LeBron James is the most polarizing figure when it comes to the basketball GOAT list. However, the opposition to James isn’t based on his resume. That whole debate is tribalism at its finest. No reasonable person should be able to conclude that James is anywhere outside of the top two. On the contrary, the player who has the largest range of outcomes on the all-time list is Kobe Bryant. There is a subset of (younger) fans who legitimately think that Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player of all time. There is also a group who don’t even view him as a top 10 player. While the latter is much more defensible than the former, neither would be on the strong side of a debate. Kobe should not be anywhere near the GOAT conversation, nor are there 10 better players in league history as of two-and-a-half decades into the 21st century.
How can there be such a wide range of opinions on Kobe? This is a loaded question, but there are both tangible and intangible reasons for it. First, Kobe wasn’t just a polarizing basketball player, he was also a polarizing person. His killer instinct and swagger earned him a devoted following, while his legal transgressions earned him an equally passionate group of critics. These factors are (likely) largely responsible for the most extreme placements in the all-time hierarchy. Someone who has Kobe rated as the greatest player of all-time is likely confusing his pop cultural significance with his basketball accomplishments, while those who have him outside of the top ten are likely conducting a morality test. Still, there is plenty of ammunition–good and bad–to argue for Kobe ending up in several places within the top ten. Let’s take a look at which makes the most sense!
There is no question that Kobe Bryant was a superstar. Pointing out the flaws in his resume needs to be kept in context. Every player in the top ten has a phenomenal resume, so a healthy dose of splitting hairs is necessary. The only way to do it right is to identify weak spots (relatively speaking), and Kobe has a few of them. He was a fairly inefficient offensive player. His .329 three-point percentage is quite poor, and his .550 true shooting percentage is not even in the top 250 on the all-time list. Perhaps most damaging is the fact that his 2-point field goal percentage stands at an underwhelming .479. He is the only player with a reasonable argument for the top 10 who has a 2-point shooting percentage that is lower than .500, and he’s well below that mark. Given the fact that Kobe led the league in shot attempts six times and finished second three other times, there is strong evidence that he took too many poor quality shots. As a result, the margin between his offensive rating and defensive rating (110 ORTG, 105 DRTG, or a +5 margin) is not only among the worst of anyone in the running for a spot in the top 10, but it is among the worst of anyone in the top 100.
Now that we’ve outed Kobe Bryant for being an inefficient offensive player (at least compared to his elite counterparts), how on Earth is he even a candidate for the top ten? Well, that can be an easy question to answer if we want it to be. Kobe won five NBA Championships and two NBA Finals MVPs. That alone gets him into the top 10, considering Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan are the only other players to accomplish the feat. That combination is essentially a fast pass into the top 10 for anyone.
However, there is more nuance to Kobe’s legacy that requires parsing at a depth that many fans don’t care enough to explore, but is crucial to finding his ideal spot, nonetheless. Yes, Kobe won five NBA Championships. However, he was the best player on only two of those five championship teams. Duncan was the best player on all five of his championship teams. Jordan was the best player on all six of his championship teams. LeBron James was the best player on all four of his championship teams. Shaq was the best player on at least 3–and possibly all 4–of his championship teams. Kobe is the only player among the realistic candidates for the top ten who wasn’t the best player on at least half of his championship teams. Additionally, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson all won at least three MVPs and average 4.75 between them. Kobe won just one MVP, and finished second just once. Based on his offensive inefficiency, MVP voting results, and how often he was the best player on a championship team, there is no reasonable argument to rate him ahead of LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (this could change if we heavily discount Kareem’s dominance due to weakness of his era and the fact that half of the available professional basketball talent played in the ABA during the bulk of his prime), Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Magic Johnson. That puts Kobe’s ceiling at #7 with two very worthy candidates still in play: Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
Kobe Bryant vs. Steph Curry
For many, this comparison doesn’t go beyond Kobe’s superior athleticism and height advantage. That’s unfortunate for two reasons: 1) Kobe and Steph played different positions, and 2) the NBA is 5v5, not 1v1. This comparison needs to focus on what each did in their NBA careers, and not what might have happened had they met on the blacktop at Rucker Park. The trophy cases between the two are very similar. Steph has two MVPs, while Kobe has 1. Kobe has two Finals MVPs, and Steph should also have two Finals MVPs (voters did NBA history a disservice by trying to be cute in 2015). Kobe won five championships and was the best player for two of them. Curry won four championships and was the best player for at least two of them. Judging strictly from their respective trophy cases, we’re looking at a stalemate.
Now, let’s look at their career statistics and accolades. The biggest weakness on Kobe’s resume is the fact that he was an inefficient offensive player by today’s standards. His .447 career shooting percentage is brutally low and far below any of the other players in the top 20. Curry’s true shooting percentage is a staggering .625 compared to Kobe’s .550. His eFG% is .582 compared to Kobe’s .482. Curry’s 3-point shooting percentage is .423 compared to Kobe’s .329. Even Curry’s .524 2-point shooting percentage is far superior to Kobe’s .479. Curry wasn’t just an efficient scorer, he was also a volume scorer. He led the NBA in scoring twice, the same as Kobe. His career scoring average is almost identical to Kobe’s (25 to 24.7 in favor of Kobe). There is an argument to be made that Curry is the most lethal offensive force in NBA history. There isn’t a player the league has ever seen who comes close to matching his combination of 24.7 career scoring average and .423 3-point shooting percentage. Statistically speaking, Kobe is not in the same ballpark as Curry as an offensive player. So, how is this even a close comparison?
