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ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Faces Setback in Rashad McCants Beef as Another NBA Legend Comes to Kobe Bryant’s Defense

Published 01/09/2024, 8:44 PM EST

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These GOAT debates seem to be never-ending. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant enjoyed a unique bond as mentor and mentee. But as it goes, the student eventually surpassed the teacher. At least, according to Rashad McCants. The former Wolves player spoke up when Stephen. A. Smith disregarded the Los Angeles Lakers legend by placing LeBron James ahead of him. After McCants apparently proved Smith wrong, Kenyon Martin Sr. has joined the party now. 

Gilbert Arenas is getting all the attention with this controversial debate. The battle was reinstated on his podcast on YouTube. After McCants, Kenyon Martin is now here to add a new perspective. The Denver Nuggets icon shared, “In my 15 years of playing…Kobe Bryant was the best player in the NBA”. Gilbert Arenas shared the above quotes on his X account.

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Now Smith stands with no support! Shaquille O’Neal and Kenyon Martin have sided with Rashad McCants. Looks like no one will agree with ESPN analyst.

Kenyon Martin was Team Bryant since 2017

Looks like the Black Mamba has a lot of legendary supporters, who played basketball in the 90s and early 2000s. Kenyon Martin exactly new the Lakers icon will be a legend right after he got demolished by him in the 2002 NBA Finals.

Shaq and Bryant swept the New Jersey Nets 4-0 to give them an embarrassing finals defeat. Despite this, Martin agreed Bryant is the best. Martin emphasized on the ‘Mamba Mentality’, and 7 years ago he chose Bryant over LeBron James. Looks like his decision has not changed yet.

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Back in 2017, he shared in an interview, “People can say whatever they want about Kobe, but Kobe don’t take no s*** from nobody. Kobe would fight you in a minute…That’s something I think a lot of fans didn’t know. People think of Kobe for all that skillful basketball stuff, but not for the fact that, if you stepped up to him, he’d fight back. “

Shedding some light into how competitive Bryant was in the 2002 Finals, Martin shared some eye-opening words, “That’s ’cause Mamba would literally take your head off to win the game, man. He’d f* you up. There’s a lot of trash talking on the court, but nobody ever said s*** to Kobe.”

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Written by:

Rohan Dharmalingam

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