Scottie Pippen thinks LeBron James hasn’t surpassed Kobe Bryant yet. Yeah, right.
We’re used to retired players defending their own teammates’ greatness. They even tend to do the same for players from their era who were on different teams, perhaps in an effort to uphold their own legacy as competitors against their legendary opponents. We’re for sure not used to someone like Scottie Pippen defending a player who he has no stake in, Kobe Bryant. Yet that’s exactly what he did this morning.
Appearing on SportsCenter: Coast to Coast earlier today, Bulls legend (and teammate of mostly consensus GOAT Michael Jordan) threw his hat into the ring, so to speak. You might assume that Pippen would put his own name into consideration or at least sing the praises of his estranged teammate Michael; that would at least make sense as a jumping-off point for his involvement in this silly discussion. Instead, Pippen made the argument to Cari Champion that we can’t compare LeBron to Kobe or Michael (whose stats were juxtaposed above James’ as the segment rolled) because they don’t play the same position. According to Pippen, this is why LeBron has not (and seemingly cannot) passed Kobe on the all-time list.
The Bulls legend makes a good point to undermine the very conversation he’s having about a basketball GOAT, one that the internet has taken up once again this week. It’s completely nonsensical. Declaring a single player the Greatest Ever works to sanctify certain qualities over others, and undermine a sport’s history of greatness. Pippen understands this, but can’t seem to help himself. It’s still too sickening, apparently, to imagine a world in which this beleaguered point forward who changed teams once (!) could be the most prominent face on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore.
Instead, Pippen encourages Champion and the audience to stay within positional boundaries when comparing players. Let Jordan and Bryant, two score-first shooting guards, be in their own category. Compare LeBron to Magic Johnson instead — a comparison Pippen still can’t quite give James the edge in.
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The moral of this story, as always, is that this discussion does not matter. James is doing incredible things as consistently as we’ve ever seen in the history of basketball. His achievements are put into perspective and magnified by the achievements of those who came before him. Each generation has a new GOAT, and it does not matter how they qualify on our internet big board of NBA all-timers. Pippen sort of understands this, but even the teammate of a possible GOAT can’t help himself. We’re all doomed to have this conversation into eternity.