Reason #5: Aesthetics
If you were to build the perfect basketball player you would probably come up with something pretty close to what we see in Kobe Bryant. A superb athlete with height, length, strength and quickness. A player with the ability to get by defenders with ease and possess powerful hops to get to the rim quickly and finish with authority over any defender, big or small.
Sure handles, great mechanics, masterful footwork, touch and high basketball IQ.
Oh, and ferocity that brought us gems that will be forever ingrained in our memory.
Kobe’s nasty dunk on Dwight, the dunk on Yao, the string of 40 point games, the 81 point game, the litany of clutch shots; the list goes on and on with the awe-inspiring feats in Kobe’s career.
While Kareem’s skyhook was pretty, Jerry West’s fundamentally sound handles were nice and Magic’s flair for the game was entertaining, they don’t compare to Kobe’s beautiful and nearly perfect all around talent that he displayed on the court over these past 17 years.
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In the end, the amount of evidence in the favor of Kobe is insurmountable. What Kobe has produced in terms of pure statistics, his tenure as a Laker, the 5 championships that he brought to L.A.and accomplishments he has attained far exceeds every other Lakers player that ever put on the purple and gold uniform.
To put it simply, Kobe has done more, for a longer period of time, while doing it in a fashion that was more entertaining than anybody else.
You can reach me at the my Twitter handle, @fullcourtfern, to discuss this article, anything Lakers or NBA related, or if you want to invite me to go grab a beer somewhere in L.A. You’re paying of course.
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