Stephen A. Smith explains why Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will never eclipse Michael Jordan in the all-time rankings

Smith believes James’ failure in the 2011 Finals puts him behind Jordan

Jordan was 6-0 in NBA Finals, an achievement which is impressive and not many can boast.

While Bryant and James have a combined nine championships to their name, both have lost several times in their trips to the NBA Finals.

James has a 4-6 record in the Finals, while Bryant has lost twice. Although Smith gave them their respect, he revealed that they also had poor performances in some Finals games, which is why Smith believes Jordan will always be the top name in the all-time rankings.

He said: “You go back to LeBron and his greatness and you say, ‘Yeah, it’s there it’s legit’ but we do remember the Finals against the Mavs, we do remember that you struggled in the fourth quarter of four consecutive games. We do remember that J.J. Barea and Jason Terry were guarding your a_ _ and you didn’t do anything about it.”

James averaged only 17.2 points in the 2011 Finals, which is the fewest in his Finals career.

“I’m just saying you’re looking at something like that, that doesn’t stop you from being number two, but it’ll stop you from being number one, cause you know what Jordan would have done because Jordan did it.”

“So those kind of things again it’s all debatable in people’s eyes, but not to me when it comes to Jordan,” Smith added.

Smith reveals why Bryant ranks behind Jordan

Bryant had a great career with the LA Lakers and won five championships with them.

This included securing a three-peat with Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant, however, had lost twice in the NBA Finals.

The Black Mamba modeled his game after Jordan and Smith believes the fact that he secured one fewer championship than his mentor puts him behind ‘The Jumpman’ in the all-time rankings.

Smith said: “Then they say, ‘Well, why not Kobe?’ Kobe idolized and practically it was the greatest imitation of Michael Jordan we may have ever seen in terms of style.

“Still came up one title short, still got beat up in the NBA Finals twice. You remember that and so it’s like you’re up there, you’re great but who you aspired to be, you never caught nor eclipsed.”