Former NBA star Tracy McGrady has emphatically stated that Kobe Bryant deserves to be recognized among the top five greatest players in the history of basketball, debunking arguments that his legacy is diminished by his partnership with Shaquille O’Neal.
McGrady vehemently rejects the notion that Bryant’s accomplishments are overshadowed by his association with O’Neal, highlighting the unfairness of singling out Bryant for playing alongside a dominant teammate.
In McGrady’s view, Bryant’s achievements speak for themselves, regardless of the talent surrounding him, emphasizing that great players like Magic Johnson also had exceptional teammates but are not subjected to the same scrutiny.
“They say Kobe ain’t top 5? Get out of here. Are you kidding me? And guess what they say the reason why he’s not top 5. Oh because he played with Shaq,” T-Mac said. “Okay. Then Magic Johnson played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was the all-time leading scorer?
“But you want to sit here and talk about Kobe playing with Shaq? You got to play with great players to win championships, right? Why are we excluding Magic Johnson playing with James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, like Hall of Famers?
“You want to associate Shaq with Kobe, but then when Shaq leaves, he goes to get Pau Gasol and wins two more, but plays for three and wins two more. They’re so disrespectful when it comes to Bean, bro. That man is top 5. You ask anybody that has played against Michael Jordan and played against Kobe Bean Bryant they would tell you Bean is top 5.”
