Jayson Tatum, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Celtics
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Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics looks on from the bench against the Atlanta Hawks during the second quarter at State Farm Arena on January 17, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum considers it “cowardly” for Kobe Bryant’s critics to attempt to diminish the legacy of the Los Angeles Lakers legend years after his tragic death.
During his appearance on “The Pivot” podcast, Tatum took serious issue with certain analysts for trying to “erase history” by not putting Bryant in the upper echelon of all-time NBA rankings and pretending like the “Black Mamba” didn’t dominate the league.
“I think it’s cowardly to be honest,” Tatum said of Bryant’s critics undermining his impact on modern basketball after his death.
“Because they didn’t speak about him like this when he was here,” Tatum continued. “In this new age, everything is analytics, shot-profile and efficiency — which matters 100 percent — but AI [Allen Iverson] shot 29 shots a game during his MVP season, and we all admired AI’s competitiveness and toughness.”
Kobe Bryant’s Legacy Diminished?
“But now that Kobe isn’t here, we want to bring up the times he wasn’t as efficient, or he shot long 2s, and now we want to get away from that and shoot more 3s. If you ask anybody who played against him, they’ll all say he was the best in the league.
“He was the most terrifying person to guard, and he was one of the top-three most influential players of all time. Everybody loved, revered, respected him — even athletes from different sports. Now that he’s not here, you want to try and erase history?”
Further to Tatum’s point, Bryant was never held in high regard by the NBA’s analytics community, even during his playing years, largely because of his gunner mentality and his tendency to take too many midrange shots. Bryant was also not among the most efficient scorers, with his career eFG% of .482 paling in comparison to LeBron James‘ .548, Kevin Durant’s .555 and Stephen Curry’s .582.
Several analysts have recently cited Bryant’s relatively poor efficiency as the reason he is not ranked as high as certain other legendary scorers. The Athletic, for example, recently ranked Bryant as the fourth-best player of the 21st century, behind James, Curry, and Tim Duncan. Bleacher Report had Bryant at No. 11 in their all-time rankings, behind Curry, a placement Shaquille O’Neal called “criminal.”
Jayson Tatum Idolized Kobe Bryant
Tatum, who has cited Bryant as the reason he picked up a basketball at age 4, grew up modeling his game after the five-time NBA champion, much like scores of other modern-day players. Tatum once admitted that, as a youngster, he began waking up at 5:30 in the morning to emulate his idol’s work ethic and demeanor.
Kyrie Irving is another of Bryant’s pupils who’s tired of the analytics community’s attempts to diminish the legacy of the Lakers legend.
“I’m not letting people revise history,” Irving said in a Twitch stream last year.
“I’m not letting people come on and talk about Kobe like Kobe wasn’t one of the best that not only played, but that came in as a 17-year-old against grown men. And by the time this man was 22 years old, he had a few championships, and he was busting the best of the best’s a**.”
Besides being one of the greatest scorers, Bryant was an elite perimeter defender during his storied career, ranking tied first all-time in First Team All-Defensive Selections (9) and second overall in All-Defensive Selections (12).