Recently Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak let it be known that the 2015-2016 NBA season will be final one for longtime Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant. Next season will be Bryant’s 20th NBA season and each time that he has taken the floor it has been while donning the purple and gold of the Lakers. Bryant is a five-time NBA Champion, one-time NBA MVP, and a 17-time NBA All-Star just to name some of his accolades. Bryant is one of the best scorers and finishers in NBA history and it will be interesting to see how he is remembered.
Bryant entered the NBA in 1996 as a skinny 18-year-old high school kid that shocked many observers when he decided to bypass college and give professional basketball a shot. Bryant was coming off of the bench in his first two seasons with the Lakers as Los Angeles had a strong starting lineup that consisted of point guard Nick Van Exel, shooting guard Eddie Jones, small forward Rick Fox, power forward Elden Campbell, and center Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant only averaged 7.6 points per game as a rookie, but he showed that he would be a force to be reckoned with during the 1997 Rookie Game at NBA All-Star Weekend as he went for 31 points. By Bryant’s second year in the NBA, he started in the All-Star Game in spite of the fact that he was still coming off of the bench.
With an injury to Fox, Bryant began the 1999 NBA season in the starting lineup and it is a role that he has never relinquished. In his first game as a starter, Bryant shut down Houston Rockets small forward Scottie Pippen as he was ready to make the NBA take notice of him. And when Phil Jackson became the Lakers head coach in the following season, the combination of him, O’Neal and Bryant would lead Los Angeles to three consecutive NBA Championships. Bryant would go on to help the Lakers win two more NBA Championship in 2009 and 2010 to become one of the greatest winners in NBA history, but at what cost?
Bryant is extremely competitive, and his desire to be the best has rubbed some people the wrong way. O’Neal’s and Bryant’s personalities clashed on numerous occasions which included physical altercations during their time together with the Lakers. O’Neal was ultimately traded by the Lakers to the Miami Heat in 2004 and to this day, no one will ever mistake him and Bryant for best friends. In 2004, Jackson stepped away from the Lakers for a season and during his time away from the game, he penned a book entitled “The Last Season” where he was critical of having to deal with Bryant. The tension in Los Angeles became so thick that even longtime Lakers general manager Jerry West left the organization in 2002 to become the new general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies.
During the mid-2000’s, Bryant was in the prime of his career and he enjoyed three seasons in which he averaged at 30 points per game which was highlighted by the 2005-2006 NBA season where he averaged 35.4 points per game. Also during the 2005-2006 NBA season, Bryant went for 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors. But Bryant’s scoring alone could not help the Lakers place more championship banners in Staples Center and it wasn’t until Los Angeles acquired power forward Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies in 2008, that would they once again become a championship contender. From 2008-2010, the Lakers would make three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals with two more Larry O’Brien Trophies coming to Los Angeles as Bryant proved that he could win a title without O’Neal. But since 2010, the Lakers organization has been a mess.
The Lakers have gone through five head coaches and longtime team owner Dr. Jerry Buss passed away in 2013. Since then the Lakers have been run by two of Buss’ children (Jeanie and Jim) who haven’t always been on the same page. And with Bryant’s reputation of not always being the best teammate as he tends to scold and berate, more than coddle and try to be one of the guys, has seen him ostracize himself from some of the other superstars in the NBA that have bypassed the opportunity to play for one of the greatest organizations in all of professional sports. Bryant has spent the last few seasons playing with guys on the Lakers that the folks in Los Angeles wouldn’t know who they were if it were not for their media guide which is a sad end for one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Unlike San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan, Bryant has never been able to adjust as an older player which has greatly hindered the Lakers chances of winning with him; whereas Duncan has taken a lesser, but still effective role in San Antonio and it has led to continued winning. And as great as Bryant has been, it could have been much better if he had adjusted more.
Bryant’s swan song in the NBA should see all 30 teams in the NBA roll out the red carpet for him along with him once more suiting up as an NBA All-Star. From Bryant’s first day in the NBA, he set out to be the greatest to ever play the game. And if Bryant isn’t the greatest, he’ll definitely be in the conversation.
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