Kobe Bryant tragically died a year ago at the age of only 41, but the legend of the Los Angeles Lakers will forever be remembered. For more than 20 years the Black Mamba experienced all ups and downs and was the player who came closest to Michael Jordan with his kind. Bryant polarized like no other, but nobody doubts his legacy.
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A year ago, it wasn’t just the basketball world that stood still when it became known that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers died in a helicopter crash. The NBA lost one of its biggest faces when it was just 41 years old. Bryant held out his bones for the Los Angeles Lakers for over 20 years, won five championships, became an MVP, scored 81 points in one game and shaped the post-Jordan era like no other.
From the way he played, Bryant was Jordan to Jordan, an unapproachable person, polarizing. There are arguments that Kobe was never the NBA’s best player in his years, but there are just as many arguments against it. Kobe was bigger than basketball, together with Shaquille O’Neal he brought glamor to the league when the league was desperately looking for new faces after Jordan’s resignation and the image-damaging lockout.
Tim Duncan, the eternal opponent of the San Antonio Spurs, could and probably never wanted to be, his game was too boring and monotonous, even if his efficiency and success spoke for themselves. Bryant, however, was in the right place at the right time – in Los Angeles, in Hollywood, where his style and flair hit a nerve on the court.
For over 20 years, the city went through all the ups and downs that Bryant went through during his career. And that was a lot. Even as a teenager, Kobe was something of a rock star that was part of the story. It was Sonny Vaccaro, something like the shoe mogul of the NBA for years, who put everything on one card with Bryant. Even before Bryant was even drafted, adidas provided him with an incredibly fat contract (6 years, 48 million dollars).
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Bryant was 17 then, still in high school. A few days earlier he had divided the country with his decision to skip college. An Underage Guard in the NBA? That had never happened before. Around 1,000 people squeezed into the hall of Lower Merion High School, a quiet institution that was never known for its large basketball program.
“I’m taking my talents to the NBA,” announced Bryant, wearing sunglasses, in the presence of camera crews from ESPN or the Washington Post.
“That’s a big mistake,” said Celtics assistant Jon Jennings, for example. “Kevin Garnett is the best high schooler I have ever seen, and I would have advised against even taking this step.” The Minnesota Timberwolves power forward had dared to take the same step a year earlier as the first high schooler in over 20 years. Legend has it that Bryant didn’t taste this at all, after all, he wanted to be the first to do this.
Bryant has always had excessive self-confidence, many interpreted it as arrogance. Bryant always took it for granted that he set the pace on the field. League MVP Karl Malone left the All-Star Game insulted in 1998 after Kobe gave him instructions on when and how to set picks for him.
“When youngsters tell me where to stand, I don’t need to play,” said Malone. Bryant was just in his second season and was a reservist with the Lakers, but the fans chose him as the starter in the All-Star Game.
Kobe Bryant: Childhood in Italy shaped
His big ego was to be a recurring theme throughout his career, and entire books have been written about his relationship with Shaq. The selfish Bryant, who did not understand how to function in a team, was repeatedly portrayed as a bone of contention. But where should that come from?
Bryant was a loner with a penchant for perfectionism who grew up in a different world than many other NBA stars. The Bryants were nomads. Father Joe “Jellybean” Bryant was a hometown hero in Philadelphia, but never really made it into the NBA. “Jellybean” took life easy, but it went sour on the bench with the Sixers, who reached the finals in 1977.
After stops in San Diego and Houston, Bryant Sr. temporarily sold cars in Houston before he was placed in Italy. The Bryants lived in different places in Bella Italia for eight years, including little Kobe. Although Kobe learned Italian quickly, friendships did not develop due to the many moves.
Instead, Bryant practiced his moves on his own, which he then demonstrated to the Italian fans as a ball boy in the halftime breaks. He got inspiration from the USA, the family diligently recorded NBA games, preferably the Showtime Lakers with Kobe’s favorite player Magic Johnson.
Kobe dominated older opponents in Italy, but already there it became clear that he simply couldn’t lose. NBA scouts suspected that he lost confidence in his teammates during this time. A circumstance that would haunt him in the NBA for many years to come.
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