Why Kobe Bryant Isn't a Top-10 Player In B/R's All-Time NBA Rankings
Bleacher Report released its updated list of the 100 greatest players in NBA history this week, which was voted on by a panel of experts, writers and editors.
To no one's surprise, the placements of several legends are causing quite a stir all over the internet.
Perhaps most shocking to some is Kobe Bryant's spot. He finished 11th in the exercise, with one voter having him all the way down at No. 18.
His former teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, described the rank as "criminal."
For many NBA fans, seeing Kobe outside the top 10 is unfathomable. So, we're here to provide more context to help you understand why Kobe didn't make the cut.
Peak vs. Longevity
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Kobe is fourth all-time in career points (regular and postseason combined), tied for second in total All-NBA nods, third in total All-Star selections and third in total 40-point games (including the playoffs).
There is no question that for most of two decades, he was among the very best players in the world. But "among the best" and "the best" are two different things.
Kobe never led the league in box plus/minus or player efficiency rating. He only secured one MVP win and is outside the top 10 in career MVP shares.
For most of his career, Kobe wasn't wearing the NBA's "best player championship belt."
His teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, held that honor early on in his career. For a while, it was probably Tim Duncan. Eventually, LeBron James came along, snagged the belt and didn't let it go for several years. Stephen Curry may have even grabbed it before Kobe retired.
Meanwhile, the players above him in the top 100—which includes everyone named in the preceding paragraph—all had multi-year peaks in which they were clearly holding the belt. The lone exception may be Wilt Chamberlain, who had Bill Russell to contend with.
Shaq was the Threepeat's Alpha
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It's tough to find NBA championship teams without multiple bona fide superstars.
Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. Magic Johnson had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. Tim Duncan first had David Robinson and later won titles with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard. Stephen Curry shared the floor with Kevin Durant for two of his four titles.
You get the picture.
But the first name in each of the combinations above (including Curry's) clearly topped the hierarchy within each title-winning team. While Kobe was that player for his pair of championships with Pau Gasol in 2008-09 and 2009-10, he was the clear No. 2 to the sixth-best player of all time in 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02.
During those three postseasons, Shaq was the Lakers' runaway leader in wins over replacement player (the cumulative version of box plus/minus), points, rebounds, blocks, minutes and raw plus-minus.
Had Kobe not landed in L.A. to start his career alongside O'Neal, there's no telling how many championships he'd have today. Winning the first three may have lit the fire that led to the next two.
With the five rings being such an important part of the Kobe mythology, it's fair to analyze who deserves the most credit for the Lakers' early-2000s threepeat.
Three-Quarters of a Century of NBA History
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The first NBA campaign started in 1946. It wasn't even called the NBA then. In the nearly eight decades that the league has existed, thousands upon thousands of the absolute best basketball players in the world have filtered through.
Those who cracked Bleacher Report's top 10 combined absurd production with a "best in the world" peak that lasted a few years in most cases, a laundry list of accolades, multiple championships. They also had something (or things) that separated them from Kobe, although that wasn't a specific criterion.
Michael Jordan won five MVPs and six Finals MVPs.
LeBron James' cushion between himself and second place on the all-time scoring ladder is starting to look laughable.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a six-time MVP and six-time champion.
Magic Johnson has three MVPs, three Finals MVPs and the highest career assist average of all time.
Bill Russell won 11 titles during the league's formative years.
Shaq was the best player on Kobe's most famous teams.
Tim Duncan has three Finals MVPs, two MVPs and 15 All-Defense nods.
Larry Bird won three MVPs in a row, finished top-three in MVP voting eight years in a row, helped save the NBA in the 1980s and was a pioneer for point forwards.
Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points for his career, won four MVPs and averaged 50.4 points in the 1961-62 season alone.
And Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter of all time. (As it turns out, being the best at basketball's most important skill is pretty important!)
Kobe has his own stellar individual resume, of course. But it's nearly impossible to overcome nearly 80 years of professional sports history, although he almost did.
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Curry and LeBron
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To zero in a bit further on that point, LeBron and Curry are the only two active players above Kobe on this list. If they weren't there, Kobe would have made the top 10.
But as their careers wind down, it's becoming increasingly difficult to argue that either should be behind Kobe on the all-time ladder.
Beyond LeBron outlasting him (and every other legend in NBA history), he has a higher average than Kobe in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. He also has a higher three-point percentage and a significantly higher field-goal percentage.
LeBron's 8.53 career box plus/minus ranks third all time (behind Nikola Jokić's 10.28 and Michael Jordan's 9.21), while Kobe's 4.55 is 32nd.
For Curry, the argument is a little closer (hence, those two being 10th and 11th on the list). But Steph is just 0.3 points behind Kobe's career scoring average, has handed out significantly more assists, ranks 20 spots higher on the box plus/minus leaderboard and is blowing Kobe's scoring efficiency out of the water.
The Lakers great had a 55.0 career true shooting percentage that was comfortably over the league average of the time of 53.2. Curry's 62.5 is otherworldly for guards and 7.1 points clear of the league average over the course of his career.
Curry and LeBron both started playing in the NBA after Kobe, but they've each since passed him. That's the nature of professional sports. Plenty of fans (and even some of the Bleacher Report voters) believe LeBron has passed Jordan. In time, other players will come along whom many think are better than Curry and LeBron.
Leagues evolve. Humans have a knack for getting better at things over time.
Top 11 Is No Slight
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While there is plenty of understandable outrage over Kobe just missing out on the top-10 of our all-time rankings, finishing 11th shouldn't be considered a slight.
Go check out the careers of the players who finished ahead of him. They're absurd.
Look at the careers of some of the players behind him. Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo unquestionably have better numbers. Kevin Durant, though his legacy has taken some lumps since he left the Golden State Warriors, has a resume that stacks up favorably to Kobe's. Older fans surely have cases for legends like Oscar Robertson or Jerry West to be in the top 10.
The talent and accomplishment level of everyone on this list is immense. All over it, margins are razor-thin.
For Kobe to miss the top 10 by one spot shouldn't be considered anywhere near an indictment of his career.
On the contrary, being considered one of the 11 best players in NBA history is a remarkable achievement for one of the league's truly iconic talents.
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