NBA Analyst Explains Why Kobe Bryant Is Not On His 'Top 5' GOAT List

KEY POINTS

Shannon Sharpe said Kobe Bryant is not on his list of the "top 5" greatest players of all time
Sharpe noted that Bryant only had one MVP award in his entire NBA career
The late Lakers legend once said he is better than Michael Jordan and LeBron James

A veteran analyst has made a wild claim about Kobe Bryant that some fans may not be happy to hear.

Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe is known in the sports world, particularly in the NBA, for being outspoken about his views. Speaking recently in his own podcast, “Club Shay Shay,” Sharpe weighed in on Jamal Crawford’s take on the NBA’s “top 5” players of all time after the latter said he “can’t respect any top 5 list without Bryant on it.”

According to Sharpe, he doesn’t consider Bryant one of the top five players in the history of the NBA because of his lack of MVP awards.

“In the history of sports, I don’t know if we have ever had a guy rank top 5 with only 1 MVP,” Sharpe told Crawford.

Responding to a Twitter user who did not approve of his exclusion of Bryant, Sharpe explained the reasoning behind it.

“I base my GOATs on multiple regular season MVPs, championships with multiple finals MVP,” the 53-year-old tweeted. “This is how “I” judge it. This list isn’t right or wrong, it’s mine. ”

“IF* it’s just titles, [Bill] Russell is the goat, case closed,” he added. “We use titles, Mvps, All star gms, all NBA, pts and other metrics.”

I base my GOATs on multiple regular season MVPs, championships with multiple finals MVP. This is how “I” judge it. This list isn’t right or wrong, it’s mine. 👍🏾 https://t.co/dccEQ0E3wy
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) July 9, 2021

Individually, the late Los Angeles Lakers legend is fourth in the NBA’s all-time scoring list, amassing a total of 33,643 points. The said figure also makes him the Lakers’ all-time points leader.

Atop that, Bryant is also an 18-time NBA All-Star and a five-time champion. However, Bryant only won the MVP award once in his 20-year NBA career.

Sharpe has always been vocal about his admiration of Bryant’s friend and Lakers successor, LeBron James. In fact, he has said several times in the past that “King James” is the greatest player of all time.

The so-called “GOAT debate” has long been a hot topic in the NBA, with James, Bryant and Michael Jordan as the usual candidates.

In one of his last TV show appearances, Bryant was quizzed on his real thoughts on the debate.

“You know what I’m going to answer, but I’m not going to answer it cause everybody is going to sit there and debate about it,” Bryant said, before adding, “Alright! Fine! I’m the best, Michael (Jordan) is second best, LeBron (James) is third.”