Former NBA star explains the one reason why Kobe Bryant is ahead of Michael Jordan in GOAT debate

The debate over who should be considered the greatest basketball player of all time usually centres around Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

But former NBA journeyman Josh Powell believes Kobe Bryant deserves to be regarded as the best player the game has ever seen.

Powell played for seven different teams across seven seasons in the NBA between 2005 and 2013, including two seasons alongside Bryant in Los Angeles.

And in those two seasons with the Lakers, Powell was part of back-to-back title triumphs powered by Bryant's brilliance.

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan on the court together (Getty)

Having witnessed Bryant's greatness first hand, he believes Black Mamba played the game at a level even Jordan couldn't match.

"For me, I put Kobe over Mike because I felt like how the game came to Kobe and just how he would manipulate the game too," Powell said. "I mean, it was just crazy how easy it was for him. I've been on both sides of it."

Powell also believes that Bryant etched a greater legacy thanks to the way the Lakers icon would mentor many of the games rising young stars.

"Last I checked, Mike ain't out here giving nobody no keys to the game," Powell said. "He ain't really sharing that knowledge with everybody.

"Am I lying about that? What stories have we heard that Mike would say to a young fella, 'Let me give you this'?

"If anything, Mike's going to bust your ass to let you know why he's the greatest, but Kobe would give you the game and still bust your ass with it. He'll give you the teaching pointers and still give you this work."

Jordan won six NBA championships in his storied career and was named the league's Most Valuable Player five times.

The Jordan-led Chicago Bulls claimed a "threepeat" and of back-to-back-to-back titles – something Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are aiming to do in the NFL this season – twice during the 1990s.

Alongside Shaquille O'Neal and led by Jordan's former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, Bryant was part of the last NBA team to threepeat, having done so with the Lakers in the early 2000.

Bryant, who died in a helicopter accident in 2020 at the age of 41, was a one-time MVP and won five titles in a career spent entirely with the Lakers.