Recently ESPN analyst Bryon Scott stated that if Kobe won his fifth ring he would be the third greatest player in the history of basketball behind Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Scott who won three rings with the L.A. Lakers in the 1980's bleeds purple and gold like so many former Lakers do, so hearing him make the statement was not that big of a shock. However, it still does not take away from the fact that Scott’s statement was completely wrong. Kobe Bryant might be the best player of this era but not of all time.

            The greatest player in the history of basketball was and always will be Michael Jordan the man that Kobe admires and obsesses about. Almost everything Kobe does as a player is done in a way that Jordan would do it. His celebration after his latest title looked exactly like the way Jordan celebrated, jumping on the scorers table with five fingers in the air. Bryant went as far as to change his number from 8 to 24 one number ahead of Jordan’s 23. However, no matter what Bryant does to try and be like Jordan or be better than Jordan he will not be able to achieve the same level of greatness of Jordan. Not only Jordan, there are several players that Kobe is chasing before he can be considered being in the top 3 like Bryon Scott thinks.

            Since it is well established that Jordan is the G.O.A.T., then the question becomes who is second and so on. If someone decides to base it on the greatest winner than Bill Russell is the greatest. With 11 titles as player and coach with the Boston Celtics, Russell is the greatest winner in basketball history. If people would like to look at individual greatness then Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson must be mentioned. Oscar Robertson is the only player to average a triple double for an entire season in 1961-62 with 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game and is regarded by many as one of the most versatile NBA players of all time. Then, there is Chamberlain who seems to hold almost every major record in basketball. There is his 100 point game in 1962, the 50.4 points per game that same season, four of the five highest scoring averages for a season and the highest rebound total in a single game with 55. Kobe has never dominated on that kind of level. His highest scoring average was 35.4 in the 2005-06 season, the first season after Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers.

            If someone wants to consider the all around game of someone then they would look at Robertson, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The longtime rivals are two of the greatest all around players in NBA history, players that could dominate a game without scoring; something I’m not sure Kobe is capable of doing. Magic finished his career with 138 triple doubles, while Bird finished his career with 59 triple doubles. As of right now Kobe only has 16 compared to Lebron James’s 34 triple doubles. There are two more centers that must be considered in the G.O.A.T. debate and they are Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem finished his career with 6 NBA titles and 6 MVPs, while in his prime was considered the most unstoppable since Chamberlain and possibly ever. Then, there is the man responsible for bringing Bryant to the Lakers, Jerry West an All-Star every season that he played and now the NBA logo. So many of these players have had legendary shots and moments in the postseason. For Jordan it was “The Shot” in Cleveland in 1989, for Jerry West it was his half court shot in the 1970 Finals against the Knicks to force overtime, Kareem had the amazing performance in the 1985 Finals, Magic had the Jr. Skyhook in the 1987 Finals, Shaq was unstoppable during the run to his first title. What is Kobe’s legendary moment???? He has had some good moments, Game 4 of the 2000 Finals comes to mind, but for all his buzzer beaters Kobe only has one in the postseason. It came against Phoenix in a series that he let a 3-1 series lead slip away. Then, for all the great players of the past Kobe is still battling to be considered the best player of his generation. Tim Duncan has a legitimate case for that title. With four championships, 13 selections to the All-NBA team and All-Defensive team, as well as two MVPS and three Finals MVPs, Duncan is every bit Kobe’s equal when it comes to success both team and individually over the last 10 years. Duncan’s has achieved his success in a very quiet way, sometimes making it difficult for people to really appreciate his greatness as a player.

            For all of the great players I have mention in this article the one thing that they all have in common is championships. That means such greats as Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone, and George Gervin. Kobe Bryant is not in the top 10 of all-time greats, he has five championships but he was the best player on only two of the teams and his first three titles teams did not face any powerhouse teams in the Finals. His one MVP trails Kareem by five, his two Finals MVPs trails Jordan by four, and his five titles trails Russell by six. Now some will say that Kobe has plenty time to catch these legends since he is only 31 years old. However, Kobe has been playing in the NBA since he was 18 years old, Kobe is an old 31 years old and just finished his 13^th NBA season. It will be hard for Kobe to dominate games as he continues to get older however if Kobe wants to be the ultimate basketball legend he will need to push himself and his Laker teammates to greater heights than before. In other words, Kobe you have more work to do.