Former Showtime Lakers guard Byron Scott had the rare opportunity to play with and coach Kobe Bryant .
Scott's final NBA season was Kobe's first so he had the opportunity to be the young Bean's teammate. B-Scott also ended up becoming the Lakers' bench tactician during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 NBA seasons and was the late legend's coach during his final two seasons in the league.
Being around Kobe that long, Scott knew the Mamba inside out. According to him, Bryant wasn't the most talented player he had ever encountered. However, Bryant's work ethic and drive brought him to the greatest of all-time discussions when his career was all said and done.
“Kobe Bryant was not the most talented player that I’ve seen on the basketball court,” said Scott. "Tracy McGrady was more talented, Vince Carter was more talented."
Kobe had that something extra
McGrady was drafted into the NBA one year after Kobe, and just like him, T-Mac came directly from high school. Meanwhile, Carter was a year older than Mamba, but he played three seasons in North Carolina and entered the NBA via the 1998 NBA Draft.
Tracy was the 2001 NBA Most Improved Player winner, a seven-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA team member, and a two-time scoring champion. Carter was the 1999 Rookie of the Year, had eight All-Star game appearances, and two All-NBA team selections. But as great as those accolades are, Scott said Kobe had something extra.
“But they didn’t have that oomph that Kobe had…And that’s why when he would go against those guys, he would shine,” the retired player added.
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Kobe dominated his head-to-heads with T-Mac and Vince
Carter was Kobe's motivation in HS as Vince was the No. 1 shooting guard in the nation, and Bryant was just below him. They never got to play against each other in HS, but they faced off 31 times in the NBA with Kobe winning 20 of those contests. Bryant averaged 23.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.4 steals in those games, while Vince was good for 16.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.3 APG.
Meanwhile, Kobe considered McGrady the toughest player he had to guard in the NBA because T-Mac almost had the same skillset as him but was noticeably taller. Yet Bryant won their all-time head-to-head 14-7 , with Kobe putting up 26.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game against McGrady's 17.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 4.3 APG averages.
Not only did Kobe beat T-Mac and Vince in his personal matchups against them, but he also topped his counterparts in a number of championships won. The Lakers legend won five, while neither of the retired high-flyers don't have any rings to boast of. That's not a knock on them. It's more of a testament to how hard Vino worked to be the best version of himself.
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