Kobe Bryant was asked in 2006 to pick a championship-winning team in the NBA. He immediately picked both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, even noting that he and Wade can swap positions if needed. Kobe wasn’t able to decide who to pick for his bigs between Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, or Dirk Nowitzki.
“If I’m trying to win a championship in the NBA, obviously, I’m taking LeBron (James) for sure. I’m taking Dwyane Wade, he can play the two, and I’ll run the three. With bigs, it’s a toss-up depending on how you want to play. You want to go with Shaq at the five, are you going to put Tim Duncan? Are you going to put Garnett at the four, or do you want to take (Dirk) Nowitzki? You can go either way, you can’t go wrong.”
Kobe in 2006 picking his team to win a championship in the NBA:
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Shaq/Dirk/Garnett/Duncan
(via @ThrowbackHoops)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 16, 2024
The players Kobe named are some of the all-time greats in NBA history. Many believe that the players included by Bryant in his ideal team are the defining players of the NBA in the 2000s. The only exceptions from that type of list would perhaps be Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard.
Bryant’s confusion or trepidation with taking Shaquille O’Neal makes sense when you consider that this interview was in 2006, at the height of their animosity with each other. Shaq left the Lakers in 2004 after frustration and falling out with Bryant and went on to win an NBA championship in 2006 with Dwyane Wade on the Heat.
A team with Bryant, LeBron, and Dwyane Wade wouldn’t have just won an NBA championship, but a whole dynasty with multiple rings. All three players were mercurial and could dominate the game on any given night.
Kobe Bryant Or LeBron James; Who Was The Better Player?
What often gets lost in the realms of what we now call the ‘GOAT Debate’ is the question; who was better between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James? Much like the Jordan-LeBron debate, it is a polarizing question sure to garner passionate responses from both sides.
Recently, Buffalo Bills star Keon Coleman said he preferred Kobe Bryant over LeBron James because he felt LeBron hadn’t worked as hard as Kobe Bryant did for his success. Even Ronnie Fields, a former high school basketball standout, didn’t rank LeBron James higher than Kobe Bryant in the debate.
Bryant had an incredible career, where he won 5 NBA championships, 2 Finals MVPs, 1 regular season MVP, 18 All-Star selections, and 15 All-NBA selections. As for James, he has a similarly illustrious career, with 4 NBA championships, 4 Finals MVPs, 4 regular season MVPs, 20 All-Star selections, and 20 All-NBA selections.
It is hard to decipher for fans of both players which one is better. Some might argue James is the better player, primarily because James has had a lot of incredible teammates, but he has never had a teammate as good as Shaquille O’Neal in his absolute prime years as Kobe did.
Of course, LeBron did get the chance to play with Shaq, but O’Neal was far from his peak and had withered down completely by that time. In fact, O’Neal would retire just one season after playing with LeBron James.
This debate will never have a clear-cut answer. Fans of either player will pick and defend their favorites, while simultaneously denying the other’s greatness. But there is no way to ignore the incredible careers both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have had.
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