Bryant: The Best Basketball Player

This just proves he is the best by beating Kobe Bryant who is considered also as one of the best players of all time.

Kobe became the cornerstone of the lakers, and he led the NBA in scoring during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. In 2006 he scored a career high in points with 81 points against the toronto raptors , the second most points in league history behind Wilt Chamberlains 100 point game in 1962. Kobe was awarded the regular MVP in 2008 after losing in the 2008 nba finals he led the lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010 , earning the finals MVP award on both occasions he continued to be among the top players in the league through 2013 , when the 34 year old kobe suffered a torn achilles tendon. Although he recovered , his play was limited the following 2 years by season ending injuries to his knee , and shoulder , respectively. Citing his physical decline, he announced that he would retire after the 2015-16 season. At 34 years old Kobe became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers history . Following his second year in the league Kobe was chosen to start every all-star game until his retirement for a record 18 consecutive appearances , and his four all-star mvp awards are tied for the most in NBA

Yelling “KOBE” while throwing a crumpled paper ball into the trashcan is something every sports fan in the world have done at one point of their life. After winning five time NBA championships, voted two time NBA Final MVP, two time scoring champion, his accomplishments speaks for his greatness, and that is Kobe Bryant. Bryant is now a retired professional basketball player who played in Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years. Throughout his remarkable career, Bryant developed a heroic figure as he pursued Michael Jordan’s footsteps and overcoming him toward the end of his career. He is considered a hero because he has the trait of being determined, fearless, and inspirational.

The Boston Celtics had 29 wins the season before they drafted Bird. The team improved by 32 games to go 61-21 in Bird's first season. The main reason they won so many more games was because of Larry Bird. Bird was not just a shooter, he was also a great passer and rebounder too, which in turn made his teammates better as a whole. In his second year in the NBA, Bird and Celtics won the NBA Championship against the Houston Rockets. Larry Bird would go on to win two more championships with the Celtics. He would also win the Most Valuable Player award three times. This is what Larry Bird said after his second Most Valuable Player award, "While I was still trying to figure out how I could improve my game for the next season, I was notified that I had been selected as the league MVP for the second year in a row"(Bird and Ryan 153). Larry Bird after being in the league for seven years and winning two straight MVPs was still trying to find ways to get better. Bird proved that perseverance and dedication to the sport he loved would lead to a successful and rewarding

As the core player in their team, they are always responsible to take the last chance to score that will determine the results of games, which is called Game-Winning shot. According to a statistic by ESPN, Kobe has made 36 Game-Winning shots in his career while both Lebron and Tim have made 23 Game-Winning shots (Abbott, 2011). It is not difficult to conclude that Kobe has the dominance to determine the result of games, especially during the last few minutes. Therefore, Michael Jordan, who has been called “the god of basketball”, claimed that he loved watching Kobe’s game and Kobe is the only one deserved to be compared with himself (Freeman, 2012). It definitely shows that Kobe is the greatest in 21st century because of the praise from “the god of

On February 3, he recorded his third straight triple-double and eighth of the season with 24 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists in a 117–114 win over the Orland Magic. Westbrook was voted to start in his first All-Star Game in 2016, and he earned his second MVP award after a 196–173 win by the West. He recorded 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals in 22 minutes, and became the first player in All-Star history to win consecutive MVPs outright. Bob Petit is the other player to have won two back-to-back awards, winning in 1958 and sharing it with Elgin Baylor in 1959. On March 9, he recorded his 11th triple-double of the season with 25 points, a career-high 20 assists and 11 rebounds in a 120–108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The stat line marked the NBA's first triple-double with at least 25 points, 20 assists and 10 rebounds since Magic Johnson did it for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988, and the first with at least 20 points and 20 assists since Rod Strickland did it for the Washington Wizards in 1998. On March 22, he recorded his 15th triple-double of the season and 34th of his career with 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a 111–107 win over the Houston Rockets, setting the most triple-doubles by a player in a season since 1988–89, when Magic Johnson had 17 and Michael Jordan had 15. It was also Westbrook's sixth triple-double in March, the most by a player in a calendar month since Jordan had seven in April

