Kobe Bryant - The man who made me fall in love with basketball

Kobe Bryant may well be playing his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers

I will never forget my first contact with basketball. It was 2007, and I had just received a demo copy of NBA LIVE 2003 from a friend of mine. Knowing nothing about the sport, I decided to give the video game a try because I was bored with all the other games I had. It was love at first sight.

I learned the sport via the video game, familiarizing myself with the rules of the sport, the terminologies and the NBA teams and players. For two years, I played just the video game, moving on from LIVE 03 to LIVE 05 and 07. In 2009, I finally picked up the basketball, when a court was built in my school. I never looked back. I represented my school, my undergraduate college and am now the Basketball captain here at IIM Bangalore.

It has been 6 years since I first started playing, and my love for the game is as strong as ever, although my video game preferences have since shifted to 2K.

The only constant that has been with me throughout my journey with Basketball has been a shooting guard named Kobe Bean Bryant. I first met him in the LIVE 03 demo (which only had the Lakers and the Nets). Over the years, I have played as him in video games, have watched him live on TV, have pasted his posters up on my walls and have worn his jersey while converting game-winning jump shots. Kobe Bryant is my idol.

He will always be the one sportsperson that I most admire, not only because of his achievements in the NBA, but also because of his single-minded pursuit of victory at any cost.

The first time I saw Kobe playing live on TV was in the 2009-2010 season. Before that, I had only seen old videos of him, of the highlights that he had performed in the past. But the NBA finals of 2010 left an indelible impact on me. During the season, I learned from the on-court commentary that Kobe had fractured his index finger on his shooting hand in mid-December and had continued to play through the season, refusing to have surgery because he did not want to miss any games.

Instead he chose to change his shooting action, focusing more on releasing with his thumb and middle finger and relying less on his index. Bryant played pretty well too, being named the Western Conference player of the month for December, and finally leading the LA Lakers to the championship victory over the Celtics and winning the Finals MVP (most valuable player). I was dumbfounded.

To play for 6 months with a fractured index finger is no mean feat in itself, but to play so good that you win the finals MVP is simply otherworldly. I realized that there is more to this man than just his highlights and his achievements and decided to do a little research on his past.

Kobe Bryant had never lacked in confidence. His swagger and self-belief carried over to the NBA when he had been drafted straight from his high school at the age of 17. Kobe had ended his first ever season in the NBA by missing (air-balling) 4 crucial shots in the second round of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz which had led to the Lakers being ejected. Here was this kid, the youngest ever to play in the NBA (at the time), taking crucial shots in an elimination game rather than just passing the ball to other established stars on his team like Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaq had commented, years later, that no one else in the team had had the guts to take those shots. Even as a rookie, and as a teenager, Kobe Bryant had the confidence to take the biggest risk on the biggest stage of his life.

Before the feud which forced Shaquille O’Neal to leave the Lakers, the duo of himself and Kobe led the team to 3 straight NBA titles between 2000 and 2002

His career and fame only rose upwards after that rookie year. In his second season, Kobe won a place in the all-star game in 1998-1999 (youngest all-star in NBA history). He went on to win 3 consecutive championships with the Lakers (2000-2002), win the NBA MVP award in 2008, win the championship 2 more times (2009-2010), win the finals MVP in both these years and returned to the all-star game 16 consecutive times after his first appearance (2000-2015), winning 4 All-star MVPs in the process (02,07,09,11). The list of achievements is never ending, and Kobe Bryant will certainly be a first ballot hall of famer when he retires. But even more daunting is Kobe’s psychology.

Apart from the broken index finger incident that I recounted above, Kobe has played through injuries multiple times in his career. It started in his high school, Lower Merion High, when he played with a broken nose for the last two games of the state championship, leading his team to victory.

This mentality of Kobe, of putting victory before anything else, became his trademark in the NBA, known as the “Mamba Mentality” (he gave himself the nickname The Black Mamba after watching Kill Bill). Kobe played through various nagging injuries, big and small, during his first 10 seasons in the NBA. Sprained wrists, sprained ankles, two knee surgeries, elbow injuries, back spasms, nothing could stop the Mamba.

I myself had to deal with a bout of intestinal TB in 2011. It sucked the strength out of me. It took me upwards of 6 months to rehab and get back on the court. I had lost my core strength, my jump, and my explosiveness. I could no longer play in the post. Instead I took a page out of Kobe’s book.

I remembered how he had changed his shooting action to suit his injury. I changed my playing style to suit my constraints. I started shooting from the mid-range, gradually expanding outside the 3-point line. It took time but I guess I did a decent job of it, going on to play for my college.

During that tough time, when it felt as if I would never be able to play at the same level again, Kobe was my inspiration. I constantly watched his performances where he battled through injuries. I read up on accounts of his teammates who stated that the only thing Kobe wanted was to win. Mr. Bryant played a pivotal role in helping me get back to the game I loved.

On April 12th, 2013, Kobe Bryant ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left foot in the 4th quarter of a crucial game against the Warriors. I had been watching that game live on TV. The Lakers had needed a win to qualify for the playoffs and he had brought them back in the game almost singlehandedly. Kobe converted two free throws, standing on one foot, before hobbling out of the game.

The Lakers went on to win the game and qualified for the playoffs. Kobe had surgery on his tendon the next day and was ruled out for the next 6 to 9 months. At the age of 34, Kobe Bryant had finished the 2012-2013 season with averages of 27.3 ppg, 46.3 FG%, 5.6 RPG, 6.0 APG and a torn Achilles. He had eight 40+ points games and eleven 10+ assists games in the season.

He had done whatever it took to win all through the season and before leaving the court with his injury, Kobe made sure that his team would win the game. Mamba Mentality.

Injuries have plagued him ever since, and this time playing through them has been tougher as father time has finally caught up with Kobe. He suffered a lateral tibial plateau fracture in December of the next season, although scoring 21 points in that game, a win over the Grizzlies.

The injury made him miss six weeks and in March he was ruled out for the whole season. He returned in 2014-15, notching up consecutive triple-doubles at the age of 36, before tearing the rotator cuff in his right shoulder in January 2015.

Rehabbing has been tough, especially at the age of 37, but Kobe has not given up. His body may be breaking apart but his will to win is as strong as ever. Kobe has started this season shooting the worst that he ever has in his career.

Still, he continues to try his best to win, anyway that he can. Kobe Bryant may retire after this season, but his legacy will live on. The message that Kobe Bryant puts across is that once you set a goal for yourself, nothing should make you budge from the path of achieving it. Either reach your goal, or die trying. Kobe Bryant will always be my biggest inspiration, in Basketball and in Life.