Being an NBA fan is not always a rational enterprise, but it takes a big man to admit it. Actor Kris Lofton, who fans may recognize from his roles on Power Book IV: Force, Ballers, and Hardball, appeared on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, and during the course of his conversation with the former Lakers player and coach, he admitted that his love of Kobe Bryant led him to not like LeBron James.
Advertisement
Lofton was apologetic about being a self-professed LeBron hater because he acknowledged LeBron’s greatness while confessing the King did nothing to deserve his ire. Looking straight at the camera, as if speaking directly to James, he explained,
“You’re amazing, LeBron. I just am a Kobe fan and I hate what the city of Los Angeles has done to your legacy for me because of me being such a Kobe fan. Like when people try to say that he’s better than Kobe, it makes me hate him, even though he did nothing, he’s done nothing but be great, but I hate him because people actually think that he’s better than Kobe … in L.A. they think he’s better than Kobe and I just feel like that’s such blasphemy.”
Lofton even seemed to apologize to LeBron’s wife for hating on her husband, saying, “He’s a good man, Savannah,” as Scott and co-host Kid Jay laughed. Even though Lofton emphasized that he liked LeBron “as a human,” he still refused to put him into his top-five favorite players of all-time list, instead naming Kobe, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, and Steph Curry.
LeBron James is proof that being great doesn’t always equal being loved
LeBron certainly has his share of stans among NBA diehards. Many fans put him ahead of Kobe and MJ as the best player of all time, and the overwhelming nature of his career stats, which now include four NBA titles with three different teams, four MVPs, and the all-time scoring title, definitely puts him in the discussion.
At the end of the day though, it comes down to passion. While the MJ vs. LeBron debate has raged on for years with no end in sight, as Lofton illustrates, there’s a different level of love that Kobe fans have for their favorite player, especially now that he’s no longer with us.
Kobe fans are just different, and though it’s difficult to argue with LeBron’s decision from a career standpoint to leave the Cavs for a second time to come to the Lakers (he did win a title in 2020, after all), wearing the same jersey as Kobe means that though he may be great, he’ll never be as loved as a guy that spent his entire 20-year career playing for the purple and gold.
