Kobe Bible
Mamba Temple
The Neophite
Verse 1
Young Killa
Verse 2
The Stallion
Verse 3
The Reincarnation
Verse 4
Six Paths of Kobe
By Chris Davis (Lil Laker Boy) 6.24
The inception of a killer–Kobe Bryant.
In 1996, before the District 1 Class AAAA boys’ final between Lower Merion and Norristown High School, Kobe Bryant was already deemed the highest scorer in the history of southeastern Pennsylvania preps, passing Wilt Chamberlin who played for Overbrook.
The teenager’s pathway to early comps of Michael Jordan by the likes of Wilt The Stilt, was paved by a serial killer attitude towards obstacles that dared to stand in his way.
On the All The Smoke podcast, former NBA star Richard Hamilton revisited one of the many stories he had as Bryant’s AAU teammate and friend, showing a glimpse into the obsessive psychotic basketball assassin Kobe Bryant was becoming.
At the time of the Charlie Webber tournament in Maryland, Hamilton and Bryant played on the Patterson AAU team and the No.1 player in America was the 6-foot-9 multi-faceted wing, Tim Thomas.
The night before facing Thomas, Kobe Bryant paced the room like a mastermind plotting his next move.
He told Hamilton, “Yo Rip, tomorrow imma’ kill this dude,” Bryant said. “After tomorrow it ain’t gon’ be no doubt in anybody’s mind who the number one player in America is—watch.”
Hamilton said after that game everyone had Bryant as the No.1 player.
Hamilton said he scored close to 50 and they won the game. Bryant was the same guy who averaged 31 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocked shots and 5 steals per game his senior year, playing all five positions at Lower Merion.
The same guy who in the summer after his junior season in high school, played at St. Joseph’s University against some 76ers’ players, including 3rd overall pick, Jerry Stackhouse who had just wrapped his rookie season in the NBA after two seasons with North Carolina.
17-year-old Kobe Bryant not only held his own, but he beat Stackhouse in one-on-one, prompting the legendary Dean Smith to recruit Bryant to Chapel Hill.
That little laker boy who grew into the man, would challenge the 100-point scoring mantle by dropping 81.
Took over in game 4 of his first NBA Finals in 2000 at 21-years old when Shaq fouled out of the game.
And dared to tell Michael Jordan, “I could kick your ass one-on-one.”
The same man who captured everyones attention on someone elses night, scoring 60 points in his final game as the Warriors went for a record-breaking 73 wins versus the Grizzles.
Amongst other things, he was foolish enough to believe he could become the goat.
Five rings, 18 All-Star appearances ( four All-star MVPs), 15 All-NBA Teams, MVP, 12 All-Defensive Teams, two scoring titles, fourth all-time scorer in the regular and postseason, and two Gold medals later, and ignorance is bliss.
Kobe Bryant was the most audacious player to ever play the game.
One of my favorite anime is Naruto Shippuden. And a character that I really enjoy is an anti-hero named Nagato—better know as Pain. Pain was the acting leader of a group called the Akatsuki, who captured these tailed beasts for this greater evil plot, but this is not about all of that.
Pain had what was called the Rinnegan which allowed the user to manipulate six bodies as though they were his own, known as the Six Paths of Pain.
The six paths are: Deva Path, Asura Path, Human Path, Animal Path, Preta Path and Naraka Path.
I found several similarities between the anti-hero and Kobe and so i felt it was good place to bridge the context of his greatness.
Kobe’s greatness was manifested in his pure tenacity and entrenched will, but it’s also his ability to take other people’s skills or a philosophy and manipulate them into his own that has made him a one-of-one master of minds on the court.
Watching hoops as a kid, he took the switch from his left to right hand on a coast-to-coast break off a defensive rebound from the Hawks’ John Battle.
He took MJ’s post moves and midrange game. He took Gary Payton’s defensive techniques after a practice at the 2000 NBA All-Star game.
He took Hakeem Olajuwon’s detailed footwork–from the drop step to the Dream Shake.
He learned the “spirituality of the game” from Phil Jackson.
He learned the Art of War and how to bait the mind of your oppenent from Bill Russell. At 18-years-old he was mentored by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who told him, “Your curiosity is your greatest gift, use it to expand your scope.”
And the Mamba mentality that would spur the next phase of his legend, was taken from the cold instincts of a venomous snake, leaning further into his alter-ego as basketball’s black Bruce Wayne.
When it comes to Pain, his struggles within encompassed his complexity as a anti-hero. Much like Kobe’s dynamic as this gun slinger who turned himself into a calculated poet on the basketball court.
So I comprised the six paths that make Kobe one of the five greatest players to ever lace them up.
In The Beginning
I. Path of Failure
Part of Kobe Bryant’s failure is what turned him into a player who would go on to win 5 of 7 championships with a record of 135-85 in the postseason, winning 62 percent of his regular-season games from 1996-2013, including eight finishes with the Lakers as the top seed.
But to truly understand what makes him great, we must relitigate some of his failures that are connected to who he was as a player.
Bryant's major downfalls:
- He shot four airballs versus the Utah Jazz in the 1997 Western Conference semis, becoming a scapegoat at 18-years old.
- The 2004 NBA Finals where he was ice cold, shooting 38 percent from the field and 17 percent from three-point range, culminating with the feud that led to the departure of Shaq and his first finals loss.
- After surrendering a 3-1 lead to the Steve Nash led 2nd seeded Suns in 2006, Kobe Bryant took a mere three shots in the second half of game 7 amid criticism for being a “ball hog” in game 6 where he scored 50 points on 20/35 shooting, but the team lost.
- In 2008, Bryant shot 7-22 in game 6 of the NBA Finals as the Celtics won by 39.
Bryant's scoring in context
I just want to flash forward for a moment. Bryant was the 2nd fastest to score 30,000 points (34 years, 104 days). LeBron passed him at 33 years, 21 days.
Bryant finished his career as 4th all-time in scoring with 33,643 points. He was 4,744 points behind Kareem’s NBA record leading mark of 38,387.
Kobe Bryant came off the bench for 144 games in his first two seasons, averaging no more than 26 minutes during those years.
Bryant has talked about the unfair treatment in his first three years. He played the small forward position those first two years, forcing him to also play out of position at a time where the small forwards were guys like Kevin Garnett. They were huge.
And he speaks on how A.I. , Ray Allen, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, guys from his 96’ draft class, were setting the league on fire while he was thiniking, “I’m glued to the bench, getting really pissed off, thinking I should’ve just gone to college.”
He went through two lockout seasons in 1998-99 and 2011-12 for a total of 56 games. And in his final three seasons he missed a total of 139 games due to a knee and rotator cuff injury.
PAIN
Kobe Bryant missed 195 games and was chained to the bench his first two seasons in the league and yet he still managed to reach 4th on the all-time scoring list. Despite the abuses of unforeseen circumstance, Bryant climbed the scoring ladder at an rapid rate.
LeBron scored 30,000+ by year 14.
If you take away Kobe Bryant’s first two seasons and cut him off at the 2012-13 season, he scores 29,858 points. Follow me here. If he was simply receiving starting minutes in his second season—say like 1998, Bryant easily crosses the 30,000-point threshold at the age of 33.
And had he started his rookie season, crossing 30,000 points at age 32 would have been more than feasible. That’s nuts.
There was serious discussion about Bryant crossing the 40,000-point mark and blowing by Kareem at the rate he was going.
But in the 2012-13 season he pushed his body to the absolute brink. He didn’t know conservation or “load managing” it wasn’t who he was.
It was only about winning.
I firmly believe that if he managed his minutes, he would’ve destroyed that mark, but Bryant wasn’t this stat hog that people try to portray him to be at times.
Kobe Bryant cared about winning so much that he ranked 2nd in minutes per game that season despite playing 12 playoff games and in the 2012 London Olympics that previous summer at 34-years-old.
His engine light was on too long and he blew a head gasket.
His style was linear.
Zach Lowe even points out in ESPN The Magazine, how there’s a spread pick and roll version of Bryant that averages 30 points and nine assists. A path that one be more advanced metric friendly. But he was always pedal to the medal for good, bad, and ugly. More times than not, he was winning with his foot mash on the pedal yet criticized for how he got there.
Kobe Bryant missed more shots than anyone In history (14,481)
What you’ll learn from this piece is that none of this will matter when you see how great Bryant’s accomplishments were in context and how few of his peers could keep up with his superior rise to the pinnacle of success.
Lil Laker Boy
II.Path of adversaries
Bryant was drafted into the league right when the west was becoming stacked and the rest of the NBA was filling with fresh talent.
For the bulk of his career in the west, Bryant had to face: The Jail blazers, Chris Webber’s Kings, the “Twin Tower” Spurs and the big 3 Spurs, Steve Nash and Dirk’s Mavs, “seven seconds or less” Suns (Amare, Nash, Matrix, Joe Johnson), Melo and Iverson’s (Billups also) Nuggets, D-Will and Boozer’s Jazz, and a young Thunder team of KD, Russ, and Harden.
From the time Kobe stepped into the league in 1996 until 2013 when he tore his achillies, there was a least 5+ 50-win teams in 13 of the 17 seasons, and that’s including the two lockout seasons.
And in two of the three championships Kobe Bryant got post-Shaq, there were EIGHT such teams in the West (07-08’ and 09-10’), which was the only time in NBA history that this many 50+ win teams were in one conference.
There were 6+ 50-win teams in the Western conference each of Bryant’s three trips to the finals post-shaq and he won 2/3. For context sake, the East had just two seasons with 5+ teams having 50-win seasons in that span and that was in Michael Jordan’s final seasons with the Bulls.
This section is important to understand, because after Jordan retired, not only did the West bolster itself, but the wing/ guard talent increased as well.
| Player | # of All-NBA | # of All-Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Allen Iverson | 7X | 11X |
| Tracy McGrady | 7X | 7X |
| Paul Pierce | 4X | 10X |
| Jason Kidd | 6X | 10X |
| Carmelo Anthony | 6X | 10X |
| Grant Hill | 5X | 7X |
| Vince Carter | 2X | 8X |
| Dwyane Wade | 8X | 13X |
| Joe Johnson | 1X | 7X |
| Gary Payton | 9X | 9X |
| Gilbert Arenas | 3X | 3X |
| Bradon Roy | 2X | 3X |
| LeBron James | 15X | 16X |
| Kevin Durant | 9X | 10X |
| Ray Allen | 2X | 10X |
| Chauncey Billups | 3X | 5X |
| Steve Nash | 7X | 8X |
| Deron Williams | 2X | 3x |
| Manu Ginoblii | 2X | 2X |
| Chris Paul | 8X | 10X |
The All-NBA award selects the best players at their position each year. Bryant has been on this team 15 times and he was 1st team 11 times. The only player with as many 1st team selections on this chart is, LeBron James.
I have a rule and it’s called, “If you win eight straight, you’re an all-time great.” Usually, Hall of Fame top tier players make All-NBA first team EIGHT straight years. For example: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, and Larry Bird all made eight All-NBA’s in a row.
But check this, Kobe Bryant is the only player in his era to make eight straight All-NBA’s and at least six straight All-Defensive teams. Not LeBron, not Tim Duncan, not Chris Paul, and not Dwyane Wade—he’s the only one from his era to do so. Michael Jordan was the last to do it before him.
Bryant was the best two-way player by a wide margin during his career. He guarded guards and forwards while still managing to carry the scoring load.
Doug Collins before Game 5 of the 2001 NBA Finals about 22-year old Kobe: Kobe Bryant [Is] the most complete player in the NBA. Part of the one-two combo that’s the deadliest in the NBA.
Doug Collins
Head Coach 1986-2013 (Bulls, Pistons, Wizards, Sixers)
Back in the early part of his career, Bryant lit up teams often, prompting teams to draft, trade and sign players to go up against him. And players like Reuben Patterson, who Shawn Kemp called the “Kobe Stopper”, would learn there was no stopping Bryant who averaged 29/7/5 over the course of 23 games versus Patterson.
Bruce Bowen, Tony Allen, Ron Artest, Shane Battier, Raja Bell, and Doug Christie all tried their hand at locking the bean down. Here’s how they fared.
Kobe's #s vs. the "Kobe stoppers"
# of All-Defensive Teams:
28
Kobe’s averages in 70 games vs. them:
27/6/5
Kobe’s playoff averages vs. them:
29/6/4
Many foes tried to take the head off the snake...
He scored better than his career average against all of them, especially Raja Bell.
Bryant faced 20 former MVPs in the playoffs. More than Shaq, LeBron, Tim Duncan, and MJ. He played both sides of the ball better than anyone in his era and dominated his position despite the monumental hurdles the western conference created.
The Fall
III. Path of The Mamba
2003 and 2004 represented the toughest times for Bryant on and off the court. Bryant was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Colorado in 2003, the feud with Shaq and distaste with Phil Jackson came to a head in 2004, leading to their departures after the Lakers were dismantled in the 2004 NBA Finals by the Detroit Pistons.
Bryant went from being on top of the basketball planet, to every major sponsor outside of Nike, dropping him. He recounted in his documentary Muse, that he was essentially being bombarded with his personal life on the basketball court and so he knew that the only way to separate his sanctuary was to create an alter-ego.
Inspired by the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, Bryant began to identify with the assassin code named Black Mamba. He researched the reptile and quickly found out that he shared the same scales with the killer snake.
March 15, 2004 was a glimpse of Kobe in mamba mode. He was facing his rival as face of the league, Tracy McGrady.
McGrady had 21 points and six assists by halftime. And Bryant was 0-4 with one point as the Lakers were trailing by double digits. Bryant came out of halftime unhinged. Turn off the right shoulder, cash. Dribble pull up with hand in face, butter. Baseline pull up, nets everytime.
Play Video
He scored 37 points in the second half and overtime, helping the Lakers slither their way to a come from behind victory.
That game was lauded as the precursor to Kobe Bryant, permanently flipping the switch that would eviscerate opponents for years to come.
After Shaq was traded and Phil left (for a year), Bryant was alone in his own space.
And he focused on destroying everyone. The young boy who endeared himself to fans with his clean-cut image, had shed its skin and he leaned into the inner Hulk-like demons that stewed in him.
Kobe's 2005-06 season:
Kobe’s averages and game-high:
35/5/5
81
Janurary average and # of 40+ point games:
43/6/4
7
April average and # of 40+ point games:
42/6/4
5
From 2005-2007, Bryant had a Jordanesque 45 40+ point games, highlighted by his 62/5/8 in three quarters versus a Dallas Mavericks team that would eventually go to the finals and of course 81 versus the Raptors.
In his last 9 games in the 2005-06 season, he averaged 42/5/4 and the Lakers went 7-2. Then next season he had a stretch where he averaged 54/7/3 on 53 percent and 48 percent from 3-pt range over a 5-game stretch where the Lakers didn’t lose a game.
For context, this day’s game breaking offensive talent, James Harden, averaged double the three-point attempts in a league that has a significantly faster pace of play. In fact, the Rockets ranked second in the league in points per 100 possessions (115.5). This matters because league-wide, the 2018-19 season averaged the most points per possession in NBA history—this is the same year Harden averaged 36.
The year Bryant averaged 35, the league ranked 27th all-time in points per possession and the Lakers were 8th in the league that year. With context you can see that Bryant’s scoring tear paled in comparison in a league with fewer possessions to score and more obstacles to hurdle.
It was just f*ck everyone. I’m destroying everybody that steps on the court. I had all this pent up frustration that i needed to lt out. It was an avalanche and it was nothing that was going to get in the way–it was nothing that was going to stop me
Kobe Bryant
Muse 2015
Why do we fall?
IV. Path of redemtion
The Road Back…
After winning gold in the previous three straight Olympic Games, Team USA finished with a Bronze in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, culminating with three embarrassing losses.
As a result, in 2007 Jerry Colangelo, Managing Director of USA Basketball, put on the bat signal for Kobe Bryant to help restore Team USA to world prominence.
He also asked Tim Duncan who was the leader on the 2004 Team USA squad, but Duncan said in an ESPN article, “I have no interest in that.”
Bryant had wanted to play in 2004, but couldn’t due to his legal troubles so when his number was called, he was ready and willing to do whatever he was asked.
In his book Return of the Gold: The Journey of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team, author Dan Bickley, quoted Jerry Colangelo as saying, “Our team was all about redemption. As an individual, so was Kobe. Our story mirrored his story. That definitely appealed to him.”
Bryant was the alpha of alphas on a team comprised of a heterogeneous mixture of Hall of Famers, All-Stars, and premiere role players. And for this team to become uniform in spirit, Bryant would have to set the tone. This would begin in mini-camp and come to a head at the Blue versus White game on a regular Sunday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.
With six minutes left in the game, the Blue team trailed by 11. They battled back and with 1:46 remaining, Bryant sized up LeBron, dribbled, then torpedoed a step back trey in LeBron’s grill for his 22nd point, tying the game at 101.
Two possessions later, Bryant hard dribbled left, stopped and elevated, fading away like he was relaxing in a reclining chair, shooting socks into a clothes hamper, and he once again buried a jumper over LeBron, putting his team up one with 1:03 left. After Jason Kidd once again gave the White the lead with 29 seconds remaining, Bryant did what he was brought there to do. Rise to the occasion.
With 21 seconds on the clock, Bryant crab dribbled just above the three-point line with Tayshaun Prince covering him.
He crossed over, dribbled once to his right, pump faked and then pulled up, shooting over Prince’s tree branch arms, swooshing a contested go ahead shot with six seconds left. Bryant would then seal the game by getting the late game stop on LeBron to seal the victory.
Bryant’s performance in the exhibition was a precursor to what he could bring to the table.
Much like what he would do in the coming years with the Lakers, Bryant was able to impress the core principles of his DNA on his teammates.
He was the scoring champ two seasons in a row and the only man with three NBA championships on the team. His pedigree was never questioned.
But he played like a walk-on who had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Bryant became coach Krzyzewski’s team film study, because of the effort that he would put forth as a defensive hound who would sacrifice his body for the ball.
At pre-Olympic training, Bryant was the first in the gym, working out at 5:30 a.m. He set the tone with his meticulous habits and it began to rub off as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and the others soon followed his lead.
In a New York Times article about Bryant and the Redeem Team, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim who was one of the Team USA assistants, said about Bryant, “I think Kobe challenges everybody. He was like, ‘I’m going to defend the toughest guy on every team, I’m going to push everyone, so just come along with me.’ And he did from day 1.”
After going 10-0 and winning gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas qualifier in Las Vegas, Team USA set themselves up to finish the path of redemption in Beijing the following summer.
Bryant’s mind was always fueled by winning and establishing an edge. His nature was unwavering.
During his MVP press conference prior to game 2 of the 2008 playoffs in the second round versus the Utah Jazz, a reporter asked Bryant what he will look to do in the off-season to sure up the award for the next season.
Bryant bunched his lips together, shook his head and delivered a textbook response.
“I have no idea. I know one thing’s on my list, is stop Pau [Gasol] from winning a gold medal,” he said. Everyone joined in laughter.
But for Bryant, he was dead serious even when it came to defeating his own teammate.
Bryant had several highlight moments in the Beijing and London showings, but there’s three games that exemplified his impact and reach as an icon.
- It’s the 2007 Tournament of Americas and Suns’ reigning sixth man of the year and Brazilian star, Leandro Barbosa is averaging 27 points per game. The Brazilian national team is undefeated heading into a matchup with Team USA. It’s a huge game for a USA squad that had struggled with Barbosa in the past. Only this time, Kobe decides he’s going to erase any memory that Barbosa was torching everyone. He denied him the ball, pressed into his air space and on one play, harassed Barbosa out to the mid-court line, poking the ball away before diving for the ball. He handcuffed Barbosa to four points on 1-for-7 shooting and four turnovers. And Bryant scored 20 points also as the team won by 37.
2. The 2012 Olympics in London, Team USA faced Australia in the quarterfinals. 34-year old Bryant didn’t score a single basket in the first half and Australia came out the half down three after an avalanche of baskets to bring them back. Then Bryant took over. He started off by dishing it off, then he splashed a triple, and then stripped the ball away, splashing another grenade from deep. He was bombs away in the fourth, scoring four threes in 66 seconds, leading to a 119-86 dub.
