Los Angeles Lakers fans have long believed that the basketball media constantly disrespects the late great Kobe Bryant, and they were up in arms again on Tuesday. Bleacher Report released a list of the NBA’s 99 best defenders of all time, and Bryant was down at 42nd.
“Perhaps more than any individual number or team accomplishment, Kobe Bryant’s NBA career may be best represented by his intensity. Regardless of where you have him on your all-time ladder, you have to acknowledge he’s in the conversation for tops all time in pure competitiveness.
“And few things showed off that competitiveness quite like his perimeter defense. Kobe relished the opportunity to take on the opposition’s best perimeter scorer. And he finished his career with a whopping 12 All-Defensive nods. Tim Duncan (15) is the only player in league history with more.”
That last point about Bryant’s 12 All-Defensive team selections (tied for second-most in NBA history) was among the points that a Lakers fan on X brought up to argue why he should be higher. Others agreed with this fan.
“Kobe is a top 5 perimeter defender ever. Should definitely be at least top 15-20 on this dumb list,” one fan thinks Bryant should be in the top 15 or 20.
“12th all-time in terms of guards on that list, I’d have him higher up in the top 5 guards personally,” a fan believes Bryant was one of the five best guard defenders of all time.
“He’s tied with Kevin Garnett, and they gave KG at #3. Dumba** list. Derrick White is nowhere near Kobe Bryant on defense. What a stupid list,” one cannot understand the huge gap between Bryant and Kevin Garnett, considering they have the same number of All-Defensive team selections.
“It’s ridiculous that LeBron’s ranked 22nd and Kobe’s 42nd—clearly, people who don’t know defense are the ones making these rankings,” one fan thinks Bryant should be above LeBron James.
“Stopped taking LeBronReport seriously since 2016. The point is to diminish Kobe to the next generation,” a fan claimed there is an agenda against Bryant.
“Never take Bleacher Report lists seriously. They hate Kobe,” another threw out the hatred accusation.
Now, these claims might stem from Bleacher Report ranking Bryant as the 11th greatest player of all time in 2025. Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was 10th, and that didn’t go down well. Former players tend to rank Bryant much higher on their lists, and Matt Barnes called him and Michael Jordan the best two-way players in NBA history.
As for where Jordan was on here, he was 15th. Here is what the top 10 looked like.
1. Bill Russell
2. Tim Duncan
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Hakeem Olajuwon
5. Ben Wallace
6. Dikembe Mutombo
7. Dennis Rodman
8. Scottie Pippen
9. Rudy Gobert
10. Draymond Green
The voters were asked to consider “advanced metrics, traditional production, All-Defensive and Defensive Player of the Year accolades, peak dominance, longevity, and the good, old-fashioned eye test.”
Some other notable selections were Kawhi Leonard at 12th, Dwight Howard at 13th, Giannis Antetokounmpo at 17th, and Anthony Davis at 19th. Victor Wembanyama is also on here at 36th despite playing just three seasons. Wembanyama was the second Frenchman after Rudy Gobert, and the third was Joakim Noah at 41st. Noah was just ahead of Bryant, while Tyson Chandler was right behind him at 43rd.
Jeff Teague Doesn’t Believe Kobe Bryant Deserved All Of His All-Defensive Selections
Now, the most common argument for Bryant is those All-Defensive team selections, but former NBA player Jeff Teague thinks he didn’t deserve all of them. Teague claimed on his Club 520 Podcast that the selections are based on reputation, not reality.
“If you made it once or twice, three times, they just start putting you on there,” Teague said. “Like 12 times All-Defensive team, I played Kobe, he wasn’t guarding like that. He wasn’t. Maybe the first four or five, he was. After that, he wasn’t guarding like that… It’s a persona. The first couple times he made it, he lock up, he guard, he be killing, he be strapping up. He probably did that for like two or three seasons, and then it just became a thing.”
Bryant made the All-Defensive First Team nine times and the Second Team three times. Teague reckons the first few would have been deserved, but not the rest. He isn’t the only one to have dished out this take, but the record books will still show that no guard had more All-Defensive team selections.
