Kobe Bryant: Legacy of greatness

“Kobe Bryant is retiring”, “Kobe Bryant will retire in the end of 2015-2016 season”, etc… I bet you will see one of these headlines no matter what social medias you are on. Yes, this news shocked the world especially the fans of the purple and gold warrior with number 24 jersey, Kobe Bryant. After 20 season with the Lakers, Kobe decided to end his journey. As a fan of number 24, I’m truly sad but also happy for him.

Even though, he stops his journey but his legacy continue to pass on. He left so much thing behind whether it is on-court or off-court. This blog i will focus on 1 thing: Kobe Bryant, The Black Mamba

August 23, 1978 was the day that one of the greatest was born. In his early life in Lower Merion High School, he was a dominant scorer. With a high SAT score, he decided to go straight to NBA. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornet and then was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, this is where legend started.

Kobe has such career with the Lakers and he is pretty loyal to his team the Lakers . He is only player that has most season played with one franchise for 20 years. He carried the team and won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2003. Did I mention that he was the youngest NBA player to win the Slam Dunk contest?

Kobe’s career was derailed when a woman sued him for sexual harassment while he was in Denver for a knee surgery. His reputation went down, McDonald’s dropped his endorsement contract and he had to pull out the 2003 Olympic. The case was dropped after the victim refused to testify anf Kobe issued public apology her.

A problem can’t hold the legend down forever. January 22, 2006, Kobe made history. Lakers matched up with Toronto Raptor and Kobe dropped 81 POINTS to beat the Raptors. 81 POINTS, this is the second highest score after Wilt Chamberlain 100 points in 1962. The streak goes on, Kobe helped the Lakers to reach two more consecutive championship in 2009- 2010 on his own without Shaquille.

The Championship in 2010 is the final glory moment of Kobe because the star started to lose its light. Age is a huge problem, no matter how great Kobe is, he is still a human. After the Achilles Torn in 2012-2013 season, his career started to go down hill. He was out for for the season but when he came back the Lakers aren’t the same anymore, so is he. His stats became faltering: 22.3 ppg, 5.6 apg. Till now, nothing much have changed since last year, this is a sign for a legend to turn his page.

Beside a successful career, he also has a great signature shoe line, just like Michael Jordan. Before received a contract with Nike, Kobe had a history with Adidas, but soon he stopped the contract. Kobe became a free agent in the next season, which means he has a variety of options of shoes to wear while playing. After signing a contract with Nike, he did not have a official signature shoe right away instead he had to wear the Nike Huarache to play. He had to wait until the third season with Nike to have his signature shoe.

There are a lot of excuses for us to make when we want to skip works or schools just to watch him play, this is not recommended. I, personally, it’s excited for me to watch him play even if he is in his prime or not. There is something can’t be explained by words. The way he shoots, how he runs the team and even his air-balls are fun to watch too. Recently, when he announced his retirement, the crowd went wild wherever he comes. The crowd yelling, even though I just watched through TV but those cheering buzzed through my ears.

Kobe, number 24, Black Mamba,etc… He has a lot of names to be called and to be remembered. He has contributed a lot to the NBA, basketball won’t be the same without his mentality. What comes will come, it has been a long journey for a warrior who fight with all his will and power. Now, he deserves to take a rest and clear the path for younger generations to raise.