Now on to the post.
Kobe Bryant is no doubt the best player in the game right now, and testament to this statement is the fact that he’s still holding on to the Larry O’Brien trophy even after the Boston Celtics tried to take it away from him again.
The Black Mamba now has a fistful of rings and is only one ring away from matching the total number of championships won by Michael Jordan.
Many believe that MJ is the Greatest Of All-Time, but with the rate Bryant is going, there are also those who believe that the Laker great is not far behind in terms of the G.O.A.T. standings.
Jordan, however, isn’t convinced. In an interview with USA Today, MJ said, “He is always going to be within the conversations of some of the greatest players who’ve played, by the time he is finished. Where does he rank among those, if you are talking about positions? If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10.”
Now, if Kobe was the self-righteous, arrogant bastard that most of his haters (including me) thought he was, then he would’ve blasted MJ and bragged about his accomplishments all day.
But that wasn’t the case. The ever optimistic Bryant had this to say, take it away Marc Spears, “It’s an accurate statement. I’m definitely one of the top 10 guards. It could mean two, it could mean one, it could mean four or five. I’m definitely one of the top thousand. Look, I know how he feels about me.
There have been a lot of great guards to play the game. For me to sit here and say, ‘He should have said top five,’ that’s disrespectful to the other guards that I’ve watched.”
That's Kobe to you. Pretending not to care when you know at the back of his head he can’t wait to take it all out on hardwood to prove yet another doubter wrong. But points for recognizing those who played before him. And while a number of people are engrossed with pitting Jordan vs. Bryant for the title of G.O.A.T., the Black Mamba justifies that though they have similar accomplishments, they were achieved in differently.
“I don’t look at it as motivation. I’ve never given it thought that I wanted to get six to catch Michael. His six and my six are different. That’s not to say that his were more challenging than mine because I had to play a different role and do something out of character my first three. They’re just different.
It steps into a territory that only a select few have ever been to. I understand. That’s what special to me, that I’m this fortunate to have this opportunity. So, let’s try to make the most of it.”
Glad to hear that Mr. Bryant. And while Ray Allen thought you of all people enjoyed the benefits of deferring to Shaquille O’Neal, we never knew you were going through a tough time being second banana from 2000-2002.
If there’s anything going for this remark, it does support Scottie Pippen’s view that comparing Jordan and Bryant just doesn’t sound right because they played in different times and a different set of rules.
One thing for sure: Kobe respects Michael. In fact, given the chance, he’d like to play alongside MJ. But if that happens, which of the two is the top dog?
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