NBA Fans Debate Where Kobe Bryant Ranks Among The Greatest Players Of All Time: “Top 3 Easily”

NBA fans discussed where Kobe Bryant personally ranks on their list of the greatest to ever play the game.

4 Min Read

Credit: Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports

Kobe Bryant is remembered as one of the NBA’s best-ever players. However, his legacy is a little complex when it comes to the GOAT debate, with people having widely different all-time rankings for the Mamba. 

Some consider Kobe Bryant to be the greatest of all time. But that is a minority, most of the basketball world chooses Michael Jordan or LeBron James as their GOAT. So when fans recently discussed Kobe’s all-time ranking on social media, some interesting opinions were floating around. 

NBA fans are notorious for never being able to agree on anything, and this debate was an excellent example of that. Answers varied drastically during this debate. 

Comments have been edited for clarification:

https://twitter.com/DeniceShaw_/status/1634423118163767297

“Honestly he’s #1. His mentality was different,” said one fan. Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality is an inspiration to NBA stars even today, so this is hard to dispute. 

https://twitter.com/NycVipers/status/1634355122729000961

But one fan had a wildly different opinion, ranking Bryant outside the Top 10, saying, “Kobe is around 12th and that is being generous. If you have real basketball knowledge you know it’s hard to put Kobe over these greats: Lebron, Wilt, Kareem, Russell, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem.”

“If you ask anybody irl where Kobe ranks all time they’ll say top 3 only on Twitter will you hear otherwise,” said another individual, which seems to be an excellent point. 

In terms of pure basketball takes, this isn’t a bad one: “4th behind – MJ, Bron, and Kareem. Could arguably put Bill Russell, Bird, and Wilt ahead of him also tho.”

It’s hard to say that this question has a right answer though, and this fan has pointed out the nuances: “One day when it’s all said and done, we are going to have this debate. Because I have to know if we’re talking 2000-2013 Kobe or if we are adding the post-Achilles tear years to the mix.”


Is Their A Fair All-Time Ranking For Kobe Bryant?

Conversations about where Kobe Bryant ranks all-time are perhaps the most difficult to analyze in the NBA. Shaquille O’Neal has spoken about how disrespectful it is to leave Bryant out of the GOAT conversation. But career comparisons between him and someone like Michael Jordan show that the edge MJ has is definitive. 

Kobe Bryant himself never said he was the GOAT, although other players have made that claim for him. His legacy is that of being the ultimate competitor, a star that would do whatever it took to win. He defines how personal the conversation about all-time ranking can be because even if Kobe Bryant is someone’s GOAT or 10th on their list, there would be an argument to be made for both. 

We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.

Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.

Newsletter

Stay up to date with our newsletter on the latest news, trends, ranking lists, and evergreen articles

Follow on Google News

Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.

Share This Article
Follow:
Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *