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Kobe Bryant, the player most compared in NBA history to Michael Jordan, should be emulated. The most technically sound athlete possibly ever is one to mimic, if not only for his approach to the game.
When Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others perished in a helicopter crash in January of 2020, the reflection began of Kobe Bryant's legacy, as well as his on-court performance. In the aftermath of his death, and as great as Kobe Bryant was, where are the clones?
Why should players emulate Kobe Bryant?
Kobe Bryant moved as if he had created basketball. It wasn't just the tremendous athleticism that got him by, it was the nuances of the game; the game itself; and the history of the game that Kobe made sure he represented more than anything. It appears players may think because Kobe took a lot of Michael Jordan's game, his game isn't something to study, and that couldn't be further from the truth. If it wasn't for Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant studied Magic Johnson, and it was his love of Magic that eventually made him a legendary member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He not only wished it into existence, but made sure it was so. That's a fire to emulate. Kobe's fire to become the best, and his will to win is iconic, and that he managed to become the closest since Michael Jordan, is nothing easy to analyze. He simply became a more streamlined Michael Jordan as Michael Jordan became a more efficient Julius Erving. It's just what time does, and that the game evolves to sustain itself is a beautiful thing. Kobe is a best representative of the game's evolution, and younger players should understand or try to understand Kobe's process to become as great as he could ever become.
The culture
His turnaround jumper was taken from Spencer Haywood; his spin move was Earl the Pearl Monroe's. The floor was his grid; the basket his culmination. The fans were his smile; the arena his toolbox. He wanted the game to remain tough, and that toughness some see as a missing piece in the game today. If a focus is on toughness, before Kobe entered the arena, his opposition was already on notice because of Kobe Bryant's sense of toughness was embedded. It was tempered; it was acquired from whatever failure one assumes he's had. Kobe Bryant says failure does not exist. Think of it as a baseball player looking past the fences and then becoming more successful hitting home runs. If failure does not exist, neither will the anxiety that comes with the perception of failure. That's the culture. The ascending of the culture so that the future smooths the game into the next generation. It's the bags you see at the court against the gates surrounding the courts in your town. It's the basketball. It is the love of the game, and it definitely is the respect of the game. It's the sound of the game; the fans watching; the eyes of those fans; the eyes that created the game.
The work
Allen Iverson tells a story often of Kobe Bryant's dedication to the game:
“What you getting up to later?”
“I’m going to the club.”
“I’m going back to the gym.”
That dedication is a microcosm of who Kobe Bryant was and should be to the game and its future. That dedication in him was burned in him. There was no quit in Kobe; and there definitely was no slack. Kobe Bryant always made sure he stayed in the moment, and when he told me such before USA Basketball left for Beijing in 2008, it changed my perspective on things. I was always looking to protect the future, yet Kobe says to stick to the present.
Where are the clones?
When a player has something in him to become a legendary figure in the game, you'd think time would show that legend as an example to grow the game. Was Kobe too good and too strong of a character for players of today to follow his template? A template that factors in so much information that may be too difficult for some players to digest? Michael Jordan gave Kobe lessons. Hopefully one day, we'll be privy to those lessons more thoroughly. Think of Barry Bonds' timing mechanism, Mike Tyson's ferocity, Simone Biles' excellence; LeBron James' dedication to staying on the floor. That all was Kobe, and while it's a choice for the next generation to imitate the greatness showing and proving previously, it really would make sense if players got in the gym and looked at the game through the eyes of Kobe Bryant.
Let's hope that happens somewhere in the not too distant future. If it does, some kid not yet born will pick up the Magic and emulate the one called Bean.
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
