And what exactly did Westbrook, LeBron, and MJ say about Kobe? That he was a top-5 all-time player?
Because I think Kobe is a top 11 all-time player (give or take), and if I heard someone say that about him, I'd say they were "giving him his dues." You seem to disagree with that, which is fine. But it's not clear that MJ et al. are disagreeing.