Nick Wright drops Kobe Bryant take he knows will aggravate Lakers fans

Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers' 2026 offseason began when they lost Game 4 at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, ending that series in a sweep. With the frustration of the last few years, Lakers fans would be forgiven for reminiscing on the glory days when the late Kobe Bryant was leading the franchise.Recently, sports media personality Nick Wright dropped a hot take regarding Bryant's all-time status that is sure to infuriate Lakers fans.“Kobe's the eighth greatest player ever, and he was never the best player in the world. From '99 until 2002, Shaquille O'Neal was the best player in the world. From 2003 until 2007, Tim Duncan, three championships in five years, two MVP's, he was the best player until that 48 special from LeBron,” said Wright, per What's Wright? With Nick Wright on X, formerly Twitter.“From that moment, LeBron was the best player in the world until 2018. So Shaq, Duncan, then Bron. At no point was Kobe the best player in the world,” he concluded.When Bryant and O'Neal were teammates, most pundits regarded O'Neal as the best player on the team, as evidenced by the star big man's three straight Finals MVPs during the Lakers' legendary three-peat. The Duncan-Bryant debate is usually the more hotly contested one, with some opining that Bryant actually reached his peak in the mid-2000s, despite that being a down period in Los Angeles' success as a whole due to his lack of a supporting cast.Of course, Bryant would go on to win two more championships, this time as the undisputed first option, in 2009 and 2010, further cementing his status as an all-time great player.However, that evidently isn't enough to convince Wright to move him any higher than eighth on his all-time list.Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers' 2026 offseason began when they lost Game 4 at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, ending that series in a sweep. With the frustration of the last few years, Lakers fans would be forgiven for reminiscing on the glory days when the late Kobe Bryant was leading the franchise.