A. Smith: Kobe has 5 championship rings, but his historical status is not as good as LeBron

Recently, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith talked about the comparison of LeBron and Kobe's historical status in the "Gil 's Arena" podcast. He believes that although Kobe has more championships, his historical status is not as good as LeBron.

"He has five championship rings and a lot of people have put him ahead of LeBron because of that," Smith said. "I think Kobe is a 'killer'. He'll go all out. That's not to say he doesn't defend, because it's obvious that at his peak, he was an elite defender. However, on the other hand, when you play with Shaq and the rest of the team and end up playing with Gasol, Bynum and the rest of the team, you have a strong team. When you get stuck, you'll be very, very hard."

"This has never happened to LeBron. You look at him and the four championships he won, and you'll say you can't erase his achievements because no matter how bad the Lakers were in the last few years of Kobe's career, would it happen to LeBron? The answer is no. With LeBron James, no team will be as bad as the Lakers were then," Smith added.

LeBron has won 4 championships so far in his career, and Kobe has won 5 championships in his career.