Dwight Howard chooses between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James

The hot debate these days is whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest player in NBA history. Many still give the nod to Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s and never lost in the NBA Finals.

For some people, there is also a hot debate about whether James or Kobe Bryant was a better player. There are those who believe that Bryant, the late Los Angeles Lakers legend who led the franchise to five world titles, was a superior player because of his sublime scoring skills and incredible abilities in crunch time.

Dwight Howard is an incredibly lucky man, as he got to play with both Bryant and James during his Hall of Fame career. During an appearance on the “Club 520” podcast, he appeared to give James the nod as the overall better player, but with one caveat — a big one.

“Everything combined, you got to give it to LeBron,” Howard said. “Scoring-wise, I got to say I like Kobe. If it’s late in the game, I’m giving the ball to Kobe. I’m not going to give the ball to LeBron late in the game. I’m going to give it to Kobe.”

While one could argue James is the better scorer, especially since he’s the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Bryant was definitely much more skilled in that category. He was, according to many, the superior player in crunch time, and much of his legend is based on how he regularly rose to the occasion under pressure.

In fact, the late Dr. Jack Ramsay, one of the greatest coaches and teachers in basketball history, once called Bryant the greatest closer in the history of basketball. He said that Bryant would not only hit the game-winning shot, but prior to that, Bryant would hit a series of shots or make plays to bring the Lakers back from a deficit and put them in position to win.

While James has hit his share of clutch shots during his 22-year career, some feel he has faltered in big moments or simply failed to deliver too often.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Dwight Howard chooses between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James