Kobe the GOAT? Nope! Magic Was Better

Last week Kobe appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and was on a segment where he would have to either eat something very disgusting, or answer who was the best between himself, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Watching the show, you can tell it was in a fun environment, and just when it appeared Kobe might eat cow tongue, he changed his mind and said, "Uh-uh, fine, I'm the best, Michael's second best, LeBron's the third best."

The crowd went wild.

Now check this. I'm not like most people, who simply anoint Michael Jordan as the best of all-time. A lot of people these days sway towards Jordan or Bryant, typically because that's who they either grew up watching, or in the case of pro players, played against.

People like to use the six-ring argument to say that Jordan is better than Bryant, but do not use the same logic when comparing either of them to Bill Russell, who led the Boston Celtics to 11 championships in 13 seasons.

I'm not one who says "you're the best because you have the most rings," but if that argument was true, that would mean Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, basketball's all-time leading scorer, is just as good, if not better than Jordan and Bryant, because he has six rings as a pro, as well as well as three collegiate championships at UCLA. Almost nobody under the age of 30 is willing to die on a hill arguing that Abdul-Jabaar is the best player ever.

This leads me back to Bryant. I have been in many arguments where people say that he's the best player in Lakers history. For those who were born after 1988, and grew up idolizing Bryant, it's easy to see why they would feel that way. But I know better. I grew up in the 80s, and to say that Kobe was better than Magic Johnson or Abdul-Jabaar just doesn't add up.

Truthfully, I'm a Celtics fan, which automatically qualifies me as a Laker hater, but I'm not a Kobe hater. I appreciated his tenacity and self-reliance, that made him one of the important players in NBA history. He played a major part in the NBA bridge between Jordan and James, who are the most popular stars of any era, on a worldwide level.

All that being said, Kobe Bryant isn't even in my top 10 of all-time greatest NBA players. Before I get to my list, the word great in real life doesn't qualify as positive or negative. For example a flood could be considered great, that doesn't mean it's good. But in the case of NBA players when we argue who is the greatest of all-time, we mean who is the best in our eyes on the court.

Greatness is so subjective. There aren't really any right or wrongs, but for the sake of the topic, and to contribute a bit more controversy to society, I'll throw my two cents into ten players in NBA history who are better than basketball great Kobe Bryant. This collection of words features the first of ten, the one and only Magic Johnson.

Bryant won five championships as a Laker, and made it to the NBA Finals another two times, all while playing shooting guard. Magic Johnson won five championships for the same franchise, made it to the finals another four times, all while playing point guard, with the ability to play all five positions on the floor, and play them well.

If I'm drafting between Magic and Kobe, it's Magic 100 percent of the time. Why? He simply made everybody on the court better. Except for a brief time early in his career, there was never a question about his team's chemistry, while Kobe's locker rooms appeared to have a tension, that bled out through the media to the imagination of fans.

Many will argue that Magic consistently played with a more talented cast, but in my opinion he was the reason why that talent performed to the level that they did. We all saw what LeBron did for the Cavaliers last season, as he lifted them to a finals appearance.

Magic elevated an excellent player like James Worthy, and helped him to a become a multiple time champion. He did the same for other players, like Byron Scott and AC Green. Would we look at these players in the same light had they played for the Kings or the Pacers? Probably not. He also helped lighten the load for Abdul-Jabaar in his latter seasons, which allowed him to play until he was 41.

Finally, I'm a firm believer that if Magic wanted to score over 30 points per game in a season like Bryant did, he could've. He never needed to, and his game wasn't patterned after a high volume scorer, like Bryant's was to Jordan's. Magic was a six to nine, point guard who averaged 19.5 points and 11.2 assists per game.

He isn't lauded for his defense like Kobe was, and I can understand that. However, it is a fact that Magic averaged more steals per game, and had five seasons where he averaged over two steals per contest, versus Kobe's one.

One final point, Magic's teams never missed the playoffs. Kobe cannot make the same claim.