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Kyrie Irving joins former and current NBA players in defending the late Kobe Bryant’s basketball legacy. Some have questioned the accomplishments of the LA Lakers' great over the past few months. Bleacher Report’s top 10 players of all time listed Bryant at No. 11.
On Tuesday, Irving pushed back against those narratives via his Twitch channel:
“When it comes to real recognizing real, this man, Kobe “Bean” Bryant, is immortalized not just because of his basketball. … He is way bigger because of the character. Because of what we witnessed him go through. … We not letting people revise history! We not letting them revise that.”•
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Dwyane Wade and Jeff Teague thought KB24 got away with a few accomplishments that should not have been in his resume. The Miami Heat legend thought Pau Gasol led the Lakers to the 2010 championship instead of Bryant.
Teague insisted the five-time champ should not have gotten 12 All-NBA Defensive teams. The podcaster conceded that the late icon might have gotten four such selections, but Bryant received help defensively later in his career.
Kyrie Irving wanted to end those narratives in his streaming channel. Irving added that he was bothered by such talks because Bryant could not defend himself. Irving continued that Hakeem Olajuwon has gotten the same treatment as KB24 over the years. Irving insisted that he wouldn’t let others revise history.
Kendrick Perkins joins Kyrie Irving in defending Kobe Bryant
Kendrick Perkins played against Kobe Bryant in two championship rounds. Perkins won in 2008 with the Boston Celtics before KB24 got his revenge two years later.
Perkins, now an ESPN analyst, had this to say on Tuesday about the recent talks questioning Bryant’s basketball accomplishments:
(7:13 mark)
“The man got two statues, God rest his soul, Kobe Bean Bryant. … The disrespect needs to f**king stop. It needs to stop. Let the man rest in peace. Get a man some space and grace. Every time I look up, there is something about Kobe, and it’s not positive.”Kobe Bryant passed away in January 2020 following a helicopter crash that shocked the world. A few years later, questions about his basketball legacy started to come out. Kyrie Irving, Kendrick Perkins and some players are refusing to let others take credit away from “The Black Mamba.”
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Edited by Michael Macasero
English (US)