A Tribute to Kobe Bryant on the Day That He Would Have Been 47 Years Old

Photo: Kobe Bryant early in his career. Photo credit: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images.

Cover photo: Kobe Bryant dribbling the ball up the court on February 11, 2011 in a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Photo credit: John Angelillo, UPI.

On May 12, 1997, Kobe Bryant shot four air balls in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz. The final errant attempt came with 5.7 seconds remaining and the Lakers down 96-93. Bryant was 18 years old, a rookie, bald headed. The afro hadn’t arrived yet. 

But it soon would, and Bryant would establish himself as one of the best players in the sport and then eventually, the best. 

From 2000-2002, Bryant along with Shaquille O'Neal led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive championships. Since Bill Russell's Boston Celtics, only the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s and the Kobe and Shaq Lakers have three-peated. O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004, and Bryant would officially take the reins as the Lakers' cornerstone.

In a span of twelve seasons, the first three of which Bryant shared both the spotlight and shot attempts with O'Neal, he secured top five Most Valuable Player finishes in eleven of them, including winning the award in 2008. 

Season	Pos	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	Awards
2001-02	SG	80	80	38.3	9.4	20.0	.469	0.4	1.7	.250	6.1	7.4	.829	5.5	5.5	1.5	0.4	25.2	MVP-5,DPOY-3,AS,NBA1,DEF2
2002-03	SG	82	82	41.5	10.6	23.5	.451	1.5	4.0	.383	7.3	8.7	.843	6.9	5.9	2.2	0.8	30.0	MVP-3,DPOY-8,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2003-04	SG	65	64	37.6	7.9	18.1	.438	1.1	3.3	.327	7.0	8.2	.852	5.5	5.1	1.7	0.4	24.0	MVP-5,DPOY-10,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2004-05	SG	66	66	40.7	8.7	20.1	.433	2.0	5.9	.339	8.2	10.1	.816	5.9	6.0	1.3	0.8	27.6	AS,NBA3
2005-06	SG	80	80	41.0	12.2	27.2	.450	2.3	6.5	.347	8.7	10.2	.850	5.3	4.5	1.8	0.4	35.4	MVP-4,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2006-07	SG	77	77	40.8	10.6	22.8	.463	1.8	5.2	.344	8.7	10.0	.868	5.7	5.4	1.4	0.5	31.6	MVP-3,DPOY-24,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2007-08	SG	82	82	38.9	9.5	20.6	.459	1.8	5.1	.361	7.6	9.0	.840	6.3	5.4	1.8	0.5	28.3	MVP-1,DPOY-5,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2008-09	SG	82	82	36.1	9.8	20.9	.467	1.4	4.1	.351	5.9	6.9	.856	5.2	4.9	1.5	0.5	26.8	MVP-2,DPOY-7,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2009-10	SG	73	73	38.8	9.8	21.5	.456	1.4	4.1	.329	6.0	7.4	.811	5.4	5.0	1.5	0.3	27.0	MVP-3,DPOY-12,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2010-11	SG	82	82	33.9	9.0	20.0	.451	1.4	4.3	.323	5.9	7.1	.828	5.1	4.7	1.2	0.1	25.3	MVP-4,DPOY-11,AS,NBA1,DEF1
2011-12	SG	58	58	38.5	9.9	23.0	.430	1.5	4.9	.303	6.6	7.8	.845	5.4	4.6	1.2	0.3	27.9	MVP-4,AS,NBA1,DEF2
2012-13	SG	78	78	38.6	9.5	20.4	.463	1.7	5.2	.324	6.7	8.0	.839	5.6	6.0	1.4	0.3	27.3	MVP-5,AS,NBA1

Above: Kobe Bryant's stats from the 2001-02 season to the 2012-13 season, all seasons in which he finished top five in MVP voting. Table courtesy: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html

So, that's eleven times All-NBA 1st team and eight times All-NBA Defensive 1st team in twelve seasons. Bryant's 35.4 points per game in '05-'06 was the highest average since Michael Jordan's 37.1 in 1986-87.

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When I got the distressing news about Bryant on January 26, 2020, I texted and called my friend, who grew up idolizing Kobe. My friend studied Kobe’s every move and followed his example. Loved him. As my basketball role model was MJ, my friend's basketball role model was Kobe.

That same friend was the one I called in the third quarter of Bryant's 81-point performance against the Raptors on January 22, 2006. When he picked up, after I asked if he was sleeping, I said to him, “Bro, turn on the game right now. Kobe has 60 and it's the third quarter". Kobe was crushing the Raptors. He was in the rarest of zones, hitting from anywhere and over anyone. My friend and I were 15 years old and had school the next day. The game was on the west coast in LA. No matter. My friend watched the rest as did I. 

