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Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith recently named his top five all-time NBA players. To everyone's surprise, Smith didn't include the late Kobe Bryant on his list. In his opinion, Bryant doesn't deserve to be on his list because Kobe's success early in his career was thanks to Shaquille O'Neal. To Smith, that doesn't make Bryant an all-time great, let alone the greatest LA Lakers player ever.
While many have snubbed Kobe Bryant on their list for many years, rapper Ice Cube's son disagreed with Stephen A. Smith's take. O'Shea Jackson Jr. called out the analyst by joking about how the only reason why Smith is confident enough to exclude Bryant from his list is because he's no longer around. Ice Cube's son posted on X:
"People talkin real crazy because they can’t get them phone calls from Bean no more."
Why Kobe Bryant is a top-five NBA player of all time
Kobe Bryant rightfully holds a place in the top tier of NBA players. He earned this status by being one of the most prolific scorers in the league's history. Bryant's fierce competitive spirit played a pivotal role in securing five championships for the LA Lakers.
While many believe that Bryant wouldn't have won three initial rings without Shaquille O'Neal, the same could be said for the "Big Diesel". When Kobe first started his career, he had some early struggles as a player but showed a lot of promise in his game. He immediately made an impact for the Lakers after his rookie 1996-97 season and became an All-Star in only his sophomore year.
During the Lakers' three-peat championship run between 2000-2002, Kobe was easily the second-best player on the court next to Shaq. Bryant was one of the premier mid-range scorers at the time. Across the three seasons, he averaged 25.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals. His shots were unstoppable the moment he pulled up from off the dribble. Aside from his lethal shooting, he also had a dominant inside game, literally putting anyone on his poster when possible.
