Kobe Bryant was one of the most influential figures in Los Angeles Lakers franchise history. He was a player that won 5 championships with the team. Bryant is widely viewed as one of the greatest players ever, and some people even think he is the GOAT for the entire sport of basketball.
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has had a lot of elite players play for the franchise. Most people would include Kobe Bryant among the best players that ever suited up for the team. However, Jason Williams has made waves by claiming that Kobe Bryant wasn’t on the top-5 among the “all-time greatest Lakers“.
“Kobe’s not as high on my list as people would really think he should be,” Williams said. “I’m not even sure he’s on the top five of the all-time greatest Lakers.”
Jason Williams has since clarified those comments about Kobe Bryant via Instagram, claiming that Kobe Bryant was the best Lakers player ever. Williams claimed that his rationale for saying Kobe Bryant was not a top-5 Laker ever was due to him thinking that the conversation was about the greatest players to ever put on a Lakers uniform from a pure basketball perspective. Thus, Williams had Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James ahead of Kobe Bryant.
What’s good world?! So I noticed I kind of stirred the pot so to speak last week with my comments about Kobe. I’ve seen some of your comments, but not nearly all of them… Some are positive, some not so positive!!! The anger that some folks have over this conversation is awesome to me cause it means you care!! Now with that being said let me explain what I meant last week. First off: KOBE BEAN BRYANT is the greatest LAKER EVER!!! PERIOD!!!
In the conversation you all heard, my thinking was that we were talking about ALL the greatest NBA players EVER who wore the Laker purple and gold jersey for at least ONE season. I wasn’t talking about the greatest LAKER ever… because of course that’s Kobe!!! Kobe IS the Lakers!!!
But in what I was saying, I was thinking about WILT, KAREEM, MAGIC, SHAQ, LEBRON… (That’s my top 5 players who ever played in a Laker jersey *in no particular order* in case y’all wondering!)… those players who—in my opinion—were/are better than KOBE!! That’s just my opinion! Doesn’t mean I’m saying it’s a fact!!
So my bad if I’ve hurt any of y’all feelings, it’s just my opinion!!! I love this game and I respect this game!! It has nothing to do with Kobe bustin my team’s ass just about every time we played them either. Really the only difference between my opinion and y’all opinion is that I just happened to play against some of these dudes we talkin about and that’s it!! And I’ll do ya one better… The people I’ve named are way above my talent level!!!! Legends!! GOATs!!!
There is no doubt that Kobe Bryant meant a lot to the Los Angeles Lakers franchise, and many fans around the world still love him for his tenacity and love of the game. His sneakers are still insanely popular, with previous reports suggesting NBA players spend more than “5 figures” to acquire a pair of Bryant’s shoes.
It is good to see Jason Williams clarify his comments on Kobe Bryant, and it’s clear that he was simply stating his opinion and not looking to offend anyone. Hopefully, fans are satisfied with his reasoning, though obviously there will be people who disagree with his thought process.
