NBA Analyst Shannon Sharpe Explains Why Kobe Bryant Does Not Feature in His All-Time Top Five Players List

The greatest of all time conversations in basketball are never ending. Every person has their own list, depending on their understanding of the game. However, there are some players who should unarguably be on the list. The three most frequent names that come up as Top 3 would be Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. All of them are generational athletes, who made basketball what it is today. Furthermore, they have the accolades to behind them to prove their greatness.

Now, what if someone says Kobe Bryant is not their Top 3? Moreover, what if they say he isn’t even a top 5 player to play the game of basketball?

Shannon Sharpe says Kobe Bryant is not a Top 5 player

Co-host of the show Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe says that Kobe Bryant is not in his list of top 5 players of all time. In a video with Jamal Crawford Shannon Sharpe defends his argument saying: “In the history of sports, I dont know if we have ever had a guy rank top 5 with only 1 MVP.”

Now while Sharpe argues Kobe has one MVP, on the contrary, many argue that he deserved it a couple of times. In 2004, Steve Nash won MVP with 15 points and 11 assists a game. While he did lead a great offensive, Kobe Bryant averaged 27 points, 6 assists and 1.3 steals per game, but failed to make the playoffs that season. Moreover, he made the All-NBA 3rd team with these numbers!

Second case was again to Steve Nash, but this time Kobe Bryant averaged 35 points per game, along with 1.8 steals. He dragged the Lakers to the seventh seed. In addition, he made the all defensive 1st team, all NBA first team and led the NBA in scoring. On the other hand, Steve Nash averaged 15 points and led the league in assists that year.

Third instance was in 2006, with Dirk Nowitzki. Now, there is no doubt that Dirk had a great season averaging 24.6 points, 9 rebounds and a record of 67-15. However, Kobe Bryant averaged 31 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal with a record of 42-40. Furthermore, he once again made both All-defensive and All-NBA 2st teams which Dirk did not.

There were speculations that Kobe did not win it more than once because the media despised Kobe Bryant and they get a say in the MVP conversation. Do you think Kobe deserved to win more MVP awards in his career?

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Do MVP’s determine greatness?

While MVP does show for the best player in the regular season, should it hold as much value in the conversation for greatest of all time? Kobe Bryant is the fourth all time points leader in NBA history. Moreover, he spent his entire career with a single organisation, won five championships and two Finals MVP’s.

His impact on the game of basketball was huge as his ‘Mamba Mentality’ has inspired multiple generations of players. One of the most hardworking and skilled players to ever grace the court. Having just 1 MVP trophy should not take away from the greatness that was Kobe Bryant.

However, the GOAT list is extremely subjective from person to person, and there is no right list. Do you have Kobe Bryant in your top 5? Let us know in the comments below.

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