Dragonball is objectively a masterpiece.
Every year or two, I'll rewatch the entire series, never once not being fully entertained.
The original Dragonball, for me, is equally as entertaining as DragonBall Z.
It's also one of the rare cases where I can actually bare a dub, the original English (US I'm assuming) dub.
The only reason anyone would possibly discredit Dragonball would be because of societal influence, to go against the mainstream or because they want to assert that "their favorite show is better than the best."
Dragonball is 100% better than Kai. Hands down. But then again, even GT is better than Kai.