Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball just missed playing in the NBA at the same time as Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant (and possibly being his teammate in L.A.), but he still got to grow up while Bryant put together a legendary basketball career.
For that reason, it’s no surprise to hear that Ball loves Bryant. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Ball feels Bryant was a perfect player.
Asked to assemble an all-time NBA Mount Rushmore, Ball picked NBA icons LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and seemed to indicate that he favors fellow point guard Stephen Curry for the final spot. He didn’t include Bryant, and he explained why.
“I love Kobe, but he was never the best player to me, watchin’ him, just because he got the most misses ever, you know what I’m sayin’?” Ball explained. “I don’t know.”
Bryant did indeed lead the NBA history books in missed field goals until James passed him in that category this season. Now, James has the most missed field goals in NBA history at 14,628, and Bryant is second on the list at 14,481.
It’s worth noting that longevity and volume certainly play roles in a stat like that, so it isn’t necessarily fair to act like James and Bryant are inadequate players in terms of shot accuracy.
For example, James is one of the most efficient players in NBA history, yet he still leads that category due to the length of his career and number of shots he’s taken. Some of the same factors apply to Bryant, though his career did leave something to be desired from an efficiency standpoint at times.
All things considered, it can definitely be argued that Bryant’s legacy is hurt by his efficiency, but the fact that he led the record books for many years in all-time misses doesn’t necessarily tell the full story.
Either way, the Mount Rushmore that Ball did pick features some very special players. James, Jordan, O’Neal and Curry are four of the biggest legends in basketball history.
For the record, when Ball’s brother LiAngelo was asked the same Mount Rushmore question, he did include Bryant as he made his selections.
