Rachaad White Trolls Jayden Daniels Over Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant NBA GOAT Debate

Jayden Daniels is a Southern California native and grew up a huge Kobe Bryant fan. His teammates, former and current, have long enjoyed needling him with NBA GOAT arguments in favor of Michael Jordan.

ESPN's Ryan Hockensmith shared the following excerpt in a story about Daniels' revitalization at LSU:

"Mamba Mentality had always been Daniels' adopted philosophy, which is essential in understanding why he so fiercely defends Kobe's honor. That first spring at LSU, in 2022, somebody made the mistake of saying that Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Then and now, this turns out to be a cheat code to instantly get under Daniels' skin. Daniels is a Southern California kid, through and through, and he will not allow any disparaging of his hero, Bryant. Even now, his old friends love winding him up about Kobe. 'I tell him all the time that Jordan was better,' says running back Rachaad White, his former Arizona State teammate. 'Tell him that I said that. Tell him that Rachaad is telling people Kobe wasn't close to MJ.'"

While Jordan indisputably has the better GOAT candidacy than Bryant—more titles (6-5), more scoring titles (10-2), more career points per game (30.1 PPG to 25 PPG), more MVPs (5-1), even a better career shooting percentage (49.7 percent to 44.7 percent)—Daniels has used the Mamba Mentality to become one of the most dynamic players in football.

His love of Bryant may have earned him some good-natured ribbing over the years, but it's played a part in his burgeoning superstardom. That's a last laugh Daniels can hold onto.