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Shams Charania Reveals his Choice for The GOAT

NBA reporter Shams Charania, who is currently affiliated with The Athletic and Stadium, is widely considered to be the top news breaker in the league alongside his former mentor Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.  Known for his earth-shaking updates about transactions around the league, the 30-year-old provided a glimpse of his personal opinion about the game as a fan.

Shams Charania Reveals his Choice for The GOAT

Charania made a guest appearance on The OGs Show podcast,  hosted by former NBA players Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, who were previously teammates with the Miami Heat during the early 2010s. The hosts asked Charania about who he thinks is the greatest basketball player of all time, and he surprisingly rejected the popular answer of Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan. This was somewhat surprising considering   Charania is from Chicago however, given his Sham didn’t get to see much of Jordan’s greatness.

“So for me, growing up, like when MJ won his six championships, I was four years old. It’s hard for me to watch the YouTube videos and watch the game videos like it’s an experience. I feel like the greatest of all time is an experience. For me growing up, Kobe was someone that I watched very closely.”

Born in 1994, Charania’s formative years coincided with Kobe Bryant’s prime in the 2000s. He was six years old when Bryant won his first NBA Championship in 2000, which was the start of a three-peat, and 16 when Bryant claimed the fifth and final title of his career against the Boston Celtics in 2010. Nowadays, most GOAT debates often pit Jordan against current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, leading to frequent squabbles between fans of the two players.

Shams Charania Names Kobe Bryant As His GOAT

Charania further explained his reasoning behind naming the late Los Angeles Lakers legend as his personal GOAT, admitting that he relates to some of the attributes of the 6-foot-6 shooting guard.

“The Mamba Mentality, the killer instinct. I feel like some of those attributes, I felt like as a young minority, parents from a Pakistani background. I felt like I could apply some of that in my daily life. You know, the killer mentality and just go get it every single day. So, for me, that was something I gravitated toward.”

Bryant spent his entire 20-year professional career with the Lakers from 1996 to 2016, winning five NBA Championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 2008 NBA MVP. He ended his career as the Lakers franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 33,643 points, and his scoring total also ranks as the fourth most in NBA history. Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 41 alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a tragic helicopter crash on the way to a basketball game in January 2020.

Shams Joins Others Endorsing Kobe as The GOAT

Charania isn’t the only one who considered Kobe their GOAT or who has advocated for him in the GOAT conversation. Similar to Shams, James Harden named Bryant his personal GOAT.

Additionally, NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal,  Vince Carter, and Dominique Wilkins have all advocated for Kobe in GOAT conversations. Ultimately, there are few players in NBA history whose career and impact can compare to Kobe’s.

Jeremiah Santos

Jeremiah Santos

Jeremiah Santos is a sportswriter and analyst hailing from the Philippines who boasts more than a decade of experience in covering various sporting events. He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, earning cum laude distinction in 2022.

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