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Growing up, the conversation that took control of our lives was debating who was better between Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. Every person and athlete had an opinion on the subject, and it is a debate that continues to this day.
There are thousands of former and current NBA players who have played with and against these three players. I don't think it's much of a question how elite they are, but it makes people feel better if they try and convince one another on who was the best. Magic Johnson shared his thoughts on a similar subject about superstars.
This conversation between former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Byron Scott discusses a certain situation that shows up on rare occasions. On Scott's Fast Break podcast, he asked Jackson who he would take to make a game-winning bucket in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Kobe or MJ.
“I’m giving it to Kobe,” Jackson said. “Because just off the simple fact that I know he’s going to get us a good shot. I know it. And I know we going to get an attempt. You know, you might double him and we seen him get doubled and make the pass, the right pass. If Kobe gets the ball, we going to get a shot up. I don’t care if it might be over four or five people and the odds of him making it than the other four people on the court is totally different. So I’m going with Kobe. Off the top.”
Jackson played in Kobe's era. Those two competed against one another for a long time. They were never teammates in the NBA, but every great player knew how Kobe played, and there are countless examples of him being a clutch player.
Jackson further explained (in a hilarious way) why he admired Kobe Bryant over MJ.
“I didn’t admire Michael Jordan. I admired Kobe Bryant because he was the same age as me. And the dedication that he put as a teenager, I didn’t think was real. Like, you know what I’m saying? Like he was just so different. McDonald’s, we all at the McDonald’s game. All there for the same reasons. I should have won MVP that game. We going to McDonald’s after practice. He says ‘I see y’all. I’m not eating that sh*t.’ This is in high school. Everybody eat McDonald’s in high school! Everybody still eat to this day. I don’t, but everybody eat McDonald’s in high school! The Big Mac and two fries and strawberry shake, apple pie. Everybody had that. Not Kobe. Not Kobe Bean Bryant.”
