After declaring his dislike for Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant's playing style in his Club 520 Podcast, former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague revealed the reason behind the seemingly crazy take.

Teague believes that Lakers great's game wasn't as seamless and brilliant as some other players. And, in an urge to explain the difference, he mentioned Paul George and Kevin Durant. According to Teague, both PG and KD delivered a smooth and effortless game while Kobe would pump fake and contact with the defenders whenever necessary, which is something he's not a great fan of.

“It wasn't smooth to me when I watch Paul George. I'm not comparing him to Kobe at all. When I'm watching it smooth, it's like one-two to pull up. K (Kevin Durant) – jab one step it was smooth Kobe's was like jab get there, pump fake, pump fake, pump fake, get him off the ground, foul shot, and one. It was effective. It was a dog.

I just didn't like watching it didn't look as graceful to me that's all.” Teague said on Bryant's game.

Lakers honored Kobe Bryant with statue earlier this year

A statue of Kobe Bryant at Crypto.com Arena
© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In February, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of late franchise icon Kobe Bryant. Bryant won five championships with the Lakers during his career, which spanned from the mid 1990s all the way to the 2015-16 season, in which he scored 60 points in his final NBA game.

Vanessa Bryant introduced the statue after brief speeches from Derek Fisher, Phil Jackson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stu Lantz, and Jeanie Buss. The statue is a pose of Bryant walking off the court after scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. Kobe Bean Bryant is written on the bust with, “Black Mamba” etched underneath on the stone pedestal.

“Kobe picked the pose you're about to see,” said Vanessa. “So, if anybody has any issue with it, tough shit.”

Kobe joins fellow Los Angeles sports legends Abdul-Jabbar, West, Magic, Shaquille O'Neal, Oscar De La Hoya, Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Chick Hearn and Bob Miller in Star Plaza. Bryant's statue, standing 19 feet high at 4,000 pounds, is considerably larger than the rest.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Lakers legends Pau Gasol, Jerry West, and Magic Johnson, current Lakers Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, coach at the time Darvin Ham, and many other notable figures in Lakers lore and basketball luminaries were on hand for the unveiling. The date, Feb. 8, 2024 — 2/8/24 — was selected to honor the jersey numbers of both Kobe and his daughter Gigi.