Kobe Bryant had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, and the day of honors renewed talks about the five-time champion’s place in the history of the game.
People love to make comparisons between Kobe, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and others. They try to rank the players in order of greatness. But Bryant isn’t buying into that.
During a press conference before his ceremony, Bryant was asked about the comparisons to Jordan and LeBron. He explained why he disregards the comparisons. For Bryant, it’s a matter of not wanting to deal in hypothetical situations.
“One thing about me is I’m only going to care about something I know I can definitively win,” Bryant said. “If it’s not something I can definitively win, I’m not going to pay attention to it. If there’s an argument that’s happening, that argument is never going to go anywhere. Everybody’s going to argue til they’re blue in the face, so why would I think about it? If we’re playing ping pong, I know I can beat you in ping pong, I’m going to beat you in ping pong. I’m going to think about that. That’s a definitive thing.
“So I don’t think about that much.”
Bryant may say that, but you’d have a hard time convincing me he does not think about this, especially given how much he tried to replicate MJ on and off the court. He’s a competitor, so of course he’s going to think about how he stacks up against those greats.
