![Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://2paragraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Kobe_Bryant_warming_up-620x375.jpg)
ESPN commentator and self-described “NBA OG” Jalen Rose is reminiscing in the video below. As people do when they look back at life, Rose alights upon those things that have caused him to feel awe.
For some people that means an encounter with the Northern Lights or the Great Barrier Reef or Leonard Nimoy, but for a 13-year NBA veteran, it means his encounters with true hoops greatness.
Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are the only players I’ve ever been on the court with that I felt like were the best player on both ends at all times. pic.twitter.com/fDP8VKyFJG
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) May 18, 2023
Rose says that he experienced such awe only when facing three players — Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant.
What was the distinction that put these three NBA greats in their own echelon? Why these three?
Rose’s respect for the game is revealed in his reveal. Consistency and two-way ability are what establish greatness, as Rose sees it. Of Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant, Rose says it was their ability to be “the best player on both ends at all times” that gave them a level all their own.
