He played virtually the entire following season but once more struggled, with a career-low .358 shooting proportion while averaging 17.6 points per sport, and he retired following the last regular-season recreation of the 2015–16 season. The Lakers in 2012–13 acquired center Dwight Howard and point guard Steve Nash. On November 2, 2012, Bryant scored forty points with two steals, and he handed Magic Johnson because the Lakers career chief in steals. However, the Lakers misplaced the sport to the Clippers and started the season 0–3 for the first time in 34 years and simply the fourth time in franchise history. After starting the season 1–4, coach Mike Brown was fired.

Some individuals do it off the dribble, Kobe’s doing it with his ft. He’s stepping round you, or putting you ready the place you’re hopping within the air. One of my favorite Kobe moments got here again after I was with the Bulls. It was late in the sport, and he was out by the three-point line with Eddie Robinson guarding him. He up-faked, took one dribble, then did this pirouette that was simply sick before making the jumper. On February 15, NBA commissioner Adam Silver introduced that the All-Star Game MVP Award could be renamed to the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player in Bryant's honor.

People think of Kobe for all that skillful basketball stuff, but not for the reality that, if you stepped as much as him, he’d battle again. Or if you clubbed him or hit him, he’d make you pay. That’s ’cause Mamba would literally take your head off to win the sport, man. There’s a lot of trash talking on the court, but nobody ever stated shit to Kobe. When they rolled the ball out at follow, there was no need for him to warm up. He would go at guys so exhausting in follow that I began to think to myself, Okay, this guy is basically attempting to be MJ.

While making the All-NBA Defensive Team once more, Bryant was also named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. The Lakers won fifty eight video games that year and finished second within the Pacific Division behind in-state rival Sacramento Kings. Bryant was suspended one game after he punched Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers after the Lakers' March 1, 2002 victory over the Pacers. Bryant debuted in the Summer Pro League in Long Beach, California, scoring 25 factors in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

He performed in the first 27 video games of the season, averaging team-highs with 26.four points and 35.four minutes per recreation whereas leading the league with 22.four photographs per sport. However, Scott held him out for three straight games to relaxation after one of his worst performances of the season, when Bryant committed 9 turnovers and scored 25 points on just 8-for-30 taking pictures in a 108–101 loss to Sacramento. He was affected by soreness in his knees, toes, back, and Achilles tendons, and Scott planned to reduce back his workload going ahead.

He purchased into the all-consuming nature of rehab that Grover particulars in his book. He chose to embrace any surrounding negativity—about his damage, his future contract, and even his own self-doubts—and used it as gasoline. It was pure to feel indignant about what had happened to him on the field that October day, and Bryant’s writing taught him to channel that emotion into something productive. For many, it can be simpler to conjure confidence by borrowing the arrogance we see in others. Think of Steph Curry listening to a Drake song earlier than a sport, then Drake watching that sport and being inspired to write down a lyric about Steph Curry.

This was August, solely months removed from The Benching—when Nick Saban swapped Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the nationwide championship game. Kobe’s message was supposed to resonate with both, with all. That Diggins-Smith refers to Kobe Bryant the identical as the rest of the world, by his first name, no additional identifiers needed, speaks to his impression, its depth. Nor will she overlook Jan. 26, 2020, a Sunday, the worst day, when Bryant; his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; and seven others died in a helicopter crash. It took Diggins-Smith years to know, let alone explain, the importance.

The life they led — part fairy story and half prolonged family drama — would explode in the summer of 2003 when Bryant, visiting Colorado to rehab from a knee surgical procedure, was accused of raping a 19-year-old resort employee. Bryant’s curious background might also have set him aside from different gamers who grew up under very different circumstances. He was recognized to maintain to himself on the staff bus, listening to music or talking on the phone. Some teammates thought of him as distant and even aloof.