Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is the latest high-profile name to call out the NBA media for disrespecting the late, great Kobe Bryant.
Speaking on his Twitch stream on July 22, Irving went off on analysts who’ve undermined Bryant’s contributions to the NBA and his influence on younger peers.
“I’m not letting people revise history,” Irving began.
“I’m not letting people come on and talk about Kobe like Kobe wasn’t one of the best that not only played, but that came in as a 17-year-old against grown men. And by the time this man was 22 years old, he had a few championships, and he was busting the best of the best’s a**. If y’all don’t knock that s**t off.”
Irving then addressed that his comments were directed at “media talking heads” and analysts who “casually throw names around” without knowing the history of the NBA.
Kyrie Irving Goes Off
Irving believes that many analysts who attempt to evaluate Bryant’s game lack the credibility to do so, which is why their comments often appear uninformed.
The 9-time All-Star emphasized that Bryant’s influence extends beyond basketball, citing his ability to inspire people from all walks of life.
“When it comes to real respect and real recognizing real, this man Kobe Bean Bryant is immortalized not just because of his basketball,” he stressed.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell y’all. He is way bigger because of his character, because of what we witnessed him go through. We didn’t care about certain failures. The real Kobe fans didn’t care about the failures. They didn’t care about the naysayers.”
“The real Kobe fans — the real Mamba fans that I’m talking to — didn’t care about who he was competing with,” Irving continued. “We knew who [expletive] with Kobe and who didn’t. I know who [expletive] with Kobe and who didn’t.”
Is Kobe Bryant Disrespected?
Irving’s comments were a reaction to Bleacher Report ranking Bryant as the 11th best basketball player of all time — a distinction that many felt was disrespectful.
While Shaquille O’Neal called the ranking “criminal,” Kenyon Martin felt that Bryant was the best basketball player in the league during his 15 years in the league. Matt Barnes claimed the media began disrespecting Bryant only after his unfortunate passing in 2020, blaming many clueless analysts and analytics-inspired nerds.
FS1’s Chris Broussard felt that recency bias played into the Bleacher Report’s list, specifically the fact that Stephen Curry was ranked ahead of Bryant.
“With all due respect to Steph, I’m not ready to put him above Kobe,” he said. “One of the biggest reasons is the defense. Kobe, obviously, was a very good defender and made All-Defensive Teams several times. For Steph, that’s a weakness in his game.”
Bryant made 12 All-Defensive Teams in his NBA career, tied for the second most in league history with Kevin Garnett, behind only Tim Duncan (15). Furthermore, Bryant made the most All-Defensive First Teams (nine) for any guard/wing in NBA history.
Elsewhere, Dwyane Wade ranked Bryant as a top-three player of all time.
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