Kobe Bryant is easily one of the most legendary figures to grace a basketball court. While that makes you an idol in most people’s eyes, it makes you a target on the court for people looking to make their name.
Bryant was playing against the young Oklahoma City Thunder during their time with James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook on the roster. After Harden started trash-talking Kobe, the Lakers’ legend addressed both him and Durant while reminding them who he actually was.
“Gas him up! Aye man, you talking sh*t now. I’m a professional sh*t talker, he can’t talk sh*t to me. Huh? Good, I got five more rings than you.”
When Kobe Bryant had enough of James Harden’s trash talk: “I’m a professional sh*t talker… I got 5 more {rings} than you”😂 pic.twitter.com/CrpNa8F3GP
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) June 26, 2023
The one thing most NBA player stories agree on is that trash-talking Kobe never led to good results. The fact that Harden is still searching for his first championship over a decade later shows that putting in the work on the court is much harder than just talking.
Will James Harden Finally Overcome The Hump?
Kobe Bryant is one of the absolute greatest players to step onto a court, so comparing him directly with James Harden isn’t fair. That doesn’t change the fact that Harden is one of the best of his generation and is on the tier of all-time greats, just not on Kobe’s level.
Harden has won a league MVP and has some incredible regular season accolades, but Kobe has him beat in most respects. Harden’s greatest scoring season saw him average 36.1 points in 2018-19 while Kobe’s saw him average 35.4 points in 2005-06, a much slower era of basketball. Even though they have the same number of MVPs, Kobe added three Finals MVPs and five championships on top of his resume.
Harden is in a winning situation with the Philadelphia 76ers, but his decision this free agency may cement his legacy. If the 2018 MVP signs for the Rockets, it will be obvious that he is choosing the comfortable road instead of sticking with the Sixers and trying to win a championship with the reigning MVP, Joel Embiid.
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