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As the NBA world continues to respond to Bleacher Report's Top 100 NBA Players of all-time list leaving Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant outside B/R's top 10 rankings, as Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade chimed in on the conversation. After as a former Los Angeles Lakers teammate who won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002, Shaquille O'Neal called B/R “criminal” for Bryant's placement. Wade spoke from experience.
As a former opponent who played against the Black Mamba and the Lakers for over a decade, Wade believes most players who actually faced Bryant would rank him top 3 all-time, per Wade's podcast, Wy Network Dwyane Wade.
“If you wanna ask us hoopers who played against Kob, all of us are going to talk top 3 [all time],” Wade said. “We're all gonna talk top 3, if you played against Mamba. But to assume somebody's opinion who's never played against Kobe or have never played the game of basketball at the level that we play it at, having him at 11, why am I up in arms about something like that?”
Wade recalled a time when Bryant reaction to seeing his name on a similar list during his playing days and the reaction that followed suit.
“I remember when Kobe was alive. They had rankings when he played in the league and they had him low,” Wade added. “I remember one year, Kobe addressed it like, who is these idiots? Like, why would I listen to these idiots? And I'm not calling the person who did it an idiot. But, what I'm saying is, when someone does something like that, Kobe was like, this is idiotic to me.”
"If you wanna ask us hoopers who played against Kob, all of us are going to talk top 3 [all time]."
Dwyane Wade called out Bleacher Report ranking Kobe Bryant as the 11th best NBA player of all-time 😳
(via @wynetwork)pic.twitter.com/TT94mBhRGR
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 23, 2025
At No. 23, Wade cracked B/R's top 25, edging out Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokoumpo and Hall of Fame forward Charles Barkley, respectfully, at Nos. 24 and 25.
Shaquille O'Neal calls out B/R for Kobe Bryant ranking on Top 100
Despite cracking the top 10 at No. 6 on Bleacher Report's Top 100 players off all time list, Shaquille O'Neal blasted B/R for ranking Lakers legend Kobe Bryant No. 11. O'Neal replied to the list on B/R's X, formerly Twitter.
“Kobe at 11 is criminal,” O'Neal wrote in response to B/R's top 20.
Kobe at 11 is criminal
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) July 14, 2025
While explaining Bryant's ranking is debatable, B/R credits Kobe's approach inspiring a generation of hoopers.
“Older heads continue to worship at the altar of his maniacal work ethic. Contemporaries still cite him as a source of stylistic inspiration. From a basketball-reputation perspective, no one’s impact on the game has actively spanned more generations. Kobe's Top 10 status remains one of basketball's most heated debates here in 2025.”
And that debate continues among former NBA players.
