In reaction to their nominations to the Hall Of Fame, Stephen A. Smith compared the respective careers of Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. The journalist gives his preference to the former Spurs player. He explains.
Now that the 2020 Hall Of Fame has been announced and includes three legends in the presence of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, ESPN jumped on the opportunity to compare the careers of the first two mentioned.
It is Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman, the two journalists and headliners of the program First Take, who led the debate. For the first, and despite all the respect he has for Kobe Bryant, he gives the advantage to Tim Duncan.
In his reflection, Stephen A. Smith mainly compares the record of the two players to defend his point of view, while keeping an eye on their status in history :
I have to say Tim Duncan, with all due respect to my guy Kobe Bryant. You have to take into account the model of consistency that Duncan has been.
If David Robinson has a title, it’s because of Tim Duncan.
He has five championships, so put that way it’s the same number as Kobe, but he has more Finals MVP awards (3 to 2).
Consider the fact that he is universally recognized as the best wing player of all time, and a 10-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection.
His colleague, Max Kellerman, shares the opposite opinion and gives his preference to the Black Mamba. He justifies himself by cross-checking the words of a certain Charles Barkley:
I go with Kobe Bryant. Charles Barkley is right. Kobe Bryant is the most Michael Jordan-like thing we’ve seen in history. One of the reasons the Lakers were so highly regarded at the time was because Kobe was the best player on the planet.
