Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was recently asked to build his perfect player using a mix of five categories and the results were quite interesting, to say the least.
Scoring – Kobe Bryant
Passing – Andrew Nembhard
Defense – Lu Dort
Game IQ – Chris Paul
Athleticism – LeBron James
Not including Michael Jordan at all is quite surprising. Scoring is obviously the category where most would pick Jordan, as he won a record 10 scoring titles. His career scoring average of 30.1 points per game is also an NBA record and he would have been my pick for this category.
Kobe Bryant isn’t a bad selection by any means, though. Bryant won two scoring titles and averaged 25.0 points per game over 20 seasons in the NBA, which is ever so impressive.
Athleticism is another category where Jordan could have gotten the nod, but I certainly wouldn’t argue against LeBron James being picked there. James is a freak athlete who is somehow still dominating on the court at the age of 39.
As for the rest of the picks, I do sense some bias. Gilgeous-Alexander has gone with two fellow Canadians, Andrew Nembhard and Lu Dort, and his former mentor Chris Paul.
Gilgeous-Alexander almost certainly picked Nembhard, who has career averages of 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 0.9 steals per game, in jest and it seems like some sort of an inside joke. The Canadian has had some incredible moments on the court in his short time in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers but doesn’t belong in this conversation.
As for the other Canadian, he is also a teammate of Gilgeous-Alexander’s on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dort is an excellent defender, though, and it was quite surprising that he didn’t make any of the All-Defensive teams this season.
Luka Doncic named Dort as one of the three best perimeter defenders in the NBA and I believe that isn’t an exaggeration either. He is just that good.
Lastly, we get to Paul for IQ, and like Dort, this is a solid selection even with the bias. Paul, who was a teammate of Gilgeous-Alexander in the 2019-20 season, is one of the smartest players we have ever seen and landed on the third tier in our ranking of the NBA players with the highest basketball IQ. Spending a year learning under Paul certainly played a part in the 26-year-old becoming the superstar he is today.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Said Kobe Bryant Is Michael Jordan On Steroids
Gilgeous-Alexander picking Bryant over Jordan for scoring perhaps shouldn’t have been all that surprising when you take into account some comments the two-time All-Star made in the past. In 2022, Shai said Kobe was Jordan on steroids.
“Kobe is Michael Jordan on steroids,” Shai said. “Kobe had five rings, what’s your argument? All around, Kobe is the best player. Competitive nature, championships, there’s a lot that goes into it… Skill-wise, Kevin Durant is one. Durant is 7 feet tall and can do everything Steph Curry can do. Kobe one, Bron two, Mike three. They’re all amazing. They’re all the best ever. But it’s just a little…”
Gilgeous-Alexander considers Bryant to be the greatest ever, ahead of James and Jordan. While the media and fans, at large, don’t think of Kobe as the GOAT, many current and former NBA players do. It speaks to the impact he had on those he played against and the generation that followed.
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