Dec 14, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) celebrates after surpassing Michael Jordan on the NBA All-Time Scoring List during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images

NBA All-Star Says Lakers’ Kobe Bryant is ‘1A’ NBA GOAT Behind Michael Jordan

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Jason Fray | Last updated Sep 7, 2025 8:00 PM ET

Horace Grant knows a thing or two about the game of basketball.

The former Clemson star spent 17 years in the NBA. He's most known for his role as a physical big man with the Chicago Bulls during their dynasty. Grant also featured for the Orlando Magic, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Grant recently appeared on fellow former Bulls champion-turned-Chicago-commentator Stacey King's Gimme The Hot Sauce Podcast. Understandably, the Chicago Bulls dynasty era was discussed in great detail. This included some direct points from Grant on his perception of The Last Dance docu-series that took the sporting world by storm during the height of the pandemic.

When most basketball discussions involve Michael Jordan, it's virtually inevitable that Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will be brought up. James is intertwined with Jordan as being perhaps the only player often pegged as being better than MJ. Bryant idolized Jordan, and in terms of a like-for-like comparison, no other player in the history of the NBA was as similar to Jordan as Bryant was.

Horace Grant Explains His NBA GOAT

Grant — who won titles as a teammate of Bryant and Jordan — spoke about his personal ranking in the G.O.A.T. conversation.

“With all respect to LeBron and Kobe and many other players that you can argue as the G.O.A.T. But I’ve seen Kobe Bryant when Shaq will foul out, got in foul trouble. I thought I was looking at Michael Jordan, how he took over games, and led us to victory many times when Shaq was on the bench with foul trouble and what have you. But I would say, MJ 1 and Kobe 1A,” Horace Grant said.

Horace Grant on Kobe taking 50 shots. "It took me four months to take 50 shots"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 14, 2016

Grant's final season as a pro coincided with James's rookie year. As such, there wasn't much in the way of crossover. However, as mentioned above, Grant uniquely got to see the primes of both Jordan and Bryant up close as their teammates.

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There generally seems to be some resistance with older generations wanting to elevate James above Jordan in this conversation. The same can be said for Bryant — and it appears to be primarily based on attitude and mindset. Bryant mimicked Jordan as a ruthless killer on the court, whereas James seems to be more jovial in nature.

Whether Grant is right or not, Bryant does have the leg up with five NBA championships compared to James with four. Of course, James was the Finals MVP for all of those titles, while Bryant won that honor twice.