Kobe Bryant: “I’m a Laker for Life.” Letting that sink in...

[Tony Almeida]

"I bleed Purple and Gold and that’s just how it’s going to be."

55,000+ minutes and counting. 1,500 games and counting.
37,000+ points and counting.
5 championships. One a threepeat, the other a repeat. 7 Finals appearances. 2 FMVP.
1 MVP.
1 81 point game. 1 outscore another team game. 1 month averaging 40+. 1 string of 50+ point games. One (bleep) you to Kobe stoppers and Next Big Thing after another.
One clutch play after another. One fadeaway dagger after another. One game winner after another.
Countless #CountOnKobe virtuoso games and breathtaking “Did he just do that?!” moments.
#8...#24...each legendary careers...both representing vastly different animals yet the same winning beast.
And oh yeah, going back on the court to shoot and make two (bleep) free throws on a (bleep) torn achillies. In the clutch, after playing entire games, to deliver on his promise that the Lakers would make the playoffs.

All this...year after year after year. 20 years to be exact. Enough playoff games to add nearly 3 more years to the total. All for one team. The Lakers.

There are the volume stats, there are individual games and moments, team accomplishments, minutiae like the impeccable footwork and unprecedented skillset, and everything in between. I’m comfortable saying no player has ever given the Lakers franchise more than Kobe Bryant.

Kobe made the seemingly impossible, routine. How many times did we ALL say “alright...come on Kobe...get us this W”. When it came down to it...love him or hate him...every Laker fan’s eyes were glued to Kobe. Practically every important and memorable moment in the past 20 years had Kobe involved somehow...that’s remarkable. We EXPECTED him to impose his will and be the Black Mamba in any and all situations. Shooting like (bleep) all game? Hit the game winner. Busted finger? Win a championship. Busted shoulder? (bleep) it, use your left. Life altering court case? Who gives a (bleep), win the division in the last game of the season. Game 7 on the road? Have no fear, Kobe's here. Spurs Twin Towers? Please, SpursKiller. Shaq out? It’s Kobe Time. Some new posterchild supposedly better than Kobe? (bleep) that guy, Kobe got the better of him.

Literal blood, sweat, and tears. He got everything out of himself with his maniacal workouts and unprecedented work ethic for 20 years. He put everything he had into the game and this franchise. The accomplishments and body of work even for the greatest NBA franchise...unmatched.

Interestingly it seems like the criticism and hate has reached a level we haven’t seen in awhile...except surprisingly some of it’s from our own fanbase. Let’s get this out of the way: Kobe has played like (bleep) to start the season. He has lost so much athleticism, throwing up bricks, little to no impact on defense, and can no longer control the game or have the impact we are accustomed to. But calling for arguably the Greatest Laker of All-Time to retire asap? Holding the team back? Bench him? Going so far as to call him a cancer? (bleep), that’s cringeworthy. Especially because these are the same Laker fans who in the 20 years were always there to harp on that (bleep) that had you rolling your eyes: We could have won with Iverson/TMac/Vince/anyone. He ran Shaq out of town. He’s a coach killer. He’s a bad teammate. If he shot less than 20 times a game the team would win. Kobe led team will never get out of the first round. He quit against the Suns. Well he only wins because of his teammates. So on and so forth. Quiet during the highs, loud as a motorbike during the lows. He’s not immune to criticism, but there are people who in 20 years their primary motivation was dedicated to that. FYI: All those daggers Kobe hit and championships won...it was FOR the Lakers...the team you supposedly rooted for.

Look, the Lakers are the greatest NBA franchise precisely because of individuals like Kobe and Magic. Shaq and Kareem. Wilt and West. Dr. Buss and Chick. Some fool in Chicago said organizations win championships, not players. They’re still waiting on a championship post-Jordan. The arrogant and spoiled attitude of EXPECTING championships? You can thank those individuals for it. Kobe in particular as much as anyone. The losing sucks because we’re used to winning at the highest level. We’re used to Kobe leading us there. Somehow, someway. Now, unfortunately he hasn’t been able to get it together just yet. Maybe Father Time can finally claim the W...but I’m going to give the man who gave 20 years more than 20 days to get it together. Maybe he won’t...that’s ok...he proved his fans right more times than not.

Yeah, I look forward to the next chapter in Laker history...hopefully adding championship banners...but I’m not running the legend out of town or anxious to see him retire just to move on to The Great Unknown. Hell no. MVP chants in the road arenas? Crowds of people lined up and freaking crying when he visits other countries? The guy has been a rockstar and living legend. Of course all great things must come to an end, and so after this season, if he calls it a career, I’m ok with it as he has literally nothing left to give, nor does he owe anything to anyone. However, I’m going to miss the hell out of the guy because we will never quite see another one like him. Celebrating the highs, anguishing in the lows, and everything in between, it’s been one hell of a ride. Pure entertainment, pure joy to watch, pure basketball player. Pure Laker For Life.

[Fracture]

[Lakers95]

What a beautiful post, Tony, and a much needed one after the nauseating barrage of disrespectful posts aimed towards Kobe on here. Thank you!

[Hammett]

I agree. But look at our record the past 3 seasons:

27-55
21-61
1-4

The reality is that the Lakers are the laughingstock of the league and people are pissed. People need to vent.
_________________
Lakers. Built different.

[Tony Anapolis]

[Chronicle]

Before russell was born Kobe was already a laker
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Kobe

[jonnybravo]

Tony with the roundhouse and a hay-maker.

[55]

bravo my friend.

[ReaListik]

[55]

I have one question for all the Laker lovers / Kobe haters:

If you had to do it all over again, would you want Kobe to have played for the Lakers or not? All the good with the bad, including the famous harped about contract, 20 years, 5 championships, history broken time and again, jump out of your seat moments, and everything in between.

