Lakers: Kobe Bryant Fine With Only Having Five Rings
A retiring Kobe Bryant can live with having only won five titles with the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have enjoyed a multitude of success in the era of Kobe Bryant. Since Kobe came into the league in 1996, the Lakers have won five NBA Championships, including a three-peat from 2000-02.
However, for a player like Kobe that is often put in the same conversation as Michael Jordan, the predominant talking point has always been whether or not Kobe would tie Jordan in terms of championships. Considering that Jordan has six and that this team in Bryant’s last year is not going to sniff a title, it’s almost certain Kobe is going to fall just short.
Kobe is fine with that, though. On Saturday, Bryant was asked about his feeling on finishing his career with just the five titles and expressed that he could live with that:
Kobe said he’s at peace with ending his career with five rings: "I did everything I could. I’m fine with that."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) December 5, 2015
In fairness, merely the thought of only winning five NBA Championships is relatively asinine. That’s more success than most players in the league will ever have, especially players who were at the forefront (or part of the forefront along with Shaq) of each of those title runs like Kobe was.
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Bryant is always going to be a special case, though. Not only does his comparison to other all-time greats bring about such crazy phrases like that, but his general demeanor and competitive nature do the same. If there was ever going to be a pair who wasn’t satisfied with winning five championships over his career, you have to imagine that Kobe would be that guy.
But he’s not that guy; he’s at peace with his career because he knows the work that he’s put in to accomplish everything that he has. In the end, that’s all that he can ask of himself and all that the fans can ask of him as well.