For many years, Michael Jordan was considered the greatest NBA player by many people, and it really wasn’t much of a debate. But during the past several years, LeBron James has encroached on that accolade. A growing number of people now believe James is the greatest basketball player of all time.
One all-time great who has been forgotten or even disrespected in this debate is late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. While his legend has seemingly grown in recent years, many do not seem to rank him as one of the five greatest players ever.
But Allen Iverson, a fellow Hall of Famer and one of his contemporaries, said he’s the second greatest NBA player behind only Jordan. Iverson said this to Rachel Nichols while recalling a time during their rookie seasons when Bryant trashed his hotel room after playing poorly against him.
"I say Mike, and I say Kobe, and then everyone else." – Allen Iverson tells me on this week's Headliners that Kobe needs to be ranked right after Jordan in the "best ever" debate. Plus, we discuss time Kobe absolutely trashed a hotel room because AI had a better game than him 😲 pic.twitter.com/28j8N9KnV0
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) December 28, 2023
Bryant helped lead the Lakers to five world championships during his 20 seasons in the league, all of which were with the Purple and Gold. He’s still fourth in career points and first in that category among full-time guards.