In the NBA’s 75+ year history, many great players have blessed viewers with their dominance. From Wilt Chamberlain all the way up to Stephen Curry, the NBA has seen no shortage of big-name superstars pass through their ranks, and deciding who is “better” than who can often feel like an impossible task.
On Twitter Sunday afternoon, however, that’s exactly what the NBA community tried to do with the latest ‘who comes off the bench’ debate. This time, the exercise included Kevin Durant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Tim Duncan.
Unsurprisingly, nobody could come to a consensus on which of those legends would be left off the starting five, though there was one name that came up more than most: Kobe Bryant.
All in their prime. Who’s coming off the bench? pic.twitter.com/VYM2zkKroJ
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) December 17, 2022
While it was a hard choice for many fans, each person who made their pick seemingly had a good reason for doing it. Interestingly, it was Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan who got called out the most.
Too many people picking Tim Duncan over Kobe 🤢
— Josh (@JDBeatlefan) December 17, 2022
Duncan doesn’t belong in this group anyway.
— The Aswang TJP🩸 (@MegaTJP) December 17, 2022
It’s Kobe for me. MJ does the same 100 times better and more efficient, there’s nothing close to LeBron James -especially that year-, KD is one if not the greatest scorer of all time, Duncan is the greatest PF ever and Shaq is from another planet.
— Francisco Uribe (@MataMoros_777) December 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/VasselIMuse/status/1604212101001531392
kobe. no disrespect but he is just like 90% of mj, so mj is just better than him
— the king. 👑²³ 🏳️🌈 (@CookedByTheKing) December 17, 2022
In terms of strategy I would say Kobe has to come off the bench cauz we got MJ in the first unit so having kobe in the second unit guarantee you a win against anyone
— Baller4life (@bballfan3011) December 17, 2022
Kobe off bench, can’t have MJ and Kobe together, not gonna happen.
— boomshakalaka (@boomshakamaui) December 18, 2022
It’s no secret that Kobe heavily admired Michael Jordan and even molded his own game from the Chicago legend. Of course, Bryant was his own player and his own man, who was able to carve out his place as one of the greatest ballers ever.
Where Does Kobe Bryant Rank All-Time?
While Bryant’s career stacks up with the best of them, there are a few holes to his resume that guys like Shaq, LeBron, and Duncan just don’t have. Even still, many consider him the greatest of all time, even above LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
At some point, he mentioned that when the greatest to play the game talked to him like that; he needed to pay attention. Irving quickly turned the conversation to the GOAT discussion, saying he wasn’t trying to diminish anybody, but for him, Kobe was the GOAT (1:12):
“He said, ‘Nah man, I think Golden State is going to win the championship this year.’ And you know, you have a few responses that you could get back at the greatest to play this game. By the way, when I say ‘greatest to play the game,’ it doesn’t mean I’m knocking everybody else. The greatest to play the game to me, I don’t give a f**k, I don’t care about your stats, I don’t f***ing care,” said Irving on Kobe. “The greatest to play the game to me…”
Focusing on the conversation at hand, it’s impossible to reach any kind of unanimous conclusion with those thought experiments. With so many amazing players in the NBA’s history, a case can be made for several players as the GOAT.
Still, it’s fun to think about what separates some of these legends from each other and what aspects of their game/career puts them above their peers.
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