In the late 90s, the NBA community saw an influx of Michael Jordan mimics who came to the league to replace the Bulls legend. While most failed to impersonate the style and demeanor of the Bulls legend, there were a few who found success by trying to be like Mike. But no one did it as well as Kobe Bryant. In fact, Bryant’s style of play and his instincts impressed even Michael Jordan.
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Kobe was as impressive as players get. His ability to singlehandedly take over a game and his will to win was incomparable. However, in the recent past, the media has downplayed and undermined Kobe Bryant’s prowess. While the conversation for the best players in history always involved Kobe, MJ, and Lebron James, the popular media has now mostly dropped Bryant from this conversation.
But former Atlanta Hawks superstar Dominque Wilkins has come out to defend Kobe’s status as one of the greatest to ever play. In a recent episode of the Knucklehead podcast, Wilkins defended Kobe and suggested that he was on par with Jordan.
“People who played against Kobe. They know.”
Say it louder Dominique Wilkins pic.twitter.com/k32UJogJ3k
— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) February 25, 2023
Dominique Wilkins ranks Kobe Bryant after Michael Jordan
Wilkins was talking about Michael Jordan’s greatness when he mentioned how the only one who ever came close to His Airness was Kobe Bryant. Podcast host Quentin Richardson affirmed Wilkins’ statement and suggested that Kobe Bryant was the second-best player after MJ. Wilkins agreed with his take.
The Hawks legend claimed: “People who played against Kobe, they know.” Dominique continued: “Well, see, if you haven’t played against either one of them guys, you don’t realize how good they really were, and you know its easy for people especially when you have different social media feeds with these comparisons who’s the greatest, who’s not. I don’t buy into all of that. But when you play against the guys like that, and you know first hand what they bring to the table – both of them was lethal. And they didn’t care anything about you when you got on that floor, they would try and cut your throat. ‘I ain’t try to play with you, I am trying to bust yo a**”
Did Wilkins put Kobe over LeBron James?
During the conversation, Dominique never once brought up LeBron James or outright claimed who the GOAT was. However, he said it in a more subtle and indirect manner. When Quentin claimed that Jordan and Kobe Bryant were his top two players, Dominique agreed with him.
His statement clearly relays how he feels about the current narrative. Wilkins definitely believes that Bryant is the second-best player of all-time. And while the current media and fans have continuously aimed to market LeBron James as the only challenger to Michael’s throne, Wilkins is attempting to remind them about the man who came awfully close to dethroning the Bulls legend.