3. This one is legendary. It’s the 2008 championship game in Beijing versus Spain—this was the Gasol brothers, Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio—they gave Team USA all they could handle. Bryant was locked in from the start. Cashed a trey early, then knocked away an Alley-oop to Gasol. But late in the game, Team USA led by just five points. It’s 3:28 left after Gasol nails a jumper to bring Spain within five. Team USA was like a deer in headlights. So Bryant took over. On the left wing, Bryant jabbed Rudy Fernandez, throwing him off balance and bombed a three and created the foul for a 4-point play. The mass assassin held a finger to his mouth as the silencer. He scored 13 points, including 8 of their last 13 in the fourth quarter.
8.24
The Redeem Team
In the end, the same guy that his critics called a showboat and uncoachable, impeached those selfish ideas by leading with the ferocity and devotion that made him a winner. He was always on time, delivering when his team needed him most. His stint with Team USA was a master’s class in his sociopathic process towards breaking down the mental details before breaking down the physical opponent. He suddenly became first in his class. He was the star of star students on the world’s greatest team.
To rise again...
V. Path of completion
In Bryant’s career, there was two questions that bombarded the conversation surrounding his greatness.
The first was can he match Jordan in rings and secondly, can he win without Shaq? So, let’s look at how Bryant did with both.
First off, Bryant didn’t become a starter until his 3rd season in the league because head coach Del Harris didn’t want to just hand the reigns to the 18-year old young phenom—even after becoming the first player to ever start an All-Star game and not even start for his own team.
Bryant saw it as motivation and finally got to start after Harris was replaced 12 games into the lockout season in 1998.
And as Bryant blossomed and Shaq entered his peak with head coach Phil Jackson puppeteering in the background, the Lakers became a dynasty. But with winning, comes various naysayers, swelling egos and unforeseen challenges.
The Lakers were Shaq’s team. And Bryant was this rising superstar who was a 1B to Shaq’s 1A at worst. Bryant was never “carried” by Shaq and I have the facts to prove it. So, sit back and watch me work.
- In the 2000 Western Conference Finals versus the Blazers, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in steals, blocks, and assists for the entire 7-game series, capped off by a 25/11/7 and 4 blocks in game 7.
- Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Shaq fouls out and Bryant scores 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to secure a 3-1 lead over the Pacers.
- 2001 Western Conference semis, Bryant scores 48 and 16 with 15 points in the fourth to close the Kings out.
Bryant was becoming the closer for the Lakers despite Shaq being at the apex of his dominance.
From 2000 to 2004, the Lakers went to four NBA Finals, playing 18 different playoff series. Bryant was the leading fourth quarter scorer in 12 of those 18 series.
In the 2000-01 season, Shaq had arguably his best season ever. He averaged 29/13/4 with three blocked shots, and he was named league MVP. That year was also Bryant’s 3rd year as a starter. He averaged 29/6/5 with 1.7 steals.
Shaq and Kobe averaged over 28 points per game in the 2000-01 regular and post season.
Teammates hadn’t done that since Jerry West and Elgin Baylor in 1961-62 season, nearly 40 years prior and it hasn’t been done since.
Bryant led the Lakers in scoring, steals, assists and minutes in the last two seasons with Shaq.
And he was also second on the team in rebounding in 2 of the 5 years during their championship period.
Shaq was 2001 Barry Bonds. The most dominate force.
But Bryant was like if Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter fused to form Aljeito or something—there’s your Dragon Ball Z reference. Bryant was the Mariano Rivera and Willie Mays for the Lakers.
He was asked to guard the best players on opposing teams and play terrific help side defense. He did this all while managing to still score as much as Shaq and close the game out in the last minutes of the game.
A great example of what Bryant meant to the team was the 2001 Western conference finals.
Spurs were holding teams to 90 points at home and Bryant ends up with 45 points and 10 rebounds with 13 and 6 in the fourth quarter. Dude scored half that on his own.
But the thing that stands out to me, was that he was picking Antonio Daniels up with full court pressure.
He was a five-tool basketball player that held the responsibility of cleaning up the garbage and taking it out on time every single night.
Ric Bucher recounted in ESPN The Magazine, that after the 45-point explosion versus th Spurs in 2001, Shaq said Kobe was his idol and the best player in the league “by far”.
After Shaq left in 2004, it was Bryant’s team. But before I get to his basketball vindication in 2009, I’ll cover the atrocity that was his supporting cast thanks to a miscarriage of duties by GM Mitch Kupchak.
It’s important to point this out because 2005-2007 were valuable years in Bryant’s prime that are somewhat lost, because the team success was somewhat capped due to a lack of talent.
Here’s the major faux pas during that time:
- He signed 36-year old Vlade Divac to a two-year deal worth $10+ million. Divac had various back injuries and played only 15 games.
- Traded Shaq for Brian Grant, Caron Butler and Lamar Odom. Grant was well past his prime and the Lakers took on his $42 million contract and he only played 69 games with the Lakers.
- They traded Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown. Caron was essentially the third best player who became an All-Star the following year and Atkins was a solid 14-point scorer. They got a Kwame Brown who by that time was a bust after being drafted No.1 in 2001 by the Wizards, and he was hardly mediocre as he never averaged more that 8 points for the team.
- And they threw in Marc Gasol into the Memphis deal for his brother, Pau. Marc, of course, has been a consistent top-7 big man in the NBA during the prime of his career.
Bryant was sensational during these years individually. Bryant finished top-5 in MVP voting 11 times and only won once.
