Kobe Bryant picked his top 5 of all time in 2009 and it still holds up
By John Buhler
Kobe Bryant picked an all-time starting five in NBA history back in 2009, and it so holds up.
Simply put, Kobe Bryant was a student of the game during his illustrious NBA career.
Fresh off winning his fourth NBA Finals as the star shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, the late Bryant picked his all-time starting five back in 2009. 11 years later, it is hard to top Magic Johnson at point guard, Michael Jordan at shooting guard, Larry Bird at small forward, Bill Russell at power forward and Wilt Chamberlain edging out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center.
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Kobe Bryant was humble in naming his all-time five, and the top five Lakers
Bryant then gave us his all-time starting lineup for the Lakers with Johnson at point guard, Jerry West ahead of him at shooting guard, Elgin Baylor at small forward and Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain as his two big men. While he could have put himself in there as a sixth man on either squad, Bryant felt there was work to be done before cementing his NBA legacy back then in 2009.
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So how good was Bryant’s assessment of the NBA and the Laker’s all-time greats? The only beefs you could have with the NBA all-time starting five were to have LeBron James over Bird at the three and Tim Duncan over Russell at the four. As for the Lakers, Bryant probably edges out West for the two-guard spot, but we both want them playing out on the wing for Los Angeles, don’t we?
This clip from 2009 is a testament to how much respect Bryant had for his elders at the time.