Kobe Bryant Announced He Will Retire at the End of the Year. Where Does He Rank Among the All Time NBA Greats?

Kobe Bryant has been playing in the NBA since he was 18 years old and after 20 seasons, 5 NBA titles and being named to 17 NBA All Star teams number 8 or number 24 depending upon the year will hang it up and retire.

In his early years I hated Kobe Bryant and then at the height of his career I hated him more but now I can appreciate his body of work.  What always got me angry were the comparisons to Michael Jordan.  In my opinion Michael is the greatest player that ever touched a basketball and he always will be.  I do have to say now though that looking back over Kobe's career he is right there in the argument.  I believe he is the second best player that ever lived but when all is said and done he will be third all time after Lebron James.  AND OOOH MAN DO I HATE HIM.  So for me it's:

1 - Michael Jordan

2 - Kobe Bryant

3 - Lebron James

Kobe left us with some seriously great NBA moments and he will be missed in the NBA but it was definitely time for him to move on.  Last week I was reading the box scores of the Lakers v. Golden State game and when I saw that Kobe had a whopping 4 points I knew this announcement would come soon.  It's no fun to watch these guys fade with age and hanging on too long can really damage your legacy.

We will be talking about this tomorrow on the Ethan and Lou Show on 95.1FM.  Let us know what you think here or call the show tomorrow at 203-775-9595.

Check out some of Kobe's best moments of all time.