Kobe Bryant Wishes Carmelo Anthony Was on His Team

Kobe Bryant recently opened up when talking to a UC Santa Barbara sports psychology class, dishing on the Kwame Brown disaster, living and playing in Michael Jordan’s shadow, and how much he’d enjoy playing alongside Carmelo Anthony. From Hoopsworld (via YouTube): “When asked if he wants to be remembered as the greatest player of all-time, Bryant said it’s impossible for a player to hold that title. ‘It’s not important to me,’ Bryant said. ‘It’s impossible. Even with [Michael] Jordan, some people say he’s not the best ever. Some say it’s Magic [Johnson] or Bill Russell. That’s not a goal worth shooting for. I just want to win as many as I can.’ As a follow up, he was asked specifically about surpassing Jordan’s achievements. Bryant said that he can’t compare to Jordan because of how much he’s learned from the legend over the years. ‘Of course, I want to win as many as I can so, by that alone, I’m chasing him,’ Bryant said. ‘As long as I’m playing, I want to continue to win more. But it’s never been a direct competition between him and me though because he’s helped me a lot. He hates when I say it, but I’ll say it anyway: I call him and he calls me right back every time. We talk about things, that’s the kind of relationship we have. I’ve learned so much from him so we can’t have a debate about who is better. You know what I mean? He’s directly influenced me.’ Another player that Jordan has directly influenced is Carmelo Anthony, who also came up during the question and answer session. Bryant said that the Lakers were never close to acquiring Anthony at last year’s trade deadline, but that he would have been thrilled with the move. In fact, Bryant was asked which current player he’d most like to team up with and he chose Anthony. ‘I would actually like to play with Melo,’ Bryant said. ‘Championships are won on the inside and I’m always thinking about winning the title. I would love to play with Melo because I would know that I have an inside presence. That’s really been the biggest strength with our Lakers team. We have a lot of guys who can play in the post, and that’s how you win championships. I can post, Lamar [Odom] can post, Ron [Artest] can post, Pau [Gasol] can post and Andrew [Bynum] can post. Teams are usually lucky if they have one guy that can control the block. But yeah, I would love to play with Melo.'”