I think Kobe brought more than just talent to the game. What's most interesting about him is his leadership. In interviews with his teammates, they always talk about what a great leader Kobe is. For anyone who actually watched him play over the years, you know why he is such a legend. It's not about his individual talent, it's about how he can single-handedly pull his team out of a string of missed shots and turnovers by making a spectacular dunk or nailing a clutch shot under heavy pressure. Any bball fan knows that the game is just as much mental as it is psysical. Kobe knew this very well and had a very keen sense of when his teammates were falling into the mental dumps and throwing the game away. He could sense this and would really start to step up his game to help inspire his teammates to step up their game too and win the game. I remember watching the lakers over the years with Kobe at the helm. It seemed like they always let the game go at the 3rd quarter. And then you'd see Kobe taking a few risky shots and making them. You'd see him pulling his teammates aside and giving them a talking to. Not to scold them for doing a bad job, but reminding them that they can do better. He was without a doubt the hardest working guy out there, he has excellent intuition about the game and his players mental state and he leads by example. He's the guy the team could rally around, and at the end of the day, that's what makes championship teams. He truly is a legend, and I'm going to miss watching him play, but I'm also looking forward to the new crop of talent coming out of the west
Kobe Bryant represents everything wrong with the NBA. A true symbol. His legacy is being a complete ass and a terrible teammate.
you don't carry a team to 5 championships by being a terrible teammate....also if you're gonna mention being a complete ass look at lebron...then look back at Kobe and you'll see the error of your comment
In each of the five years Kobe’s Lakers won the title, he never led the team in win shares. Shaq led the first three times and Pau Gasol led the final two. If rings count then Derek Fisher has 5 rings too. Kobe was not the main man during any of their wins. It was always a big center he required unlike other stars like MJ who were the main ppl on their team. Kobe couldn't bring a championship to a team by himself he always needed a bigger and better big man to do it then he rides their coat tails
MJ has sexual assault and domestic violence in his history more than what Kobe did but how often is that brought up?....but MJ is a just in a league of his own I don't think you can compare anyone to him, however even MJ had his set up guy too it wasn't 100% him if you try and say otherwise you never watched full game footage of him. also you are wrong about kobe not being the main guy ..shaq was the main guy when he was there... after that it was kobe as the main guy. he dramatically improved their offense. oh so what he did better with a good center...that's why it's a team sport you get guys that make other guys better.
Def one of the greatest to play the game but its good to see him go while still playing strong games instead of retiring like shaq did from the bench, Kobe did chase points alot but that was also part of the coaches & gm's strategy which attributed to them getting 5 rings, winning many games & putting fans in the seats, ofc it was not kobe on his own but he def was the lakers no1 player in this era and there is a big gap to fill now.