Kobe Bryant lists the top five players he’s played against
With his career winding down, Kobe Bryant has listed the top five players that he has played against.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is about to call it a career after 20 years of legendary basketball. Through his time in the NBA, Bryant has won multiple championships and individual awards that have highlighted just how great of a player he really is.
Also what highlights just how a great a player really is on the court is the competition that they face during the era that they play in. Bryant, during his time in the league, has faced off against plenty of the all-time greats, many of whom are in the Hall of Fame, and some who will be there soon enough.
With so many players having played across from Bryant in legendary battles that will go down in NBA history, Bryant has decided to list the top five players that he has played against in his career in the NBA.
Kobe says the top five players of his era were Hakeem Olajuwon, MJ, Durant, LeBron and, interestingly, Clyde Drexler.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 21, 2015
While that’s certainly an impressive list of players, both Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan are missing from the list. An argument for Shaq missing off the list can certainly be made, as most of his great years were indeed playing with Bryant and not against him.
As for Duncan, that omission from the list is rather interesting, especially considering Clyde Drexler wasn’t at his peak form by the time Bryant had entered the league, and Kevin Durant really didn’t hit his prime until Bryant hit the downside of his career.
At the same time, it’s a tough answer for Bryant to list off the top of his head when there’s been so many great players that he’s faced off against. It’s hard to hold it against him when he has played in the league for 20 years.
Still, it’s incredible that he forgot Tim Duncan.