Well, Kobe does have some advantages. First, he was a superior defensive player. He was named first team all-defense nine times. Curry doesn’t have the same defensive reputation, although Kobe’s advantage probably isn’t as large as it appears. Both hold identical Defensive Win Shares per 82 games at 3.1. Certainly, Kobe gets the checkmark from a defensive perspective, but the impact there isn’t anywhere close to Curry’s margin from an offensive efficiency standpoint, especially considering defensive shortcomings are much easier to mask within the confines of a 5v5 environment.
Another advantage that Kobe has over Steph is longevity. As of the end of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, Kobe had played over 300 more games. However, longevity for the sake of longevity isn’t necessarily a good thing. On a per-minute basis, Curry holds significant advantages in Win Shares/48 (.196 to .170) and VORP (Value Over Replacement Player)/48 (.103 to .079). Given Curry’s career is on the back nine, those percentages aren’t likely to change much, while Kobe’s “advantage” in longevity will slowly evaporate with each additional season Curry plays.
One final advantage that Kobe has over Steph is the fact that he was named 1st team All-NBA eleven times. This is unquestionably an advantage for Kobe. Steph was named to the 1st team just four times. However, the competition at the guard position for All-NBA votes during Kobe’s career compared to Steph’s is like night and day. The NBA has experienced a backcourt renaissance over the last decade that has seen SGA, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Anthony Edwards, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, and Kyrie Irving fighting for All-NBA votes. Guard play during Kobe’s prime wasn’t anywhere near as strong or deep. Curry’s competition at guard is littered with players on the top-50 list, while Kobe’s was not. Again, this is an advantage for Kobe, but context is needed.
This is a razor-close comparison that has no right answer. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is on full display here. Steph Curry revolutionized basketball by taking a game that was historically contested within 15 feet of the basket and extending it to 30 feet. He found a cheat code. In some ways, his impact resembles the impact Babe Ruth had on Major League Baseball when he took a game that was historically played within the confines of major league parks and extended it outside of the park via the home run. Nobody has had as big an impact on how basketball is played in the NBA since the lane was widened from six feet to 12 feet in 1951 to prevent George Mikan from camping out under the basket. Curry was–and even still is–a unicorn. He is, by far, the most explosive and efficient point guard to ever play the game, and teams that try to get physical with him get the poison pill of sending the greatest free throw shooter in the history of the NBA to the free throw line.
Perhaps the most impressive detail on Curry’s resume is his impact on winning. He is the only player since the NBA/ABA merger to win two NBA Championships without a teammate in the top 100. There is a strong argument to be made that Kobe never would have won a Finals MVP or been the best player on a championship team had the Lakers not acquired Pau Gasol during the 07-08 season. Before the Gasol acquisition, Kobe had never gotten out of the first round as his team’s best player, and his record with the Lakers over the first three seasons post-Shaq was 121-125. As soon as the Lakers acquired Gasol, the team went on a 22-4 run to close out the 07-08 season, and subsequently made the first of three consecutive finals appearances. Kobe was a great player, but Steph proved that he was capable of winning multiple championships without the aid of a top-100 teammate. In a very tight comparison, Curry’s massive advantage in offensive efficiency, his status as the greatest 3-point shooter and free throw shooter in NBA history, and his ability to win championships without top-100 teammates are enough to give him the edge over Kobe.
Kobe Bryant vs. Kevin Durant
In many ways, the Kobe vs. Durant comparison mirrors the Kobe vs. Curry comparison, so we won’t need nearly as many words to get to a conclusion. First, it’s important to point out that Durant’s career is not over. His last act has yet to play out, and he is still playing at a very high level, so it is certainly possible that what he does to close out his career affects this comparison. Like the Curry/Kobe comparison, Durant and Kobe have very similar trophy cases. Both have two Finals MVPs. Both have one regular-season MVP. From a statistical perspective, Durant has the same massive efficiency advantage over Kobe that Curry has. Unlike Curry, Durant is actually the superior volume scorer as well. Kobe has the same advantage on the defensive end over Durant that he has over Curry. All things being equal, Durant would get the nod over Kobe on the all-time list just like Curry did. However, the elephant in the room for Durant is that, unlike Curry and Kobe, he was unable to win an NBA Championship while being the definitive best player on his team. He was also not able to win an NBA Championship without a top 50 teammate. Like the Curry/Kobe comparison, the difference between Kobe and Durant is razor thin. Durant is right on Kobe’s heels and may very well end up passing him even without adding championships. Unless or until that happens, Kobe’s seven NBA Finals appearances (three as the best player on his team) and five championships (two as the best player on his team) are enough to hold off Durant’s overwhelming advantage on the offensive side.
Conclusion
The fuel for these debates is seemingly limitless, especially if we go beyond the surface in our analysis. Heck, if people want to ignore competition level altogether (which I do not recommend), arguments can be made that the three greatest players in NBA history are Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, and Bill Russell. So, trying to find a logical way to rank similarly accomplished players like Kobe, Curry, and Durant is akin to a logical labyrinth. However, if we’re willing to dig deep enough, cut out all of the noise that doesn’t have anything to do with what transpired on the court, and focus on what truly makes a great resume, we can almost always find something that makes sense not just in the micro (player vs. player), but also in the macro (player vs. history). For now, that lands Kobe at #8 just behind Curry and just ahead of KD.