He finished top-3 five times. I personally feel that he should’ve won in 2002-03, 2005-06, and 2006-07 off bat. 2005-07 were the two season Bryant dragged the Lakers to the 7th seed in the west—and I’ve already talked about how tough the west was.
Bryant was the only one of his NBA superstar contemporaries in the west to not have a legit high level running mate or above average supporting cast tailored to his style.
Dirk had Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, and Josh Howard. Nash had Amare, Shawn Marion, and Joe Johnson. Tim Duncan had Manu and Tony. Deron Williams had Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. Melo had Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, and Nene.
Bryant had Lamar Odom, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown.
There’s an advanced metric called PER (Player efficiency rating). This breaks down all of a players contributions into one singular number. For example, an average NBA player is a 15 and 15+ is usually All-Star level player (18-22)—as you get to 22+ that’s where you begin seeing franchise players and Hall of Famers.
For context:
- Michael Jordan was a career 27.9 PER (Hall of Famer; All-time great).
- Michael Redd was a career 19.5 PER (All-Star)
- Ricky Davis was a career 15 PER (role player)
After Kupchak traded Caron Butler, in the following two seasons, Bryant had two 15+ PER guys who played 25+ minutes in 2005-06, not including himself, and two the following season. The Mavericks had five, Spurs had four, Suns had seven, and Grizzles had five. I could go on and on.
I would ask for a trade from this team too if I had Smush Parker as my 3rd best player and Kwame Brown was my interior presence. Yet and still, Bryant drug that those teams to the 7th seed in the west in back-to-back seasons.
And despite all of this, Bryant gave Kupchak credit for the Gasol trade in his 2008 MVP speech.
He got a solid supporting cast in the years that followed and poof, the Lakers won 2 out of 3 championships.
During those three years, the west was a gauntlet. In 2007-08 there was eight different 50+ win teams. In 2008-09 there was six different 50+ win teams. And in 2009-10 there was eight 50+ win teams. Only time in NBA History that this happened.
He faced the Celtics big 3 two times, comprised of three sure fire Hall of Famers and one of the best point guards in the league. He also faced the best big man in the NBA, Dwight Howard in a Magic’s system that was ahead of its time with two 6-foot-9 forwards who could dribble and shot at an elite clip.
The two times Bryant faced the Celtics, it was a bloodbath. In fact, in 2009-10, the year Bryant led the Lakers to a back-to-back championship over the Celtics, it had the most fouls in a finals series since the 1988 NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Pistons.
The 2010 NBA Finals had 330 fouls called between both teams.
Not to mention, Bryant played through an Avulsion fracture in his index finger in 2009 regular season. The injury that needed six weeks of healing to recover, wasn’t enough for him to miss time.
In fact, he ended up adding another classic to his resume. On Feb. 2, 2009, Bryant scored 61 point on 19-for-31 shooting and 20-for-20 from the stripe.
This was the infamous game where he autographed Spike Lee’s scoresheet and said, “Spike this sh*t was your fault.”
He was on a mission and nothing would stop that.
His second title run was brilliant. In the 2009 NBA Finals versus the Magic he averaged 32/6/7, including 40 points, 8 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in game 1. He led both teams in points, minutes and assists, resulting in his 4th NBA title.
That season the Lakers won 65 games, making Bryant involved in 2 of the 3 best Lakers teams in franchise history—the other was the 1999-00 season where they won 67 games.
The following year, Bryant led the Lakers to title number 16 as they redeemed themselves versus their longtime rival, the Celtics, in seven games Bryant averaged 29/8/4 with 2 steals. He had more points, rebounds, or steals than anyone on the Celtics.
That ring officially closed the case on if Bryant could win without Shaq for good.
Bryant was the only superstar from his era to win two or more championships two separate times within a 10-year span. The last person to do it before him was MJ. Bryant never reached six titles, but he came super close.
Bryant was quite possibly a Chris Paul trade veto away from title number six. Bryant nearly delivered on every single promise he made in his career.
The 2010 championship over Boston was a lifetime achievement. After their loss in 2008, he played ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ every day for two years as motivation.
That was the song that reverberated through the TD Garden as the Lakers sulked off the floor.
His path of completion came two years later as Bryant surrendered his all in order to win, culminating with ring number five.
All-time great
VI. Path of greatness
Kobe Bryant was an all-time great of the highest degree. He strived to be the greatest of all-time from an early age. But the question is, where does he rank amongst his peers of the past and recent past.
Let’s hop right into it.
In Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball, he ranked Bryant 8th all time behind Tim Duncan, Wilt, and of course, Larry Bird. ESPN.com had Bryant 9th behind Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, and Wilt. CBS Sports had Bryant 10th and so did Slam Magazine.
They’re all wrong.
My top-5 consists of (In no order): Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
I’m going to swoop in and clarify some things before I get into this.
When we have these greatest ever arguments, it’s a gumbo conversation—It’s not all vanilla. What I mean is, if you’ve had a great gumbo it has a significant balance of protein, vegetables, tomatoes, onions, peppers and all that Louisiana goodness. It’s never just one thing. So, I consider rings, statistics, impact on basketball and overall accolades in my greatness gumbo.
Let me start with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. These two were pioneers in their day. Russell was the ultimate winner: 11 titles in 13 seasons and five MVP awards.
