Kobe
Bryant: Basketball Legend
Faiz
Syed
The 2015-2016 basketball season will be remembered as the
one that last saw Kobe Bryant tearing opposing teams apart on the court. The thirty seven year old basketball legend
announced that his twentieth season in the NBA this year would be his last
before he retires. This comes as a great
surprise to many basketball fans across the nation. Even though Kobe Bryant’s legacy is at its
strongest on the west coast where his team plays, his dominance in basketball
is admired as far away as on the east coast by fans like myself and
others. The news of his retirement leads
me along to speculate about the future of basketball without him on the
court. Predicting the future is an
easier task once one has analyzed the past, and before too much consideration
is given to the future of basketball without Kobe Bryant, I want to share some
of my views about Kobe Bryant’s career in the NBA.
I view Kobe Bryant as the superstar that bridged two eras
of basketball history. When he began his
career at age eighteen, Kobe Bryant came into an NBA that was centered on the
legendary Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant
has said that Michael Jordan mentored him when he came into the NBA, and he has
also said that he wants to be like Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant only faced
each other on the basketball court for a short period of time before Michael
Jordan retired from basketball. Since
that point, the NBA has been Kobe Bryant’s league, and he has lived up to his
statement of wanting to be like Michael Jordan.
In fact, Kobe Bryant has surpassed his mentor in some aspects of basketball. Kobe Bryant has scored more points in his
career than Michael Jordan. Kobe
Bryant’s 81 points in a single match also surpasses Michael Jordan’s high of 69
points in a match. Kobe Bryant once came
into the NBA with aspirations of becoming like the great basketball players
that he competed against, and now young superstars come into the league with
hopes of one day playing as well as Kobe Bryant. I view Kobe Bryant as the bridge between two
eras because he acquired knowledge of basketball from the Michael Jordan era
and like a bridge, he transported it through his playing style to the modern
era, where that knowledge is still alive in those young players who continue to
emulate his playing style.
What I admire most about Kobe Bryant is that not only has
he established an acclaimed career for himself, but he has also helped his Los
Angeles Lakers team reach the NBA finals seven times. There is no I in team nor is there one in
Kobe Bryant. He used his brilliant and
athletic playing style to benefit his team, and his team has been one of the
most successful teams in NBA history while he has played for them. He has won the NBA finals five times out of
seven opportunities and has been the NBA most valuable player once in his
career. He offers coaching advice to
younger players on the team and even advises the coaches of the Los Angeles
Lakers from time to time. He also makes
sacrifices to help his team win games.
In a recent statement, Kobe Bryant had said that although this season
will be his last, he wants younger players to get more playing time than him
because they will give the team a better chance to win in. Kobe Bryant should not only be remembered for
being an NBA MVP, but he should also be remembered for being a team player who
has helped his team win five NBA championships.
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