"There were five better basketball players" - Jason Williams calls Kobe Bryant the greatest 'Laker' of all time but claims there were better basketball players who played for the franchise
Jason Williams' comments about Kobe Bryant not being high on his list of greatest players and not even being a top-five LA Laker sparked backlash.
Williams said this of Bryant on "Players Choice:"
"Kobe’s not as high on my list as people would really think he should be. Like, I’m not even sure he’s on the top five of the all-time greatest Lakers.”
Jason Williams and Chltwn32 don’t have Kobe ranked very high in their All-Time players list 😳
Where do you have Kobe All-Time? https://t.co/PaFuc23muF
Since the interview, Williams has clarified his stance. On "BroBible," Williams elaborated on his reasoning:
“Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker of all time, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the greatest basketball player that ever played for the Lakers. You know what I mean? "
"It’s kind of like if I said D-Wade (Dwyane Wade) was better than LeBron (James). LeBron is a better basketball player than Dwyane Wade, but when you think about the Miami Heat, who do you think of?"
Williams further added:
"I think there were five better basketball players that played for the Lakers at one time, but that’s not taking anything away from Kobe Bryant."
The Greatest Lakers
The list of the greatest Lakers of all time often includes the following five: Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Jerry West.
From a statistical standpoint, the greatest Lakers would be the ones with the most championships or the highest win-share percentage (Kobe Bryant).
The Lakers have had two prominent dynasties: the Showtime era of the 1980s with Magic and Kareem and the Shaq and Kobe three-peat. During the Magic and Kareem era, the Lakers went to the NBA Finals nine times, winning five. In the Shaq and Kobe era, the Lakers went to the finals four times, winning three consecutive titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Besides these dynasties, an honorable mention must be given to Jerry West's Lakers. Although they went to the NBA Finals nine times, they could only win one in 1972 with Wilt Chamberlain. But to be fair to them, they went up against Bill Russell's Celtics.
There is an argument for George Mikan's Minneapolis Lakers to be included in the conversation. But from an entertainment standpoint, something the Lakers have embraced, it would be better to stop at the five (or six) revered most often: Magic, Kareem, Kobe, Shaq, West and Wilt.
The Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics for the most NBA titles (17).