Anybody who came to the world in the 90s and thereafter was too young to understand the greatness of Michael Jordan. However, they did get to see Lakers’ Kobe Bryant in his prime, doing almost everything MJ did with the Bulls.
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Current Lakers forward Juan Toscano-Anderson is one of those guys. The 2022 Champ with the Warriors was born around the time ‘His Airness’ announced his first retirement after completing a three-peat and becoming a global icon.
JTA was too young to understand Jordan and the Bulls’ dominance after his comeback when they did the three-peat again from 1996 to 98. So, him keeping Kobe first in all-time five is understandable, isn’t it? Let’s see who else he got.
JTA snubs LeBron James and Michael Jordan for #1 in his Top-5 all-time, going for Kobe Bryant instead
In his recent appearance on Uninterrupted’s Hoops and Hollywood alongside his former Warriors teammate Draymond Green and actor Rome Flynn, JTA revealed his top-5 players considering only the players he has “watched” playing.
“So, for me, Kob (Kobe Bryant) is No. 1, Bron (LeBron James) No. 2, Steph (Stephen Curry) No. 3, Shaq 4, and probably Timmy (Tim Duncan) No. 5.” Juan Toscano-Anderson said.
He said that MJ is God and kept him aside so that won’t catch the ire of Jordan fans. However, keeping his own teammate and The King of the league behind Kobe? That was a daring take. It might not sit well with some young fans in LA, but we give him a salute for that.
Kobe will always be a deserving candidate for GOAT talk
Be it, James being the best player in the league for more than 15 years like Draymond said, or Jordan doing the best in a shorter time span among all the GOATs, Kobe Bryant’s legacy is one of the best in the game.
Much like LeBron is doing now or even more, Bryant gave most of his life to basketball. The 18x All-Star ate, slept, and dreamt the game for 20 years when he was not dribbling a ball. And even after retirement, he was involved in developing Gigi Bryant and women’s basketball as a whole.
Even if he hadn’t won 5 championships while averaging over 25 points and getting 12x All-Defensive Team selections, he would have been an all-time great no matter what. The dedication he had for the game was never seen before, and most probably it will never be seen again.
