Tracy McGrady has called out those who believe Kobe Bryant isn’t one of the five greatest players in NBA history. In an Instagram post that he put out on Wednesday, McGrady explained that there is a double standard that exists when it comes to Bryant.
“Kobe ain’t top five? Get the f*** outta here,” McGrady said. “Are you kidding me? And guess what they say the reason why he’s not top five. Oh, because he played with (Shaquille O’Neal). Okay, did Magic Johnson play with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was the all-time leading scorer? But you wanna sit here and talk about Kobe playing with Shaq?”
McGrady said you need great players around you to win championships. He brought up how Magic Johnson didn’t get excluded from these discussions when he played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Michael Cooper. The 44-year-old also added that Bryant did win two titles with Pau Gasol after Shaquille O’Neal left.
“They so disrespectful when it comes to Bean, bro,” McGrady stated. “They talking about he ain’t better than (Michael Jordan)… He’s the closest thing to MJ. Well, tell me the other motherf***** that is close to MJ then, that played the game. Who else is close to MJ? Ain’t nobody else close to MJ. So how was he excluded out of this conversation if he’s close to MJ, and MJ is the greatest of all time? Help me understand that.”
McGrady said others like him who played against Michael Jordan and Bryant would say the latter is top five.
“Yo, that man is top five,” McGrady continued. “You ask anybody that has played against Michael Jordan and played against Kobe Bean Bryant, in that era, they will tell you, Bean is top five all-time.”
McGrady certainly wasn’t pulling any punches there. He joins a long list of former players who believe Kobe isn’t quite given the respect he deserves in these all-time rankings. Two former players, Jamal Crawford and Rip Hamilton, agreed with the seven-time All-Star here in the comments.
Crawford also once stated he doesn’t respect any NBA all-time list that doesn’t have Bryant in the top five. Well, he would like our list then, as our ranking of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time had Kobe at fifth.
He had an incredible NBA career, winning five titles, two finals MVPs, and an MVP. Kobe finished with impressive averages of 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest to have ever played.
Tracy McGrady Also Said Kobe Bryant Is The Most Skilled Player He Has Ever Seen
This is far from the only time that McGrady has spoken so highly of Bryant. He holds him in very high regard, with McGrady even once saying Kobe is the most skilled player he has ever seen.
“Kobe Bean Bryant. He’s the greatest one-on-one player I’ve ever competed against, and not just because of his skill set. It’s because of his mentality. He was just a certified killer,” McGrady said. “I see MJ & Kobe, but Kobe enhanced those skill sets that he took from Michael Jordan. The ball-handling skills. The fadeaways. I think Kobe is the most skilled basketball player that I’ve ever seen over Michael Jordan.”
McGrady isn’t alone in thinking along those lines either. Even Dwight Howard stated that Bryant was the most skilled of them all, adding that he multiplied and perfected everything that Jordan did.
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