It's a simple yes or no question.

[jonnybravo]

[Arbitrary]

[67ShelbyGT]

Volt this!

Great post, TM. Eloquently put. Kobe has no one to answer to. Esp to some spoiled ungrateful fans itching to now push him out after rejoicing all the good times.

Whatever many years he wants to play he's earned every bit of it. Lakers should never allow him to ever touch another jersey. Of course you negotiate a fair contract.

And those "laker" fans that are chomping at the bits for him to retire, those that are kicking a man now that he's down to his last days, a man that gave his all to this city for 20 yrs, to me they are fakest fans of them all. Bandwagon Heat fans are better fans than them. Cavs fans are better than these chicken littles.
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Alltime lineup: Magic | Kobe | MJ | Hakeem | KAJ

[Pidge]

Yeah, he may say that now, but just yesterday, in 2K, he snubbed my contract offer and joined the Charlotte Hornets...
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"I got Wheaties!"

[Megaton]

[Pidge]

It's okay, Pistons traded me Drummond for a resigned Hibbert and a pack of gum, Utah gave me their number one pick (SF @79) for Lou so I've got D'Lo, Jordan, #1, Julius, Drummond as my starting five.

gonig to have to sim all Hornets game though man, because that was cold.
_________________
"I got Wheaties!"

[Dilla_]

Excellent post

[L4L]

Throughout my life, I've had, and will have, exactly one sports "hero": Kobe Bean Bryant.

My mother raised me to value two traits above all others -- happiness and kindness. Most wealth, beauty, talent and intelligence, among other coveted qualities, are primarily a matter of good fortune. Whether that fortune be genetic or environmental in nature is irrelevant. Happiness and kindness on the other hand are a direct reflection of your character. You either make the choice or you do not.

As I've grown older, I've found those particular choices increasingly difficult to make and, at times, subject to the seeming whims of my neurobiology. However, a third quality, a quality I've come to value above all others, has always been my friend when no other friends could be found: work ethic. If I couldn't be happy or kind in a particular moment, at least I could work towards being so.

Twenty years into one of the greatest careers in the history of sports, Bryant appears to have finally lost the war against father time. Finally, after twenty years, the detractors have legitimate ammo to fire. Finally, after twenty years, Kobe really is shooting too much. Finally, after twenty years the "ball hog" is shooting his way out of the league.

However, as far as I'm concerned, this final chapter is every bit as inspiring as the rest of the book. I fear history will remember Bryant as yet another spectacular athlete with damning moral flaws. While the public at large focuses on adultery and semi-narcissistic tendencies, I see something else entirely -- perhaps the hardest working individual in any field that I've ever studied.

For twenty years, Bryant has slept 3-4 hours per night and trained to be at his peak basketball ability 12-14 hours per day. Through being drafted directly out of high school at eighteen years of age, through rape allegations, through the Shaq era, through the post Shaq era, from Bynum to Pau, and from a torn Achilles to his twentieth year in the league, Bryant has worked every single day with a single-minded determination that is unmatched in virtually any other field with similar publicity and international implications. Only someone who has put in an 80-100 hour work week in service of their life's primary ambition can truly comprehend the gravity of that level of commitment. Over the course of two decades, against every obstacle possible, ranging from opponents to biology itself, that work ethic has never wavered.

Perhaps there have been more successful, more talented and greater athletes than Bryant. That's not a particularly difficult case to argue. However, that's never what made those of us who admire Kobe feel the way we do in the first place. This comes down to work ethic. As far as basketball is concerned, nobody has out worked Bryant in the past twenty years. That spirit carries beyond the court.

As will all basketball fans, I will remember the five championships, the 81 point game, the four straight games of 50+ points, the ten straight games over 40 points, and the never-ending highlight reel of surreal athletic supremacy. However, above all else, I'll remember the tales of an 18 year old who watched game tape on prom night, the 21 year old who would rather practice more than go clubbing with teammates, the player who started taking jumpers before the lights even went on at the Forum, the man who hit the gym three times a day to add strength and size, and the player who calmly sank two free throws with a torn Achilles.

I'm not one to idolize another human being. In the end, we are all fallible. Nonetheless, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find that level of commitment and work ethic inspirational. I remember waking up with roaches, I remember having crackheads for neighbors, and I remember my own 100+ hour weeks. The level of respect I hold for someone who has done that for twenty years in the service of exactly one cause is... immeasurable. The amount of gratitude I have for being exposed to even one individual who proved it was possible is... infinite.

I'm really too old at this point of my life to ever have another hero. Ball hog? Selfish? Chucker? It doesn't matter. It never did. It stopped being about basketball a long time ago. I'll do the same as I've always done: enjoy the privilege of watching manifest greatness for at least one last year.

In perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay to Bryant, his career, which is easily amongst the ten greatest to ever play his sport, pails in comparison to his discipline, dedication, and determination. Kobe is the hardest worker I've ever known of.

Results be damned, Kobe will always be my favorite athlete and the only sports "hero" I will ever have.

#24

[DrumR]

very very well articulated. Can we sticky and lock this before the trolls come in with the "what have you done for us lately" narrative to ruin yet another thread. Wish you posted more Tony or I had access to the rumored "hidden forum here" I've been lurking since the early 2000s and this new tone in here is so depressing sometimes. I think Laker fans often forget sports are supposed to be about entertainment and legacy imo.

[drzucchini]

[DrumR]

[SGV-Laker fan]

[Purp 32]

Great thread. The man was a rookie while I was in middle school, and now 20 years later, I'm a 31 year old man. It's going to feel empty not having Kobe around each year to watch at least 81 nights a year. Enjoy it while we have it because it's almost gone.

[briedfox]

[DrumR]