When it comes to the GOAT conversation in the NBA, only two players get brought up, for the most part. Those two are Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but Vince Carter believes Kobe Bryant should be a part of the conversation as well.
“I’m truly thankful, I got a chance to play against Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and of course LeBron,” Carter said. “I’m gonna name those three because we’re always talking about the greatest to play the game, Kobe Bryant should and will always, out of my mouth, be named as one of the greatest to ever play the game. They deserve to be talked about as a trio, not a duo.”
“I don’t understand why,” Carter stated when asked why Bryant isn’t mentioned in the conversation. “The approach of MJ was just like Kobe. He looked at the blueprint of MJ and he said, ‘I’m gonna do that and more.’ And he’s won, it’s proven. Why is he not in that conversation?”
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Bryant certainly does have an impressive resume. He won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles in his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe was also an 18-time All-Star, who made 15 All-NBA teams and 12 All-Defensive teams. Carter believes that he did enough to be a part of that conversation.
Some other peers of Bryant’s believe that as well. Shaquille O’Neal also stated that Kobe belongs in the GOAT conversation. That sentiment certainly seems to be growing nowadays but does he deserve to be a part of it? I personally don’t think he does. I believe both Jordan and James are a notch above him.
Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, a DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. Bryant did indeed have the same approach and mentality as the Chicago Bulls icon, but he just didn’t have the same level of success.
As for LeBron, he has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as well, and the longevity is just mind-boggling. As great as Kobe was, his resume isn’t as good as theirs.
Draymond Green Has Theories For Why Kobe Bryant Isn’t In The GOAT Conversation
Draymond Green recently made an appearance on The Big Podcast with Shaq where he was asked why Bryant isn’t in that conversation. Green gave O’Neal some interesting reasons for Kobe’s exclusion from the GOAT Debate.
“Here’s why I think he’s not (in the GOAT debate). 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 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 an epic fail like it just wasn’t great.”
Green also added that there just weren’t enough years where Bryant was the consensus best player in the league. LeBron’s ascension meant Kobe only had that title for a couple of years.
I think Draymond made some fair points there. Bryant playing second fiddle to O’Neal for at least two of those three title runs and then not being regarded as the best player in the league for an extended period, hurts his argument greatly.
