Kobe Bryant is one of the most respected players in the NBA. Because of what he was able to achieve in the NBA, a lot of players in the league look up to him. On top of that, many active players today revere Kobe Bryant the way older players revered Michael Jordan while growing up.
Recently there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Kobe Bryant, specifically with regards to his placement in the all-time rankings. ESPN released a list ranking the best players in NBA history, based on the NBA 75 list, commemorating the 75 best players in the league’s long history.
ESPN’s list excluded Kobe Bryant from the top 5, a move that did not go down well with a lot of fans and analysts. Many people argued for Kobe Bryant to be in the top 5, and some even suggested that he belongs in the top 3 along with Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
But if we look at the comments made by Kobe Bryant in the past, it becomes clear that he would not have put too much stock into ESPN’s list. In a post-game interview from 2014, Kobe Bryant noted that he was only concerned with the opinions of his fellow players and peers in the NBA, as those are the players who really see what he does on the court.
“The players opinion is what matters the most to me, the guys you played against, the people you respect, your peers. That’s what means the most to me.”
Clearly, Bryant was always focused on earning the respect of his peers, the people who played in the NBA with and against him. For Bryant, it was their opinion that played a big part in his legacy, as they were in the best position to judge him as a player and a winner.
NBA fans recently selected Kobe Bryant as one of the most influential players in the recent history of the league. So it is clear that fans respect Kobe and the impact he had on the game just as much, if not more than players in the NBA did.
