Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons Kobe Bryant taught us
By Ethan Temkin
2.) Do things your way and don’t let anyone tell you different
Kobe Bryant was perhaps one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. Constantly criticized for his questionable shot-selection, and his temperament and lack of patience towards his teammates.
At the end of the day however, Kobe’s desire to win trumped everything else, and to him, the best way to do that was to employ the strategies previously listed. He was the best player on the floor, therefore, he felt the responsibility fell to him to take the most important shots of the game. For his teammates, he felt that if their desire to win didn’t match his, the Lakers didn’t stand a chance at winning a title.
Kobe never bowed to anyone except maybe former head coach Phil Jackson, who was one of the only people to get Kobe to fundamentally change the way he approached the game of basketball.
Even in his final game with the Lakers in 2016, he decided the only way he could possibly go out, was to do the one thing he loved more than anything else as a player — shoot. Yes, he scored 60 points, but he also took 50 shots to get there. But that was the way Kobe operated so many times in the past. It doesn’t matter what people say about your methods, it’s all about the end results.
At the end of the day, the Mamba did everything his way, and regardless of how you feel about it, you can’t argue with the results.