On Monday, Bleacher Report released its rankings of the Top 100 NBA players of all time.
“We asked our legion of B/R NBA experts, writers and editors to take a list of the best 500 current and former NBA stars and whittle it down to their top 100, ranked,” the outlet said. “It’s an impossible task, especially when confronted with the reality of comparing players from different eras. Stats help, but calculators won’t ever figure all this out.”
“Still, we stand by it: a comprehensive Top 100 NBA Players Ever ranking, taking into account the totality of each player’s NBA career, cumulative and average stats, awards, playoffs, championships, cultural impact and overall greatness. “
The outlet ranked Michael Jordan as the best player ever with LeBron James right behind him at number two and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at number three.
Shaquille O’Neal just missed out on the top five, finishing in sixth place.
Meanwhile, late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant ranked just out of the top 10 at number 11.
This didn’t sit well with Shaq and 98th-ranked Klay Thompson.
“Kobe at 11 is criminal,” the three-time NBA Finals MVP posted to X.
Etan Thomas, who previously played for the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks, took to his podcast “The Collision: Sports and Politics” to speak on the list and Bryant’s placement.
“The level of Kobe disrespect is crazy to see. In what world is he number 11 all-time?” he asked. “But this has been really been getting out of hand for some time now. Let’s be honest, none of this disrespect was happening when he was still here.”
Thompson then reposted Thomas’s comments to his Instagram Stories with a simple “SMH.” He then reposted a video montage of the Black Mamba’s most epic dunks to his Stories, highlighting Bryant’s 2001-2002 season where he sported a short afro, when fans dubbed him Frobe.
“And this is just Fro-be #8… WTF is wrong with ya’ll?” Thompson said with a crying laughing emoji.
Bryant finished his Laker career as a five-time NBA champion, 18-time All-Star and 11-time first-team All-NBA Selection.
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