“I always f— with LeBron more… That’s just why I never had Kobe as my one,” Lonzo Ball said. Now, that sentence alone could melt a corner of Lakers’ Twitter. Because when it comes to basketball loyalty, talk about it long enough, and it always circles back to two names: Kobe and LeBron.

Though, when that debate comes from a player who once wore the purple and gold? Now you’re talking about sacred territory. And Lonzo? He’s making it clear where he stands. The former Lakers guard was chiming in on The WAE Show, reacting to LeBron’s recent comments on Mind the Game with Steve Nash. Bron had questioned why NBA discourse is so obsessed with rings. “I don’t know why it’s the end-all be-all of everything,” LeBron said. “Like, okay, you weren’t a great player because you never won a championship?”

And while Lonzo didn’t fully disagree, he brought the nuance. “It’s definitely not fair to say someone’s not a great player because they didn’t win a championship,” he explained. “But when you talk about the greats, you damn near can’t be the best if you don’t have a ring.” That might sound like fence-sitting, but in a debate this controversial, nuance is the rarest stat line. And Ball wasn’t done yet. When the hosts brought up a recent viral comparison between Kobe and Tracy McGrady, Lonzo looked like he’d seen enough. Translation: y’all really trying to rewrite the syllabus? And then came the million-dollar no-ring question.

Who’s the best player to never win it all? Lonzo Ball didn’t blink: “AI, for sure.” Rings or not, some legacies don’t need polish as they roar on their own. But that’s not all, people. The LeBron-Kobe dynamic was always less handshake, more staring contest. There was no Finals duel. No dramatic beef. Just an entire generation waiting for a collision that never came. LeBron even admits it — he fumbled the 2009 chance to meet Kobe on the game’s biggest stage. “I f—– up,” he told Pat McAfee, still carrying that regret like it happened yesterday.

When James joined the Lakers years later, Kobe didn’t gatekeep, but embraced him. “You a Laker now, you family,” he told Bron. From Olympic teammates to exchanged tweets, the respect was genuine. But deep down? That rivalry never needed a Game 7. It was always there — in style, in narrative, in how different they were. One was the relentless assassin. The other, the all-seeing orchestrator. And whether fans admit it or not, you weren’t supposed to love them equally. So for Lonzo, picking a side wasn’t just about preference.

Did Lonzo just settle the ring culture debate?

Lonzo Ball’s take? Rings matter, but they don’t define you. And honestly, when one bad trade or a rolled ankle can end a playoff run, maybe we should stop measuring greatness by jewelry. After all, plenty of champions rode the bench, and not every legend needs a parade. But don’t confuse that for disrespect. Lonzo never said Kobe wasn’t legendary. Just that his loyalty leaned toward LeBron. And that’s what makes this all the more interesting: Ball’s career was shaped by watching both, but living in Bron’s reign. As for Lonzo himself?

The former No. 2 overall pick is still in the midst of a comeback journey after multiple knee surgeries. He’s been training, staying vocal, and staying relevant in NBA discourse, even if his on-court return is still in development now with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And maybe that’s the final twist here.

A player who’s still finding his footing in the league, taking a stance most players wouldn’t touch publicly. It doesn’t matter that he’s not at full strength. His voice still travels. Because while LeBron, Kobe, and AI are etched into NBA folklore, the debates around them continue to grow. The players who watched them? They’re the ones writing the next chapter with minimum words and maximum noise.