Watch Kobe Bryant Rank Himself, Michael Jordan, LeBron James from Best to Worst

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant ranked himself ahead of Michael Jordan and LeBron James during an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden on Tuesday night.

Bryant, who had to choose between ranking three of the greatest NBA players of all time or eating cow tongue, decided on the former and placed himself atop the list:

Although the five-time NBA champion said he's better than MJ and LeBron, that doesn't mean he believes he's the GOAT.             

In fact, during a Q&A session hosted by Frank Isola of The Athletic at the NBA Store in New York City last week, he said that title belongs to Bill Russell, who won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and '60s:       

"You know what, everybody has this conversation about who's the best. The question to ask is does it matter? No. What matters is what? Winning championships. That's the only thing that matters. You can sit here and debate until you're blue in the face about who is the best. What you cannot debate is who is the champion at the end of the year. Period. Bill Russell is the greatest."

Nevertheless, Bryant knew his comments about Jordan and James would spark a debate and even considered eating the cow tongue before bringing it close enough to his mouth to smell it. He quickly changed his mind.

The backlash for putting himself ahead of MJ is sure to follow.