While names of greats such Michael Jordan, Jerry West and Dwyane Wade being tossed around among the panel’s members, one can’t stray to far away from the term shooting guard without hitting one name: Kobe Bryant. While Bryant, a five-time champion and arguably one of the best players of all-time has received a grand amount of praise throughout his 15-year career, his name failed to be mentioned even once as the best shooting guard of all-time and as the best shooting guard currently playing.
Trumped by Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade respectively, the decisions of the selected writers in both categories all came down to similar points: 1) Michael Jordan is the best player of all-time period, no explanations needed — therefore, Kobe cannot be recognized as the best shooting guard of all-time. 2) Kobe has been the alpha dog of the shooting guard position for over the past decade, but due to inevitable aging, he has been surpassed by the youth and talent of Dwyane Wade, putting him behind the one-time champion as the league’s current best at that position.
Nearing 33 years of age, Bryant is certainly no longer in the prime of his career, however, he still is unarguably one of the best players currently in the league and at the shooting guard position.
For the complete article as well as a chance to read the rest of the topics make sure you check out ESPN’s TrueHoop shooting guard roundtable.