Kobe Bryant is one of the best players to ever grace the Earth. He’s enjoyed an illustrious career and has been considered the closest thing to Michael Jordan that we’ll ever see. However, as his career has dwindled down so has the state of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. They did make some decent moves this summer however, such as drafting guard D’Angelo Russell and acquiring Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, and Lou Williams. Well one of those players has a very strong opinion on how gifted Kobe still is. That person is big man Brandon Bass. When the New Orleans Times-Picayune asked Bass the state of the Lakers he responded:
…we have arguably the best player in the game still,” Bass said. “When he is healthy he is a monster still. If he is healthy he’s right up there with the best players in the league, that’s LeBron or whoever the best players in the league are. When Kobe is healthy, 19 years in the game he is still elite.
Bryant was ranked 40th on ESPN’s annual list of the top 500 players in the NBA. We have to remember, he hasn’t been even close to 100% the last two seasons due to injuries, most significantly a ruptured Achilles tendon. But still, to call Kobe the best player on the planet right now is absurd. The cream of the crop in the NBA hasn’t been this heavy in a while, comprised of players such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and the list goes on.
Realistically though what else did you expect Bass to say. It’s already hard enough to play with Kobe. If he had said anything other than he’s one of the best players in the game it would’ve gotten even harder. However if we dive a little deeper, Bass may not have completely lost it. Bryant has pretty much had the last two years off so we assume he’s going to be fresh coming into this season. Plus with a mentality like Kobe has you know if he thinks he’s anything less than elite he’s gonna call it a career. So, sure he could be considered top 20-25 in the game but to call him one of the best in the league is most likely going to prove to be invalid.