From prodigy to villain to icon: The unpredictability of Kobe Bryant’s legendary life and career
It is impossible to put into words how much impact Kobe Bryant had on a generation of NBA players, sports fans, a city and the world.
He, in some ways, is the NBA’s pop culture icon that bridged between the Michael Jordan/Shaquille O’Neal era and LeBron James.
From starring on UPN’s “Moesha” as Brandy’s love interest to real-life prom date, Kobe’s squeaky clean image was more “Saved By The Bell” in a “Beverly Hills 90210” world. It was seen as fake, manufactured and not genuine. Here was the NBA’s “Golden Boy” playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and taking a pop star to her prom.
Bryant, who died along with his daughter Gianna and seven others Sunday in a helicopter crash in California, turned those skeptics into believers with three NBA titles and a plethora of memories that made him and Shaq a legendary pairing.
In unpredictable fashion, the bloom came off the rose shortly after the Lakers third-straight NBA title.
In July of 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault while in Colorado. That moment and the months of court appearances during the 2003-04 season saw the once squeaky clean image of Bryant quickly washed away.
Things continued to trend down for Bryant when the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals in stunning fashion to the Detroit Pistons. His up and down relationship with Shaq would see it’s climax shortly after as Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004.
The Colorado aftermath, mixed with his seemingly cunning and skillful plan to get Shaq out of Los Angeles, turned Bryant into the type of villain that the NBA had never seen before.
Booed in every arena when he touched the ball, a virtual pariah in his prime when he should have been celebrated by fans and peers alike. Even in his own city, he had managed to turn those cheers to jeers.
Kobe’s run from 2004-2008 saw him average 30.7 points per game in that four-year span, record an 81-point game vs. the Toronto Raptors and win MVP in 2008.
Yet, for all his on-court success, he lacked a title that he could call his own. He was seen as the bad guy compared to the new good guy on the block, LeBron James. While Michael Jordan never gave us a true passing of the torch moment with Bryant, the latter did in some ways give us this as he and James were the faces of a USA Basketball revival in 2008.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the “The Redeem Team” gave Bryant a chance to shine on an international stage like never before. In a way, it was like watching the basketball world welcome back Kobe with open arms, and that embrace paid off with a gold medal.
Once arguably the most hated athlete who in back to back summers of 2003 and 2004 saw his name dragged through the mud, he was now draped in the American flag with a gold medal around this neck.
Kobe had his gold, yet he hadn’t done the one thing he had set out to do since the summer of 2004. That was to win an NBA title on his own, no “superstar” help. In back-to-back seasons he accomplished just that with wins in 2009 and 2010 over the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics, bringing his title collection to five.
If you had sensed this moment back in the early part of the 2010s, you would have figured that Bryant was poised to either tie or pass Michael Jordan as the modern game’s ultimate measuring stick of excellence.
Yet it was the unpredictable challenge, something Bryant has faced before showed up once again.
The failed experiments with Dwight Howard and Steve Nash helped set the Lakers back and then the shocking moment when an Achilles injury stunned the basketball world. The toughness and unflappable vibe of Bryant emerged again.
The man stepped to the line in the middle of an intense ballgame and nailed free throws when that type of injury renders 99.9 percent of the human population useless. Kobe was just wired differently.
Returning from injury, Bryant was clearly not the same.
The Lakers struggled to capture the magic from a few years earlier. It was tough watching Kobe attempt to use that same drive and tenacity that we saw from him as a young player to a group of Lakers that either didn’t understand the Mamba or just weren’t ready to make that leap. In his final few seasons, Kobe was essentially the dad driving a car full of rambunctious kids.
It was almost adorable to see him around a new generation of players, and he didn’t change his style for anybody or anything. It was that type of attitude that further endeared him to us as fans. In Kobe’s final season, he was rightfully showered with love and praise for being the basketball icon that he is.
Yet, it didn’t feel like we’d got THAT moment. The moment that made you drop expletives and go nuts. Well, as fate would have it. Kobe’s final game at Staples Center was one for the books. A 50-shot attempt, 60-point performance was unpredictable yet when we look back we should’ve almost expected something like that to cap off a career that was unpredictable.
As he transitioned into retirement, things were going so well for him. He had won an Oscar, he made peace with Shaq, and surprisingly became a champion of women’s basketball thanks to his daughter Gianna.
You could just see his passing of the torch to his second-oldest daughter, their attendance at many NBA games. His deep investment into the Mamba Academy basketball team that she played on. Everything was right there, we could all see it down the road.
That is what makes this so tough and difficult, we should be seeing him accept his spot into the International Basketball Hall of Fame this year. We should be seeing him walk his daughters down the aisle at their weddings.
Yet, we don’t get to see that. At age 41, the budding post-NBA career of Kobe Bryant was unpredictability taken away from his family, friends, and fans.
It’s a crushing and devastating blow to know the moments where we further elevate and embrace Bryant as one of the game’s icons, it’s now going to be done when he and his daughter are not around to see it.
Kobe Bryant’s career accomplishments
18x NBA All-Star
15x All-NBA Team
12x All-NBA Defense
5x NBA World Champion
4x All-Star Game MVP
2x NBA Scoring Champion
2x NBA Finals MVP
2x Olympic Gold Medalist (2008, 2012)
This story was originally published January 26, 2020 at 10:17 PM.
