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The year was 1996 and we were still new to this high school-to-NBA thing. Kevin Garnett had done it the year before and been decent, but he was 6-11 with an even longer wingspan. Bryant was a 6-6 guard with athleticism and those were a dime-a-dozen in the NBA back then.
But it didn’t matter if no one else thought he was ready. Bryant knew and that was all that mattered.
Twenty years later, it’s pretty clear he knew something the rest of the world didn’t.
Bryant’s time in the NBA has been full of drama. Good and bad. He’s been a cocky rookie, reluctant sidekick, a selfish villain who broke up a dynasty, an unforgiving leader, and an old pro who held on a bit too long.
More than almost any other athlete, we’ve seen Kobe Bryant grow from a boy to a man in front of our eyes. He’s come of age as the internet grew from awkward adolescent into what it is today, just like the man himself. His personal and professional life has been under a microscope that even Michael Jordan didn’t have to deal with in his heyday.
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We’ve seen him kissing the NBA championship trophy. We’ve seen him admit infidelity and deny rape. We’ve seen him berate teammates when things were going wrong and hug them when they made him proud. For a whole generation of basketball fans, there is no NBA without Kobe Bryant. He’s all they know. Before Curry. Before LeBron. After Jordan. After Iverson. He is their basketball barometer of greatness. However you view Bryant, you have to admit that he put on one hell of a show for a long time.
So whatever happens Wednesday night when the Jazz come to see Bryant off, everyone should leave the theater feeling like they got their money’s worth out of Kobe Bean Bryant.