For a generation that was just old enough to remember the NBA one year removed from Michael Jordan, since 1999, Kobe Bryant was our MJ. The NBA standard.

Beyond the accolades, of which every hoop fanatic is aware, is the shining example that Kobe gave. Work hard on your craft. Never accept defeat. Fear no opponent. Always give your best. Eerily similar to MJ, but our version. He welcomed the pressure of big moments, and was the guy who took that “next MJ” label. Relentlessness, an iron will, and all the skill in the world to go with it. 

Bryant was Philly born, but spent eight years of his youth in Italy, where his father, the late Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, had played after time with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets. You could tell that growing up overseas impacted Kobe. He spoke numerous languages, and also had interests outside of basketball. He won an Oscar in 2018 for his short film Dear Basketball, and had published children’s books. He was an intellectual. A student of the game. 

In the latter stages of his adolescence (he was drafted at age 17) and into his adult life, Kobe represented Los Angeles. For twenty seasons, he was the Lakers. For an entire generation of players, the ones that you see on NBA television today, Kobe was the model. 

I watched Kobe play twice in person, in 2012 against the Toronto Raptors, and in his final game in Boston in December of 2015. In that Raptor game on February 12, 2012, he gave James Johnson trouble - 27 points, 94-92 Lakers. In that final game in Boston on December 30, 2015, what sticks out is the admiration and love he received that night from the Celtic (Celtic!) crowd. Fans of the team whose heart Kobe broke in the 2010 Finals, fans of the team that opposed and continue to oppose the Lakers to complete one half of the league's greatest rivalry, were cheering him. 

A sign of respect. 

Bryant was a guy with a unique mentality. Not many guys cut from his cloth. A guy who on both ends of the court took care of business - twelve times All-Defense, eleven times All-NBA 1st team. He dominated as a young superstar. We all watched him go for 48 points and 16 rebounds against the Sacramento Kings in Game 4 of the 2001 Western Conference Semifinals, a game on the road in Arco Arena which was a venue that at the time housed the league's most hostile road environment. Against a loaded Kings' team led by Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic that if not for Bryant and O'Neal would have won titles. Kobe was just a kid then, but he was the best player on the floor. And there was the time that he buzzer-beat the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime on March 16, 2004. And the time that he scored 40-plus points in nine consecutive games from February 6 to February 23 of 2003. And the time that he hit game-tying and game-winning shots against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of their first-round series in 2006. And the time on December 20, 2005 that he scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. And the time that he scored 50 points in four straight games in 2007 - 65, 50, 60, 50. And the time that he hit that ridiculous running bank shot 3-pointer over Dwyane Wade in a game on December 4, 2009. And the time that he won his fifth title when his Lakers beat the Celtics in the 2010 Finals. That loss bugged me. The Celtics were up 3-2 in the series. But Kobe had hardened Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and the others. 

And of course, the time he scored 60 in his final game on April 13, 2016.

The 2005-2010 version of Kobe Bryant is the best player I’ve ever seen in his prime. He was cold-blooded, well-rounded. He had matured during those years, his game was more refined than it was early on. He was a complete player. The "Black Mamba" nickname could not have better suited anyone else. The young Kobe, in the No. 8 jersey sporting an afro, was exceptional, too. All-time players, like LeBron, Curry, Durant, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo, have stamped themselves since - some did so during Bryant's career, and some after it. But Kobe was Kobe. Four air balls in Utah turned into 33,643 points, eighteen all-star games, and five championships - 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists on average. 1,346 career games. Not bad for a kid drafted at 17.

Kobe was also my older brother’s favorite player. We watched a lot of his games together, one of them being that game where Kobe hit the game-winner against the Suns in ‘06. Christmas Day games and other playoff games, too. My brother was a Kobe guy and I was a KG guy. Opposite ends in 2004, 2008, and 2010.

Today, any number of podcasts, social media accounts, and networks debate The Greatest of All-Time. Such discussion is silly and nonsensical. No opinions can be proven, no games of fantasy 5-on-5 can be orchestrated. 

We all have our opinions. There are all-time great players of every era. But there are those guys that can transcend the game, a bigger impact than just between 94 feet. 

Kobe Bryant was one of those guys. Once in a generation with an impact that will always be felt. He would have turned 47 years old today, and if you take a second and digest that and that number, the sense of sadness sets in. Gone far too soon. 

Two weeks ago on Saturday, August 9, the Los Angeles Dodgers held a Kobe Bryant bobble-head night for their game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to the game, Bryant’s daughter Bianka, 8 years old, threw out the first pitch. 

She surveyed, wound up, and delivered the pitch to Dodger all-star Freddie Freeman. With her focus and just the process that she went through to deliver the pitch, even at age 8, you could tell that she is a chip off the old block. 

Kobe Bryant’s legacy lives on. We remember him on his birthday.