LeBron's Agent Rich Paul Makes Wild Claim About Lakers Legends Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal

During their time together on the Los Angeles Lakers, there was no better duo in the NBA nor in professional sports, than Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

The dynamic duo absolutely dominated the league, winning three straight championships and leading the Lakers to four NBA Finals appearances, with the only series loss coming against the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

Even though things fell apart after that shocking loss to the Pistons, which led to O'Neal's eventual trade to the Miami Heat, Bryant and the superstar center were arguably the two biggest names in sports, famous not only in the United States but globally.

Rich Paul Claims Allen Iverson was a Bigger Superstar Than Kobe & Shaq

During the latest episode of the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul, with Bill Simmons as their special guest, LeBron James’ agent from Klutch Sports made a case for Allen Iverson being the bigger superstar than Bryant and O’Neal.

Rich Paul believes Allen Iverson was a bigger superstar than Kobe Bryant and Shaq:

“Who did people rather be like? Kobe or Allen Iverson? — Allen Iverson brought all these things to the NBA. People wanted to dress like who? He had white American wearing cornrows and headbands!”… pic.twitter.com/C3zBCigNTN
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 22, 2026

Paul believes “cultural relevance” separates Iverson from the two Lakers legends.

“It's not just about being the best players,” Paul said. “It's also about cultural relevance. ... Cornrows, tattoos, jewelry, hip hop, style. Allen Iverson brought all these things to the NBA. Nobody, you think people wanted to dress like who? Name one person that they wanted to dress like outside of Allen Iverson. Name one person outside of Michael Jordan whose name was mentioned.”

There’s no question that Iverson made a substantial cultural impact on the NBA and its fans, as Paul is right that kids started dressing like him while also sporting a crossrows hairstyle, which Iverson made incredibly popular.

However, Kellerman pushed back on the celebrity aspect of these three Hall of Famers.

“If you talk about celebrity, Iverson's coming in three in that,” Kellerman said.

Paul wasn’t having it.

“No, he's not," Paul said. "You've got to be out of your mind.”

Perhaps the boldest claim Paul makes in this conversation is that no NBA player has been a global superstar, which is laughable given Bryant’s impact overseas, especially in China and the Philippines.

“No one was global,” Paul said. “I don't want to argue.”

Kobe Bryant’s Superstardom Was on Another Level Globally

Outside of perhaps Michael Jordan, no basketball player has been more popular globally than Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers superstar made annual trips to China and the Philippines during the NBA offseason, where he was greeted by massive crowds, with his popularity overseas simply on another level.

Rich Paul: “No one was global!”

Reality: https://t.co/seVZyRSH3x pic.twitter.com/uwIsdhlr0z
— LAbound (@LAbound2) July 22, 2026

He quickly became a global icon, starting in 2006 when he began to make those trips with Nike while taking his playing career into the Mamba Mentality era as the undisputed leader of the Lakers in the post-Shaq era.

It doesn’t make much sense for Paul to argue or not want to argue about superstardom on a global scale, but there’s no doubt that Bryant had that appeal, which even carried over after he retired in 2016, where he remained as popular as ever in the United States and overseas.

Allen Iverson wearing a Kobe championship shirt that Kobe won
AGAINST him is still the greatest level of respect I've ever seen.🏀🫡 pic.twitter.com/BoSe2OhjXi
— 𝐎𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 (@opolot_ronnie) May 28, 2026

Iverson definitely had an impact culturally, but he was nowhere near the superstar Bryant was globally, which is something the one-time NBA MVP would likely admit, as he was one of the biggest fans of the Lakers icon.

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