Kobe Bryant: One of the Top Five NBA Players of All-Time

 



Kobe Bryant may be one of the most polarizing NBA players in the history of the association. People either seem to respect him or loathe him. 

 

Yet, consider a player who has been called selfish by the media and teammates. A player who once punched a teammate because he wasn’t playing hard enough in practice, and was almost suspended by the league for gambling. This same player who recently gave one of the most arrogant Hall of Fame speeches ever delivered and settled a large divorce settlement because of being unfaithful to his wife on multiple occasions. As you may have guessed, the player being referenced is Michael Jordan. 

 

The difference is that the hatred today shown towards Kobe Bryant marks a double standard that it is not accorded in the same manner to Jordan, a man who has a worse off-the-court record. 

 

Or consider Larry Bird who refuses to recognize a daughter from his first marriage. Everyone loves Magic Johnson, even though his infidelity on countless occasions led to him testing positive for HIV. 

 

In order to make a fair comparison between basketball players, we need to throw out these double standards and personal biases and only judge them by what they do on the court. 

 

This article’s intent is not to say Kobe Bryant is the greatest of all-time but rather argue that it is near impossible to pick 5 other players that have been better over their careers. In the end, the best way to compare players is based on their overall game, including all aspects of playing, and their ability to win. Hence, in this analysis, players that could not find a way to lead teams to multiple championships or otherwise had considerable weaknesses in major parts of their game will be negatively impacted.

 
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers