Doesn't Have Him on His top 5 NBA Best, but A. Smith Gets Real on Kobe's Legacy

The day that most LA Lakers fans have been anticipating for a long time is finally here, later today the unveiling of the arguably greatest player in the franchise the late Kobe Bryant will be happening. Because of that, many people in the NBA world have talked about the black mamba and his legacy in the game.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is a well-known public figure in the NBA world, he has previously revealed his personal top 5 best players of the game, and to the surprise of many, doesn't include the purple and gold legend, Kobe Bryant.

Smith's reasoning for that, is that he considers Kobe to be very similar to Michael Jordan, and for the ESPN analyst, MJ is the number one of all-time, but still believes Kobe Bryant is one of the most brilliant people he ever met and that played the game.

Stephen said earlier today during "First Take," "Kobe is one of the most brilliant people I ever known, to be in his early forties and have his life taken away is just tragic... His level of brilliance what he brought not only to the game of basketball but to the world of sports still resonates."

Shaquille O'Neal spoke about Kobe Bryant and his former teammate deserving a statue in LA

"Obviously it’s well deserved,” O’Neal said of Bryant’s statue. “I’m always bragging about how many rings I’ve got – definitely couldn’t have gotten the three that I’ve got without him.” The Lakers will be unveiling later today the statue of Kobe Bryant.