And as for Wilt, he averaged 30 points and 22 boards for his career, including the illustrious 100-point game.
Larry Bird was the greatest Celtic. He averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his 13 year career. He also claimed three straight MVPs and three titles.
Tim Duncan won five championships. He was 20 and 10 for his career in addition to an NBA record 1,001 regular season wins.
Wilt and Russell were amazing, especially in the rivalry they had, but it’s hard for me to just catapult these guys above Bryant when they had only nine teams in the league during their career.
Russell was drafted in 1956 and from 1956-1966 there was only nine NBA teams.
Russell won two championships before Wilt even made the leap to the NBA in 1959. By the time Wilt retired in 1973 there were 17 teams.
Despite Russell being in the low post, he never shot better than 46 percent from the field and Wilt only won two championships as dominant as he was individually. These two were dominant and could quite possibly cross over eras, but the game evolves.
They didn’t have to face the creative defenses or zones that future generations would face—its just basketball evolution. Nor did they have to face the gauntlet that Bryant had to go through each season in the west.
Every team during that era averaged over 100 points per game. I mean in the 1961 season every team averaged 111 points per game or better with 8 of the 9 teams averaging better than 115. So much for defense.
The athletes and defensive schemes you begin to see later, were significantly better than what Wilt and Russell faced.
Russell’s rival was Wilt and Wilt’s was Russell. There wasn’t much basketball interference outside of those two.
Now if we are adding the civil right discourse into this, then that’s a different argument. Point is, I can’t put these two ahead of Bryant.
Then there’s Larry Bird. Bryant had more All-Stars (18), All-Star MVPs (4), All-NBAs (15), All-Defense (12), more rings (5), and just as many finals MVPs (2).
Also, just a little nugget, Bird didn’t have to play a first round playoff series until 1983 because teams got byes back then. So his first three seasons he had one fewer series to get through.
“bUt KoBe PlAyeD mOre seaSons thAn BIrd.”
Bird played 13 seasons so for context, my new favorite word, let’s have a look at 1999-2012. In that stretch, Bryant had more consecutive All-Star appearances (13) than Bird had for his career (12). He had more All-NBA 1st team selections (10) than Bird (9). Bird never finished 1st team All-Defense, but Bryant finished 1st team All-Defense nine times. Bird won more MVP awards (3), but that’s really his only true advantage here.
The last guy is the Big Fundamental himself, Tim Duncan. Many have debates over whose era the 2000s was, but in my eyes it’s particularly clear, Kobe Bryant. Close the case.
But I’ll back it up.
Duncan has as many All-Stars (15), more MVPs (3), more Finals MVPs (3) and slightly more All-Defensive teams (15) than Bryant. And they both have five rings.
But, Bryant was a slightly more consistent elite two-way player. I’ve already gone over the fact that Bryant was the only guy with eight straight All-NBA 1st teams and six All-Defensive 1st teams.
When we look at accolades, numbers, and rings, these two are essentially a scratch due to how close these two were.
But when they played head-to-head when it counted, it wasn’t close.
Now before I go into this, the Spurs and Lakers were the pillars of prominence during Bryant and Duncan’s career. From 1999-2014 the Lakers and Spurs accounted for 13 NBA Finals trips and 10 championships. So in a 16-year span, the Spurs or Lakers were in all, but three NBA Finals.
The 80’s Celtics and Lakers didn’t even dominate for as long as these two. From 1980-1991, the Lakers and/or Celtics went to the finals 11 times, winning eight championships.
The Spurs were the Lakers hurdle and vice versa.
They played six playoff series during their careers against each other.
Bryant was 18-12 versus Duncan’s Spurs, winning 4 of the 6.
“But sHaQ cArriEd KoBe.”
Bryant led the Lakers in scoring in 5 of the 6 series they played. The only series he didn’t lead the team in scoring was the first year Bryant became a starter in 99’.
He also led both teams in scoring in 4 of the 6 matchups. Bryant averaged 28/6/5 on 47 percent shooting in the postseason versus the Spurs.
One of the early highlights of Bryant’s dominance over the Spurs was in 2000-01.
That season Bryant averaged 38/4/5 versus the David Robinson and Tim Duncan led Spurs.
But he wasn’t done terrorizing them. In the postseason he destroyed them.
Posterizing Robinson and Duncan in game 1 on his way to 45 points and 10 boards was Bryant’s way of drawing first blood.
He averaged 33/7/7 in that series sweep. Bryant led his team in playoff scoring from 2003-12.
It’s sad because Bryant didn’t have the first class organization that the Spurs had for Bryant’s entire career or the opportunities.
Bryant came off the bench for 143 games to start his career. Duncan had four.
Bringing back that PER metric, Bryant had four or more 15+ PER teammates in 9 of his 17 seasons 1998-2013 and he had a 18+ PER teammate in 14 of 17.
As for Duncan. He had four or more 15+ PER teammates in 14 of his 18 seasons and he had a teammate with a 18+ PER EVERY SINGLE SEASON.
Duncan also had four different teammates finish top-10 in MVP voting multiple times.
