Karl-Anthony Towns wasn’t even a year old when Bryant made his National Basketball Association debut – and quipped that he doesn’t remember much of it. But he said he’s glad for the chance to play against him during Bryant’s final lap. While this contract is bad enough by itself, Bryant has managed to somehow push free agents away from Los Angeles with astonishing ease and damage the development of the Lakers’ most exciting young players.
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There’s another player who does that and thinks that now, and all you have to do is watch Curry warm up these days to believe him; maybe Kobe does, too. Now.
After gushing about Kobe Bryant’s talent, work ethic and injury threshold, Lakers coach Byron Scott boldly predicted there will never be another player who could emulate him. “Me and some of the other players I’ve grown up watching have had those types of conversations before, and I’ve always taken pride in being a throwback”. He will be paid $25 million making him this year’s highest paid player in the National Basketball Association. “He plays the game the right way”.
Adding Lou Williams to the starting lineup is slightly more of a head-scratcher until one zooms out to take a look at Williams in the long view.
The number “24” is, of course, Bryant’s jersey number, at least since the 2006-07 season, before which he wore No. 8 for the Lakers. The Lakers are now less than that, and so is Bryant.
I’m guessing Bryant said those same things to Wilkins, as the proud old-timer wiped moisture from his eyes. The Lakers dropped into mediocrity in the mid-2000s, and the controversy surrounding their superstar was not helpful to the team’s reputation. Fans of the once-great shooting guard will point to five championships, numerous scoring titles and an infamous 81-point romp against the Toronto Raptors as part of their memories of the Lakers great, but these past triumphs do little to assuage the damage Bryant has done to the organization over the past three years. Kobe Bryant has announced his retirement at the end of this season. There is no intelligent conversation about basketball greats that does not involve Bryant. Bryant has been voted to the All-Star game 17 times, All-Defense Team 12 times, All-NBA Team 15 times and one MVP award. Babies had been conceived and born since they had one in the win column.
Just listen to what Bryant said was his greatest accomplishment, and it has nothing to do with numbers or accolades.
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“His shooting form was always so handsome and cool”, he said. Better yet, he dribbled during the hoops generation of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, when every game was a war in sneakers. “We want Kobe! I was like give me five minutes.”.
