Chandler Parsons genuinely confused how people rank Kobe above LeBron: ‘He’s not top 3 in most people’s eyes’

Former NBA player Chandler Parsons has several players above Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant in his all-time rankings.

“I love Kobe,” Parsons said. “God rest his soul, but he’s not top 3 in most people’s eyes. I don’t even understand how this is even an argument with him and LeBron [James].”

Parsons chose another former Laker as his No. 3 player after Michael Jordan and James.

“I think it’s Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal),” Parsons said. “I mean, a lot of guys would go even older than him. But I don’t think – if you look at rankings across the world – I don’t think Kobe is in most people’s top three. He’s just not.”

Lou Williams ended up pushing back on Parsons’ take, saying he “absolutely” has Bryant in his top three players of all time.

“I would rank Kevin Durant above Kobe,” Parsons said in response to Williams.

Parsons is certainly entitled to his opinion on the debate of the greatest player of all time, but it’s interesting that he has both O’Neal and Durant over Bryant – two players that the former Lakers guard won more titles than.

Bryant did win three of his titles with O’Neal, but he then went on to win two titles and two NBA Finals MVP awards without him. A Laker for his entire career, Bryant has a resume that is extremely hard to match.

A five-time champion, Bryant is a Hall of Famer and led the Lakers to a ton of success in his career. During his playing career, Bryant was named to 18 All-Star teams and won a pair of scoring titles. In addition to being a two-time NBA Finals MVP, he won league MVP and was named to an All-NBA team in 15 of his 20 NBA seasons.

The Hall of Famer averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from beyond the arc during his playing career.

Durant, who is also a two-time NBA Finals MVP, is an interesting player to put over Bryant. The 14-time All-Star won both of his titles with the Golden State Warriors, but he has yet to find the same success since leaving the franchise. Durant has yet to make a Finals with the Brooklyn Nets or Phoenix Suns since leaving the Warriors.

Bryant’s longevity helped him rack up a ton of career accolades, but Parsons still believes that most people have the Lakers legend outside of the three best players of all time.