By Chris Yingling | Echo
One of greatest basketball players of all time announced his retirement this week.
Kobe Bryant divulged his plans to retire from the NBA at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season after 20 years of playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. While Lakers and NBA fans alike mourned the loss of the perennial All-Star, one question remains:
Who is the greatest basketball player of all time?
When someone asks that question, one player comes to mind. Anyone who pays any attention to NBA basketball knows that Michael Jordan took the league by storm in 1984. The longtime Chicago Bull became the poster child of the association with his dominant play. Jordan redefined the shooting guard position, creating the most piercing scoring threat the league has ever seen.
Not only was Jordan a master on the court, but he had an incredible knack for branding himself-crafting an image that few athletes have been able to replicate. When Jordan signed with Nike in 1984, he created an instantly buyable product. Every aspiring basketball player wanted a pair of Air Jordans in his closet. Jordan also played the headlines with his famous "Flu Game" as well as his performances in the 1997 finals. Finally, Jordan authored the greatest press release in sports history with his "I'm back" in 1995.
The evidence seems airtight. Jordan's stats speak for themselves. He has a record 30.1 regular season career scoring average, 10 NBA scoring titles and an NBA-high 5,987 playoff points to go with his six NBA titles.
But I'm here to tell you that not everyone believes Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. Consider the career of Kobe Bryant.
Before entirely disregarding the rest of this article, hear me out. Bryant's stats aren't nearly as flashy as Jordan's, and his teams may not have been as stellar as the 1990-98 Chicago Bulls Golden Era. However, immediately disregarding Bryant as a viable option shows ignorance toward one of the greatest careers the NBA has ever seen.
It's easy to find several comparisons between the two shooting guards. However, Bryant holds a few statistics that Jordan was never able to accomplish. For one thing, Bryant scored 81 points in a 2006 game against Toronto in comparison to Jordan's career-high 69 points, which needed a period of overtime. Bryant was more of a perimeter threat than Jordan ever was, holding the single-game three-point record while also holding a 0.7 percent advantage over Jordan in three-point percentage.
Bryant has been a respected player off the court since he entered the league. Every rookie who comes into the NBA looks to have a work ethic like Bryant, who is lauded for his offseason ritual of late nights in the gym. While Jordan may have made the most of his time in the spotlight with blockbuster shoe deals, endorsements, "Space Jam" and the 2K video game franchise, Bryant spent his free time working on his game.
It's also important to remember that Bryant accomplished all that he did without any retirements or baseball pipe dreams.
Discrediting Michael Jordan's career is nearly impossible. He's one of the greatest players of all time, but he was somewhat one-dimensional. During the latter part of his career, coaches asked Bryant to cover the quick point guards Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo along with the brute-strength players LeBron James and Marc Gasol. Jordan was undoubtedly the best shooting guard of all time, but he struggled to keep up with guys who were more agile than he.
Kobe Bryant's career may be coming to an end, but his legacy as the greatest Laker of all time will live on. The next time you're having "The Debate" about who is the greatest basketball player of all time, remember Kobe.
