fan of the sport. The audience for this article is primarily basketball fans of this current day and age and all fans that have been asking the same question regarding the two players. The purpose of this article is to provide factual information on the two players to help the reader decide which player is better today. Vatz says that, “the acceptance of the audience on the argument has nothing to do with whether or not the argument is valid.” Vatz explains that the rhetor holds more power because he creates a situation to argue about that was not there before and makes it a common argument.In rhetoric there are different things that appeal to the reader. The article written by ESPN appeals mostly by using logic. This article uses mainly stats to get the overall message across for the reader to make their decision. It lists how many points per game Kobe (30.8) and Lebron (29.8), and these stats make the reader respond by use logic, in turn, they decide which player is better. Statistics are facts; facts convince people because they are concrete and do not change. According to most people, facts are true statements, facts usually are not wrong. This next article on Lakers blog appealed emotionally. This was written by a Kobe Bryant fan who obviously thought Kobe is a better player than Lebron. He states in an emotionally appealing way, saying, “Kobe is a classier individual…(2)” This statement makes the reader want to side with Kobe, not because of his performance on the basketball court, but his personality off of the court.The language style with which a rhetorical situation is presented has an effect on the audience. The article that appealed to logic using statistics is very straight forward and easy to understand. Someone with little knowledge of the two players would easily understand the exigencies being presented in this article. The other article I discovered on the topic was not as easy to read. The writer used slang words that maybe some readers cannot understand. It was much less precise and to the point, and it had much more useless information than the original article I chose. The rhetorical efforts by this article were wasted because of the type of language.It did not achieve the argument effectively for the selected audience. That is a big mistake according to Vatz.The exigencies were clear in this article along with; the audience, language style, and appeals. According to Vatz this will create a good argument. I understood fully what the article was claiming and it is clear that the elements that make this article, valid. Although each reader may get a different outcome from the information they are given, it is a very logic and concise article. Works Cited1. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1031800-kobe-vs-lebron-does-anyone-still-think-kobe-is-a-better-player-than-lebron2. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=56806383.