Stephen A. Smith believes Kobe Bryant is a top 10 player of all time, but that’s not good enough for Shaquille O’Neal. The Hall of Famer recently made an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show, where he stated his former teammate should be in the GOAT conversation.
“We as people, we gonna stand on what we stand on,” O’Neal said. “But I have a problem with what you said. Doesn’t matter who the GOAT is, my guy should be in the conversation… You guys just throw him out of the conversation. So, somehow it just went from (Michael Jordan) to LeBron (James), and you just threw my guy out of the conversation. His name needs to be in there all the time. And when his name is not in there, that’s when people have a problem.”
When Smith brought up O’Neal’s dominance when he and Kobe three-peated from 2000 to 2002 for the Los Angeles Lakers, the 51-year-old said that wasn’t the point. He said the issue people have is with Smith not putting him in the conversation. Stephen A. then claimed he had not excluded Bryant, but O’Neal said he did.
“You are,” O’Neal stated. “I always hear Mike and LeBron, and I used to hear Mike and Kobe. Certain people can be in the conversation. Certain people can’t. Before y’all say one and two, you can’t leave my guy out.”
This was far from the first time that O’Neal had taken issue with Bryant not being included in the GOAT conversation. While the two clashed a fair bit during their time as teammates, they fortunately mended fences before Kobe’s untimely passing. O’Neal now often comes to Bryant’s defense on such topics and will continue to do so.
As for Bryant’s case to be in that GOAT conversation, he won five titles, two Finals MVPs, and an MVP. He was an 18-time All-Star, a two-time scoring champion, and we can just go on and on. Would it still be enough to be in that conversation with the likes of Jordan? I’d say it’s very debatable.
What Did Stephen A. Smith Say About Kobe Bryant?
For those wondering what led to this, it was all because of some comments made by Allen Iverson. Iverson said Jordan was the GOAT, Bryant was No. 2, and James was No. 3. Smith didn’t agree, as he stated Kobe is not greater than LeBron.
“Kobe Bryant is not the second greatest player in NBA history,” Smith said. “That’s just not true. It’s just not. The points per game didn’t equal LeBron’s, the assists didn’t equal LeBron’s, the rebounds didn’t equal LeBron’s, the durability didn’t equal LeBron’s.”
Smith then brought up the point of Bryant being fortunate to have a teammate like O’Neal, the most dominant force of the modern era.
“LeBron didn’t have Shaq as a teammate,” Smith continued. “Kyrie (Irving) and Kevin Love, okay. (Dwyane Wade), (Chris) Bosh, Ray Allen, okay… You cannot put him at number two over LeBron. You cannot put him at number two over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
(starts at 3:11 mark):
Smith said Kobe is second to Jordan when it comes to the greatest shooting guards in NBA history, but not for greatest player. It certainly was not a popular take among former NBA players, in particular.
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