- Tony Parker finished top-10 four times, including top-5 in 2011-12
- David Robinson finished top-10 two times (former 1994-95 MVP)
- Manu Ginobili finished top-10 two times
- Kawhi Leonard finished top-10 two times, finished 2nd in 2015-16 (before Duncan retired)
Here’s Bryant’s list: Shaq.
That’s the list.
After 2008, Duncan never led the Spurs in scoring again.
The Spurs organization extended and helped preserve Duncan’s career. The winning culture and various Hall of Fame supporting cast helped elevate Duncan each year. This was a luxury Bryant didn’t have.
But all that aside, Bryant kicked Duncan’s but when it mattered—the Spurs even had to bring in Bruce Bowen in 2001 to try and slow him down after Bryant slaughtered them. But that didn’t work too much.
One of Bryant’s most undervalued skills was engraving his DNA into his teammates and making them better.
Some people forget about Sasha Vujacic who was torched in the 2008 NBA Finals versus the Celtics, losing some confidence along the way. But he came back in 2010 and sank two free throws with 11.7 remaining to give the Lakers a four-point lead in game 7.
It was Bryant who took him under his wing, mentored him and treated him like a little brother. Challenging him every day and pressing his buttons. It prepared him for every moment.
Or how about Pau Gasol. Prior to joining the Lakers in 2008, he had made one All-Star team and was nowhere near the Hall of Fame conversation. After the 2008 NBA Finals loss, he was deemed soft, but by the 2010 NBA Finals he was the toughest guy on the floor.
Gasol was a 3-time All-Star, 3-time All-NBA and a 2-time champ while he was a Laker. Bryant talks about how he would send messages to Gasol when Team USA faced Spain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by being physical with him in order to let him know that he needed him to be tougher next season.
He helped to unleash the beast in Lamar Odom and enabled him in a way that unlocked his all-around talents–resulting in Odom winning the 2010-11 Sixth Man award.
I mean Bryant trusted Metta World Peace to nail a crucial three late in the fourth quarter of game 7 when the Celtics doubled Bryant, forcing him to kick it to Metta. The guy many deemed as a head case and incapable of being composed in those moments, delivered when it mattered most.
Into the Mambaverse
The past generation
Frobe
The future
Jayson
The teacher
The student
Jayson Tatum
Bryant sowed his seed, and some couldn’t handle the agonizing scrutiny to get to the glory, but the ones who did, reaped the benefits of being a champion.
His methods were maddening. The process was not for everyone, but he influenced two generations of players.
First it was LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony on the Redeem Team. Leading by example, setting the groundwork for how to prepare and train, preserving the body to endure the hardships of 100-game seasons.
The elite few would become an entire generation. Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and DeMar DeRozan, was just a taste of athletes who sipped from the mamba’s cup that spilled continuously in different forms.
The challenge
Bryant would tell the story on being 4-years-old doing karate as a white belt. He talked about facing a brown belt and how he was terrified.
He found out that when he fought him, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. The brown belt won, but he realized that, “Imagination creates greater fear than any man or anything can.”
Bryant was a master of compartmentalized thinking. He was able to channel his challenges and compose his thoughts in order to conquer tasks.
He had mastered the ability to break the chains the mind would attempt to put on him. The chains that would say: “That’s too hard”, “He’s better than you”, “You’ll never come back from that” or “you aren’t Michael.”
He overcame the mental obstacles from an early age.
What was viewed as this audacity, was simply him removing the limitations that others tried to place on him.
He was unbound. And that freedom enabled him to study the intricacies and beauty of the game he fell so deeply in love with.
The bounce of the ball against the hardwood. The crash of the nets cusping off the soft polyester.
He didn’t have Vince Carter’s 43-inch vertical. Didn’t have Michael Jordan’s 11-inch hands. Wasn’t the athlete that Allen Iverson was. He couldn’t shoot it like Ray Allen or handle it like Rod Strickland.
But he viewed the game through a lens that only fit his prescription.
Magic Johnson changed the game with his charismatic passing and groundbreaking delivery as a floor general. Kareem did it with the most unstoppable shot the NBA’s ever seen.
LeBron is the NBA hard drive—capable of dictating pace and control. Michael Jordan was the most intense competitor ever—challenges only sharpened his sword.
Bryant did it with the most beautiful mind to ever dribble a ball. He manifested the psychology of the game through a process he called, Mamba mentality.
Kobe Bryant was the architect of breaking the fourth wall of overachievement.
In the end, his designs made him an icon and an all-time great of the highest order.
I don’t play for the fame. I don’t play for the approvals. There’s nothing you need to say to me. Just tell me what you need me to do. My love is already here for the game.
Kobe Bryant
ESPN The Magazine
Dear Kobe,
I’d be remised if i didn’t make sure that i made this clear: Justice for Breonna Taylor is more essential than reading this piece.
Fairness in our justice system is something that has been withheld from black people in this society for generations now.
But we can no longer be silent. Make sure to call Mayor Greg Fischer at (502) 574-2003 and demand that John Mattingly, Brett Hankinson, and Myles Cosgrove are relieved of their duties, and charged with negligence and manslaughter. Also, ensure that a special prosecutor come in to investigate the Louisville Police Department in full, including a review for the banning of no-knock warrants. The fight won’t stop. We are resilient and her family’s fight Is our fight. Thanks for reading the Kobe Bible. This is just the beginning…