- Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant were teammates for seven seasons
- Odom recounted Kobe saying he is better than Michael Jordan
- Bryant and Jordan will forever be compared to each other
Whether the basketball world believed it or not, Kobe Bryant felt he was better than Michael Jordan. Bryant’s former teammate Lamar Odom was recently on the Knuckleheads Podcast, where he spoke about the Los Angeles Lakers icon.
“Kobe, teammate, easy to learn from,” Odom said, “If you ain’t learning from him then you were stupid. You weren’t really about that life. Crazy incredible spirit. I heard him say on the bus that he was better than Mike. I’m like, ‘You wildin.’ But, that came out of his mouth so you know where his drive (was).”
(starts at 31:04 mark):
Considering Kobe’s supreme self-confidence, it isn’t all that surprising that he felt that way. There are many who would agree with him as well, as he was obviously an incredible player in his own right.
Kyrie Irving believes Bryant is the GOAT and added he doesn’t care about any statistics that you might throw at him. Recently, Jordan Clarkson also stated that Kobe is his GOAT.
As for Odom and Bryant’s time on the Lakers, it didn’t get off to a great start. The team struggled at first, but eventually got it all together, winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Was Kobe Bryant Better Than Michael Jordan?
It’s only natural for a great player to believe they were the best, but was Kobe actually better than Jordan? Let’s take a look.
Kobe Bryant’s career stats: 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game
Michael Jordan’s career stats: 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game
Kobe Bryant’s accomplishments: 18x NBA All-Star, 2x Scoring Champ, 5x NBA Champ, 15x All-NBA, 1996-97 All-Rookie, 12x All-Defensive, 4x All-Star MVP, 1x MVP, 2x NBA Finals MVP.
Michael Jordan’s accomplishments: 14x NBA All-Star, 10x Scoring Champ, 3x Steals Champ, 6x NBA Champ, 11x All-NBA, 1984-85 All-Rookie, 1984-85 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive, 3x NBA All-Star MVP, 1987-88 NBA Defensive Player of The Year, 5x MVP, 6x NBA Finals MVP.
Kobe had a fabulous career, but it’s pretty clear Jordan was just better. He had better career averages and won more individual as well as team accolades. We did a Jordan-Bryant career comparison too, with the Chicago Bulls icon coming out on top there.
Dominique Wilkins Believes Kobe Bryant Is The Only Player Close To Michael Jordan In The GOAT Debate
There’s no shame in coming second-best to Jordan, and there are quite a few who believe he is the closest thing to the Bulls icon. Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins said Bryant is the only player close to Jordan in the GOAT debate.
“The closest thing to him was Kobe”, said Dominique Wilkins. “Kobe Bryant…People who played against Kobe, they know. They know. They know.”
Wilkins had many great battles with Jordan in the 1980s and 1990s and has the utmost respect for him. For Wilkins to say that Bryant is the closest, shows in what high regard he holds the great man.
Dennis Rodman also said Kobe was the closest player to Jordan. Rodman, at first, pointed to their identical mannerisms, as Bryant had copied Jordan. He then added that Bryant was also close to Jordan in terms of skill.
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