“The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win.” – Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant is now a household name in the NBA for all that his achievements in the league. However, he had to do tremendous work to elevate his name to this position. Despite being an amazing talent from a young age, Kobe never rested on his laurels. He was so dedicated to his craft that he became known for his work ethic.

His father, Joe Bryant, also played basketball in the NBA. Kobe started to play the game when he was as young as 3 years old. Three years later, he had to move to Italy since his father retired from the NBA and went to play in the Italian league.

A different country, a different language, and a different culture. A young Kobe adapted to this new reality and even became fluent in Italian. At 13, he moved back to the USA, because Joe had retired. Although he had lived there before, it was still a big change.

He went into Lower Merion High School. He became the first freshman to start for his high school team in decades. This first season was a bad one for the team. In the following years, Kobe started making waves with great performances. Thus, he attracted the attention of various universities, including North Carolina, Michigan and Duke.

In his senior year of high school, Bryant led his team to their first state championship in 53 years. After this final year, he became the all-time-leading scorer of Southeastern Pennsylvania, leaving behind Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. Many awards came his way. And so did attention, both from the NBA and the universities.

Kobe had good grades, which, together with his basketball skills, would help him get in any university. Nonetheless, he went straight into the NBA. This made him only the sixth player ever to go along this path. Hence, the news spread around, and the pressure was on him to perform.

In the first season, Bryant had highs and lows. Rarely did he started the games due to the Lakers having more experienced players in his position. However, when he stepped on the court, he would impress everyone with his skills.

In the playoffs, the Lakers played the Utah Jazz for a place in the Western Conference final. At the end of game 5, Kobe shot four air balls in the decisive minutes of the game. Hence, the Jazz beat the Los Angeles team. While most would dwell on missing crucial shots, Kobe analysed the situation rationally and learned what he could do better next time. No wonder why he told Shaquille O’Neal he wanted to be better than Michael Jordan right at the beginning of his NBA journey. He definitely had the discipline to back up his ambition.

Bryant had more minutes, hence more opportunities to showcase his performance on his second season. He doubled his average points per game of the first season and became the youngest NBA All-Star starter. Comparisons between him and Michael Jordan started to come up.

For the 1998/99 season, he had to make a stand. Starting guards were traded, so he had to be a starter for the Lakers. He grabbed his place with both hands, doing a very good season scoring practically 20 points per game on average (compared to his 15.4 in 97/98).

Phil Jackson enters the Lakers. This coach had just won 6 championships in 8 seasons with the Chicago Bulls. Quite an achievement for a team which had never won it before. Jackson transferred his methods to the Los Angeles team successfully. In his first three seasons with the Lakers, he won three championships. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were his main “weapons”.

Despite being the stars of the show they never really got along that well. Since they joined the team together these two big personalities were shocking. O’Neal, the huge dominant player did not like it when Kobe would not pass him the ball. Kobe, the hardest worker in the game did not like to share his boat with people who lacked commitment.

Bryant had to struggle through the next few years due to different reasons. In 2003 he was arrested for sexual assault. Hence, in that season (2003/04) he had to miss some games and travel back and forth to those he could go. His relationships with both Shaquille and Phil Jackson kept deteriorating. So much so, these two figures left the team by the end of that season.

Jackson came back to the Lakers in 2005. In the next two seasons, Kobe Bryant was the leading scorer of the NBA. Unfortunately, he could not turn these performances into titles. However, he was developing his status as a great basketball player.

Between 2008 and 2012, Kobe Bryant achieved two gold medals in the Olympics and two titles in the NBA (2009 and 2010). He was also considered the Most Valuable Player of the NBA in 2008. These two NBA titles were important in the sense of making people understand he could win them without Shaquille O’Neal.

If this is not impressive enough, in the championship run in 2010, Kobe played with a broken index finger on his shooting hand. He had to re-craft his shooting motion around his injury. I can understand why this fact can be overlooked… his statistics were not much different from his standard impressive performances.

Although from many standpoints Michael Jordan beats Kobe Bryant (number of championships, average points per game, era domination), Kobe is one of the very few who can be compared to Jordan. Bryant will always be considered one of the greatest of all time. And he will always be known for his insane work ethic. There are countless stories from his peers and coaches which prove he always outworks his competition.

Injuries did not matter for someone with Kobe’s competitiveness. He shot two free throws against the Warriors after he tore his Achilles heel. Bryant was plagued with injuries in his last seasons. He still did not give up and continued to put in amazing performances.

Adding to his very successful basketball career, Kobe won an Oscar for the best animated short film. Furthermore, he is an investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He even wrote his own book. Not bad, considering he retired just three years ago.

In conclusion, Kobe Bryant was far from the most talented basketball player, but his grit, determination and fierce competitiveness pushed him to become one of the best ever. His attitude is definitely exemplary for anyone who wishes to succeed in any field.

Unfortunately, Kobe just passed away in a helicopter accident on January 26th, 2020. As he passed away, not just the NBA or the sports environment, but also the entire world mourned him. A legend was gone too soon.