While late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is revered and looked up to as an icon, he has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle when people debate the greatest basketball players of all time.
He is seldom, if ever, brought up as a candidate for the greatest player ever. Some don’t even have him as one of the 10 greatest players ever, which seems like utter disrespect.
However, some players, both past and present, are well aware that Bryant needs to be put on the highest level of basketball royalty.
James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers, who grew up in the Southland, told HoopsHype in an interview that to him, Bryant is the greatest ever.
Via HoopsHype:
“I mean, there was only one person who made me love, I mean fall in love with the game, and that’s Kobe Bryant,” Harden said when asked who is his greatest of all time (GOAT). “Being from LA and being a Lakers fan watching him grow up and win several championships and his passion and love and what he did for the game of basketball, I think the world, you know, feels the same way, but that’s why I started playing basketball. The skill set and things that I’ve learned, I kind of picked up on my own, but as far as falling in love with the game, it’s definitely been Kobe.”
Harden was asked to clarify if Bryant would be his GOAT if he had to choose, and he gave an affirmative.
“For me, it’s Kobe,” said Harden.
Harden’s respect for Bryant is duly noted, but to truly honor the Black Mamba, he will need to do something Bryant regularly did: win an NBA championship, something he has never done in 15 pro seasons.