Nick Wright has never shied away from controversial NBA takes, and on his latest podcast, he tackled one of the most debated topics in basketball history: Kobe Bryant’s place in the GOAT conversation. To Wright, the answer is clear: Kobe doesn’t belong there. And he laid out exactly why.
“There are six people you’re allowed to have the opinion are the greatest of all time. You can point to something specific as their thing, something they were clearly the best at.”
“So if you want to say Bill Russell is the greatest ever: 21–0 in winner-take-all games, 11 championships, eight in a row, that’s valid. You want to argue Wilt? The man averaged 50 points per game and more than 48 minutes per game in a season. He scored 100 points in a single game.”
“Then there’s Kareem, greatest high school player ever, greatest college player ever, most MVPs of anyone in NBA history. The Jordan-LeBron arguments? We’ve all had them. It’s obvious what those guys are.”
“And then the sixth, if you really want to squint hard enough, is Magic Johnson, greatest passer ever, changed the game in a way few have.”
“Those are the guys. Then there’s Kobe, who some people try to make a case for. The problem is, Michael has him beat in every single category.”
“If you were never the best at anything, how can you be the best ever? That’s not a viable opinion.”
He then broke down his list: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson.
With Russell, it’s the sheer dominance in winner-takes-all games: 21–0 and 11 titles in 13 seasons, including eight straight.
Wilt? The man averaged 50 points per game and played over 48 minutes per contest for an entire season.
Kareem’s resume includes being the most dominant high school and college player ever, along with six MVPs, more than anyone else in NBA history.
Then comes Jordan and LeBron, the two most frequent GOAT picks.
Jordan’s six rings, ten scoring titles, and unblemished Finals record.
LeBron’s all-around brilliance, career longevity, and statistical dominance.
And for Wright, even Magic Johnson deserves a mention for revolutionizing the point guard position, leading the Lakers to five titles while being arguably the greatest passer in league history.
But then there’s Kobe.
Wright’s main argument is that while Bryant was great, an all-time talent, an icon, a winner, he was never definitively the best at any single thing.
Wright acknowledged the reverence Kobe commands among fans and players alike but insisted that admiration doesn’t equate to all-time supremacy. Statistically, Michael Jordan outshines Kobe in every meaningful category.
The accolades, the efficiency, the MVPs, the scoring titles, the defensive recognition, Jordan surpasses Bryant on nearly every front. So if Kobe is essentially the “second coming” of Jordan, as many fans believe, then how can he be ranked ahead of him?
That’s the crux of Wright’s critique: Kobe is great, but not the greatest.
He isn’t the most accomplished (Russell), the most dominant (Wilt), the most decorated (Kareem), the most complete (LeBron), the most revolutionary (Magic), or even the most iconic (Jordan). Bryant was elite in nearly every aspect of the gamebut not the undisputed best in any one of them.
And to Wright, that’s the line. If your case for GOAT status is built on echoes of someone else’s greatness, you can’t claim the top spot. Kobe Bryant may be a legend, an all-time winner, and a competitor whose work ethic became lore. But in the harsh logic of Nick Wright’s criteria, that’s not enough to make him the greatest ever.
