Kobe Bryant has gone down as one of the greatest players in NBA history, but there is much debate on where exactly he should rank in the all-time list. Ask some of Bryant’s contemporaries, and they’d have him as high as the top 3, while some in the media would rank him much lower.
Recently, Bleacher Report released their list of the top 100 players of all time, and Bryant ranked 11th on it. That unsurprisingly caused an uproar, and a family member of the Lakers icon has now seemingly reacted to the list.
Bryant’s sister, Sharia Washington, put out a bold statement on Instagram, claiming that her brother and Michael Jordan are the unquestioned two greatest players of all time.
“The only TOP 2. Y’all can debate the rest!”
Washington isn’t the first to rank Jordan and Bryant as the top two. It’s a bit of an unpopular opinion nowadays, though, as LeBron James is widely viewed as the biggest threat to Jordan for that GOAT title.
Washington somewhat subtly suggested she doesn’t agree with that, as she posted another story in which Bryant is seen shooting over James.
It shouldn’t come as much surprise, of course, that Washington is backing her brother. She would share another story of Bryant acknowledging the crowd the night he scored 81 points in a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors back in 2006.
Only Wilt Chamberlain (100) has scored more points in an NBA game than Bryant. He had many such sensational scoring outbursts, and it’s a big reason why he is held in such high regard.
Does Bryant deserve to be ranked ahead of James, though? Let’s take a look at their respective resumes.
Bryant won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles in his 20-year career with the Lakers. A resume like that would get you the edge over most people, but not in this case.
James has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, one scoring title, and one assists title. He is also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and there’s a good reason why the GOAT debate nowadays generally involves just him and Jordan.
As for Jordan, he won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. He got the top spot on Bleacher Report’s rankings, and James needs to do a bit more to surpass him.
Getting back to Bryant, a spot in the top two might be beyond his reach, but you can make a strong argument for him to be in the top 10. We showed why he deserves to rank above three legends who were placed higher than him.
Bryant splits opinion like few others do, but at the end of the day, there is no denying his greatness. Magic Johnson called him the best player ever to wear that Lakers jersey, and Washington reminded everyone about that by sharing the clip on Instagram.
Here is what Johnson had to say.
“He is not only a great and unbelievable sports icon, but also he’s the greatest to wear the purple and gold,” Johnson stated.
Johnson made this comment before Bryant’s final NBA game. He signed off in style that night, scoring 60 points against the Utah Jazz in what was a memorable performance.
