Kobe Bryant’s illustrious NBA career boasts five NBA championships, two Finals MVP awards, an MVP award, 18 All-Star appearances, 15 All-NBA selections, and 12 All-Defensive Team selections, among others.
Despite these accolades, Kobe’s inclusion in the GOAT conversation often falls short compared to Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Surveys, statistics, and most recently, the NBA players’ poll reinforce this point. In that poll, Kobe received 9%, trailing LeBron James (37%) and Michael Jordan (49%).
Many find it puzzling that Kobe isn’t consistently considered in GOAT discussions. Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green, however, might have some insight. He recently shared his thoughts on “The Big Podcast” while talking to Shaquille O’Neal.
Per NBC Sports:
“Here’s why I think he’s not [in the conversation],” Green said. “Because, number one, he played with you and people hold that against him. Number two, I think Kobe kind of fell in a weird time. And what I mean by that is Mike [Jordan] left the league. When Mike left the league, y’all were dominating. And then you left the Lakers. When you left the Lakers, they had a few rough years, it wasn’t great.
“They didn’t have a great roster. Rudy Tomjanovich, that was that was an epic fail like it just wasn’t great. And while it wasn’t going great, there was a young guy in Cleveland starting to make his hay. And so, in the years where Kobe could have been dominating, which he was from a number’s standpoint, they weren’t winning. So in those years, LeBron [James] was making his hay and starting to make his name as the best player.”
