Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks is the most recent prominent figure to denounce the NBA press for its treatment of the late Kobe Bryant.
Irving blasted commentators on July 22 during his Twitch show for downplaying Bryant’s impact on younger players and the NBA. Starting with, “I’m not letting people revise history,” Irving clarified.
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 disrespected
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.
Chris Broussard of FS1 speculated that the Bleacher Report’s ranking of Stephen Curry higher than Bryant was due to recency bias. Despite his admiration for Steph, he expressed his reluctance to rank him higher than Kobe.
The defense is one of the main causes. Several times named to the All-Defensive Team, Kobe was clearly a great defender. That is a hole in Steph’s game.
During his time in the NBA, Bryant was named to 12 All-Defensive Teams, tying him for second place all-time with Kevin Garnett and just behind Tim Duncan (15).
In addition, with nine selections, Bryant is the all-time leader among NBA guards and wings in defensive first team appearances. Alternatively, Dwyane Wade placed Bryant in the top three all-time players.
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