When people debate who the greatest of all time (G.O.A.T.) in NBA history is, it usually comes down to just two players: Michael Jordan and LeBron James. As a result, some feel a few other legends have gotten short-changed.
Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant sometimes gets underrated or even disrespected in a historical sense. While a handful of NBA players past and present have ranked him among their top five players of all time, pundits have often placed him outside their list of the 10 greatest players in basketball history.
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Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, who once had a brief stint alongside Bryant on the Lakers in 1999, said during a live stream with social media influencer N3on that people don’t talk enough about Bryant when it comes to the greatest legends in NBA history.
“We know who that is, Jordan all day long. … People forgot about that one guy. That one guy, that’s called Kobe Bryant. People forget about him. They talk about everybody else. They don’t talk about Kobe for some reason.”
Bryant may not deserve to win the debate, but he certainly deserves to be on the same overall tier as the greatest to ever play the sport. In addition to his five NBA championships, he went on scoring sprees that were equalled or surpassed by only Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. In fact, he once scored 50 points in four consecutive games during the 2006-07 season, something even Jordan never did.
He ended up scoring more points than any guard in league history, and he’s tied with three other players for the most selections to the All-Defensive First Team. Obviously, he left Lakers fans with countless precious memories that continue to stand the test of time.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Dennis Rodman sticks up for Kobe Bryant in G.O.A.T. debate