Kobe Bryant: From ashes to ashes

Bryant put shot after shot through the net in crunch time to never leave a doubt in anyone’s mind that writing him off at the end of the game can be the worst mistake you can make. It didn’t matter how strong the defense was on him or how difficult the shot was, Bryant had to take it. How else would he get rid of the ghost of Jordan he had on his back since the beginning of his career?

Sometimes, amid the throng of all the basketball being played, we tend to forget the dedication, the sacrifice it takes to still be impactful in an NBA game. Watching Kobe transform has been one of those moments when you sit back and comprehend the enormity of it all, not without some semblance of admiration seeping in.

Whether you are a fan or not, some things are undeniable. The arc that Kobe’s career has taken, he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone at this point. He doesn’t care what the perception of his words are to the general public, guessing from how he ripped into Smush Parker and his big boy pants comments to Pau Gasol.

When Bryant tore his Achilles at the age of almost 35, few people thought he could make a recovery. On the advent of his comeback, the Lakers put up a video with Bryant’s jersey in the forefront and rain, snow and wind smattering it. The video, although a little bit over the top, had a clear message – endurance.

Kobe Bryant has endured everything that a player possibly can over the tenure of an NBA career. He has been the one constant in the ever evolving list of NBA debates – Kobe vs. Tracy Mcgrady, Kobe vs. Allen Iverson, Kobe vs. Steve Nash, Kobe vs. Vince Carter and Kobe vs. LeBron James. This is probably the greatest testimony to his illustrious career. Not the championships, not the rings, not the clutch play, but the simple fact that Kobe Bryant has stood steadfast among every player debate that has occurred during the time he has played at a superstar level.

The physical limitations have set in, he can no longer jump that high or be as effective on both ends of the floor as he could be when he was say, 28, but that has not dimmed the fire, and therein lies one of his biggest strengths – the ability to adapt. Averaging 27 points at the age of 34 is a marvellous feat, but we’ve become accustomed to Bryant defying the odds. That’s what makes him so watchable, so great.

The will power to not give up, playing through the pain of a broken nose, a broken shooting finger, a broken leg, a torn Achilles tendon, taking cortisone injections on the ruptured ligament on his wrist, just so he could go out and play and help his team; limitation is not a word anyone has ever associated with Kobe Bryant, because he has, throughout his career never let a single thing get in the way in his quest of becoming the greatest of all time.

In 2005, before his two subsequent championships, Kobe told ESPN columnist JA Adande, “I hope, one day, people will look back at my career and see everything that I’ve been through, everything that my fans have been through … and I just stayed steady. I didn’t wig out. I just stayed steady, I stayed professional.”

“And at the end of the day, when it’s my last year, people can look back and say, ‘You know what? He had a hell of a career; he was a hell of a basketball player, a hell of a person.’ And then they’ll appreciate all the years prior, too.”

He has not retired. He is on the books for two more seasons, but admittedly as soon as Bryant retires the NBA will be 25% less interesting. For the first time in his career, his performance will not be evaluated on the performances of his peers. He is past that phase of his career. Now the only measuring stick to Kobe’s performance on the court is well, Kobe Bryant himself.

Time will pass and the images of Bryant’s jutting jaw, the walk to the bench with swagger, the game winners will all fade. Maybe he will go at the right time. The current version of the NBA does not match with Bryant’s mentality and his views of the game; he’s never been analytical, never kept a count of his shots, never tried to maintain an efficiency level like the current NBA players. He wanted to win, whether it came by virtue of him putting up 40 shots a game or 4. Maybe he will nail his retirement like Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan, who retired at the perfect time only to make a comeback and mess it up. Maybe he will continue stubbornly till he realizes his physical limitations are too much of a detriment to the image he has of himself in his mind.

Whatever be the case, Kobe Bryant in a few years will be a sure-fire Hall of Famer, one of the greatest players to have ever played the game of basketball, one of the only players to ever draw comparisons with Michael Jordan at the shooting guard position, and his jersey will join the jerseys of the players in the rafters of Staples Center, his number 24 retired just like all the legends prior to him. Legends he grew up idolizing.

When it is over, which will be sooner rather than later, when he dons the Lakers jersey for the last time, laces his sneakers up and walks out on the court, the greatest rush for all his die-hard fans will not be the anticipation of another clutch shot by the crunch-time maestro, it won’t be one of those customary pull up jumpers he has hit on the face of almost every player in the league, but it will be when amid all the emotion the announcer’s voice booms in Staples Center calling, for the final time:

“And the other guard, 6-6, from Lower Merion High School Kobe Bryant.”