Today's NBA Players Think Kobe Was Better Than Kareem And My Blood Is BOILING
Greenie touched on parts of this anonymous player’s poll that The Athletic dropped earlier today but he didn’t hit on this part. Listen, I’m a man who always sides with the players on 99.99% of issues. I respect their insight because they know what it takes to play in that League. From what I’ve heard repeatedly for the reason Kobe is so admired by players after him is that they understand just how hard it is to get buckets in the League and most guys really don’t give a shit about how many shots it took to get those counting numbers. Which I can respect, but at the same time, it’s wrong. Simple and plain. There is no argument to suggest that Kobe Bean Bryant was better at basketball than Michael Jeffery Jordan. Or LeBron James. Or Kareem Adbul-Jabbar.
Jordan is the vast majority of humanity’s selection for the best basketball player of all time. It’s borderline sacrilegious to suggest anyone else was in his atmosphere. LeBron has joined that conversation and I don’t care about that conversation because it’s wrong, but I get it if you grew up with only LeBron and only ever saw Wizards’ Jordan or some shit like that.
For my money the only players who absolutely deserve to be in the conversation with MJ are Kareem and Bill Russell. I don’t expect anyone under the age of 75 to also have Russell in that conversation, which is fine. I do, however, think it’s perfectly reasonable for everyone to still understand how dominant Kareem was across multiple eras of the game. One of the most decorated players of all time, perhaps the highest profile high school recruit of all time, played for the most iconic franchise in the NBA and scored more points than anyone before or after him. If you consider yourself a Lakers fan and think Kobe is better than Kareem I’ve got news for you: You’re a Kobe fan and not a Lakers fan. Which is fine, but that just is what it is.
As for the rest of the players receiving votes here: Kevin Durant 1000% voted for Kevin Durant, which I respect whole heartedly. Why the fuck not? You got people voting for Kobe Bryant in this fucking thing, might as well vote for someone better at basketball and not look like a total asshat in the process.
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I don’t know who voted for Magic but I respect them. They came up in a household where Magic was a GOD and no one is ever going to convince them that there has ever been anyone close. That’s just 40+ years of hearing about how good Magic was drilled into their head over and over again to the point where most international policing agencies would consider it torture but that’s neither here nor there.
Finally… Allen Iverson. I fucking love Allen Iverson. You love Allen Iverson. Allen Iverson is a living legend and will be respected as such. But… the greatest player of all time, he isn’t that. Which is fine, literally only one player ever can be considered that. But I’m trying to figure out who gave this answer and I’ve narrowed it down to a few guys: Lou Will, Isaiah Thomas, and Jamal Crawford. All guys who have been in the League for a minute, two PNW guys so I’m not sure it’s either of them, and Lou Will seems like the type who would vote for Lou Will so I’m stumped. I just want whoever made this decision to know that they can come on Mickstape and discuss the eternal AI whenever they want. You have an open, standing invitation.