Love Him or Hate Him

Love him, or hate him, you have got to give Kobe Bryant props. At the age of 17 Kobe Bryant became the only guard in NBA history to skip college, and enter into the NBA. All though he was largely criticized for making such a bold move, Kobe Bryant did indeed go on to disprove any opinions that he wasn’t going to make it in the NBA. Selected by the Charlotte Hornets, Bryant eventually found himself in Los Angeles after his draft rights were traded by the Hornets to the Lakers for Vlade Divac, which in my opinion has been the worst trade in the history of professional sports (at least for the Hornets anyways). With Shaquille O’Neal by his side, and Phil Jackson as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant enjoyed three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-2002.

Despite criticism that he was sometimes a “ball hog”? on the court Kobe Bryant has had a very positive public image throughout his career, and his dedication, skill, and talent on the court ranked him as one of the most popular athletes in the world. Everything changed in the summer of 2003 however, when Kobe Bryant was arrested for sexual assault in the state of Colorado. Although he was never found guilty of sexual assault, as the woman who accused Kobe Bryant was unwilling to testify thus the prosecution was forced to dismiss the criminal case, Kobe’s image was forever tarnished. After admitting to adultery, or cheating on his wife with a stranger in a hotel room, his public appeal completely plummeted. Millions of dollars worth of endorsements from companies like McDonald’s, Nutella, Ferrero SpA (the company that makes Kinder Surprise) were all terminated, and his jersey sales fell off the charts.

After not being able to win the NBA championship in 2004 with future hall of famers such as Gary Payton, Karl Malone, and Shaquille O’Neal, the core of the Lakers fell apart. Gary Payton, and Shaquille O’Neal eventually found there ways to Miami, while Karl Malone announced his retirement from basketball. The rift between Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson also grew larger, and after deciding to stick with their star player, Phil Jackson was fired by the Los Angeles Lakers. 2004-2005 was a dismal season for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant still being one of the best players in the NBA, managed to lead the Lakers to the last place in the Pacific division and out of the playoffs. The future of the franchise, along with Kobe Bryant’s career seemed to carry little optimism in the near future.

The 2005 Off-Season for the Lakers saw the return of Phil Jackson and the acquisition of Kwame Brown. Despite past disagreements, Bryant stated that brining back Phil Jackson was a move that he welcomed. Hoping to come back from a disastrous season, the Lakers restructured their line up and by the end of the season they entered into the playoffs as the number seven seed against the Phoenix Suns. The 2005-2006 season saw Kobe Bryant have one of the best seasons in his career. Having averaged an NBA best 35.4 points per game, his season scoring average was the highest since Michael Jordan in the 1986-87 season. He also broke the previous Laker record for the most 40-point games in a season set by Elgin Baylor (who had 24). Kobe Bryant ended the season with 27 games where he scored 40 or more points. Kobe Bryant also finished runner-up to Steve Nash for the most first place MVP votes during the season.

The highest single game scoring performance was in 1962 by Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 even, but ever then since then no one, not even Michael Jordan has been able to score more than 80 points. That is, no one except Kobe Bryant, who put up a Laker record 81 points on January 22nd, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors. Kobe Bryant who scored 55 of his 81 points in the second half joins the record books as one of the only two players in NBA history to score more than 80 points. This wasn’t the only prolific onslaught of scoring by Kobe Bryant during the season, as just a month earlier he scored 62 points in 33 minutes of play. By the time he left the court he had outscored the entire Mavericks team 62-61 by himself. He also joined the record books that day being the only player in NBA history to outscore the entire opposing team through 3 quarters of play.

During the playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, after dropping the first game 107-102, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to three consecutive wins. During game four, Kobe Bryant scored an acrobatic lay-up with the clock winding down to force overtime. With the Los Angeles Lakers trailing by a point in the final seconds of overtime, there was only person that the Lakers would go to, and Kobe Bryant did not disappoint. He dribbled the ball from half court to the three point line, before driving to bury a 17 foot fadeaway as time expired, amidst a roaring packed Staples Center crowd of 18,000. His heroics however, even a 50 point performance in game 6, weren’t enough to take the Lakers to the second round as Steve Nash led the Suns to a three consecutive win comeback over the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant has had an amazing season this year; his prolific scoring reminded the entire world why he is still one of the best players in NBA history. He finished the season as the leading scorer in the NBA, and in the top ten in over 22 statistical categories. Now whether you don’t like Kobe Bryant because of that one incident in Colorado in 2003, or whether you think he’s a “ball hog”, or whether you’re just jealous he took the R&B singer Brandy to the prom, you have to give props that he is still one of the greatest athletes in the world today.