Wade decided to relinquish his senior year and enter the 2003 NBA draft. He was selected by the Miami Heat with the fifth overall pick. In his first year with the Heat, he averaged 16.2 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game; he was unanimously selected to the 2004 NBA All-Rookie team. When Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Heat, Wade's stats increased to a new average of 24.1 points and 6.8 assists per game. In the 2006, Wade gave an extraordinary performance in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. In the third game, he scored 42 points and made 13 rebounds, helping the Heat conquer the Mavericks by two points. His 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in the sixth game provided him the thrust to become the NBA Finals MVP. After operations to repair shoulder and knee injuries, Wade emerged for another strong season in 2008. In 2010, Wade became a free agent, but stayed with the Heat joining new teammates Chris Bosh and LeBron James. The trio has proved to be very strong and have made it to three consecutive NBA Finals, but lost the 2010-2011 Finals. In 2012, the Heat returned to the finals, but with a victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This was Wade's second NBA Championship win, but the first for Chris Bosh and LeBron James. In the 2012-2013 season, the Heat returned and beat the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. This victory is the second consecutive NBA Finals win

The Lakers also signed free-agent Shaquille O’Neal from the Orlando Magic. Shaquille O’Neal lead the Lakers to a record of 56-26, averaging 26.2 ppg and 12.5 rpg. Before the 1999-2000 season the Lakers hired former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson, who brought the infamous triangle offense to L.A. In Phil Jackson’s first season the Lakers won their first Finals since

Magic was recognized to help the Lakers achieve the crown when he was drafted. The team reached the Finals with ease and were ready to fight for the title. At the Championship they were faced with their competitors,the Philadelphia 76ers, and were not intimidated. Earvin ended up playing three different positions that game

Oh by the way, the 15 boards were defensive rebounds. In the process, Randle joined Vlade Divac (2-24-95) and Lamar Odom (3-25-07) as the only Lakers to post such a stat line since the 1985-86 season and the second-youngest player in the NBA to do so in the last 30 years as well.

Jordan's presence on the Chicago Bulls immediately woke up the interest of the fans. The entire franchise was very enthusiastic and felt very positive about their future. He was such a great player that on his first season he won the rookie of the year award with 28.2 points per game. The Bulls had a losing record before they had Jordan. After the Bulls had Jordan, nothing else but good things began to happen for this franchise. He took the Bulls to the playoffs for five straight years in a row. But they would always loose to the Detroit Pistons or Boston Celtics. "One problem was that Jordan sometimes played at a level so above his teammates that the Bulls failed to function as a team" (Greene 8-9).

Rings are very important when trying to determine greatness. Rings are a term describing championships won, and in the NBA after a championship is won, they get a ring. According to Land of Basketball, Kobe” has more rings, scoring titles, all star selections, and more.” Notice how one of the firsts things is rings. Rings show greatness because you need to be a world champion to be considered great, and kobe has 5, while Lebron has 3. Kobe also has more success in other areas.

Bryant who debuted for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 announced this week that he will retire at the closure of the 2016 season after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 1970 the Lakers would return to the finals to play the New York Knicks, but would lose again. The next year the Lakers were defeated by the Bucks in the Conference Finals. In 1971 Elgin Baylor would retire due to his injuries throughout his career. That season is when the Lakers would go on to shatter the NBA record of most games won in a row, winning 33 games in a row. They also set another record by winning 69 games in one season but would eventually be broken by the Chicago Bulls later on in history. In 1975 the Lakers would acquire Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who was the league's best player. That season he would go on the win the NBA's MVP but the Lakers would fail to make the playoffs. In 1979 the Lakers would start fresh and the Magic Johnson era would being in Los Angeles. In the same year the Lakers would hire Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. Magic Johnson would go on to have an amazing career winning five championships. In 1991 Magic Johnson would retire due to having HIV. The Lakers would struggle during the 90's but managed to make the playoffs. In 1996 the Lakers would sign Shaquille O'neil and would trade the

The now Los Angeles Lakers began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1947. During that same year of 1947, the Lakers acquired one of the top centers in the league at the time, George Mikan (“History” para. 1). Before Mikan played for the Lakers he played for the Chicago Gears where he earned sixty thousand dollars per year, which was the most of any player at the time (Rainbolt page. 12). George Mikan, a six -ten man, played four years of college basketball at the University of DePaul (“History” para. 2). Because his previous team was terminated due to low attendance at games, he was placed with the Minnesota Lakers (“History” para. 3).Surprisingly, George Mikan was the NBA’s first superstar by leading the Lakers to five world championships (Rainbolt page. 10). Growing up, Mikan had poor eyesight and was required to wear strong glasses while playing basketball (Rainbolt page. 10). However, the Lakers were a decent team even without the six ten giant. The coach of the team was John Kundla, who also coached at the University of Minnesota (“History” para. 4). In the 1947 season, the Lakers won their division by thirteen games over the second placed team (“History” para. 5). In the 1948 BAA finals, the Lakers faced the