“All we wanted was to do it for him. I know he’s looking down on us, proud of us… He was a big brother to all of us. We did this for him.” – 2020 Los Angeles Lakers Champion, Anthony Davis
Larry O’Brien trophy-shaped confetti rains down from Walt Disney World. Can you feel it? The Los Angeles Lakers have once again reached the NBA’s promised land in a year unlike any other. But this one is special… this one is for Kobe.
The greatest Laker of all time, Kobe Bean Bryant, represented a battle cry for the Lakers throughout their 2020 playoff run. Coach Frank Vogel rallied the troops by ending every timeout with, “Mamba on 3!” The group of Lakers that all play for Kobe emphatically reply, “1,2,3! MAMBA!”
When asked about the Lakers being up 2-0 nothing in the 2009 NBA Finals, Kobe was asked why he wasn’t smiling. Bryant replied, “What’s there to be happy about? Job’s not finished. Job Finished? I don’t think so.” The Lakers continued to repeat this mantra throughout their playoff and Finals run culminating in the franchise’s 17th championship, tied with the Celtics for an NBA record.
The Lakers have been through a more difficult year than any team in NBA history, making this the most meaningful championship in NBA history. Not only did they go through the pandemic and the biggest social justice movement in United States history after a myriad of racially charged tragedies, but they persevered through the tragedy of losing Kobe Bryant by applying Kobe’s Mamba Mentality throughout the playoffs.
However, this journey was 10 years in the making since the Lakers’ last NBA championship in 2010.
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The year is 2010. Legendary NBA commentator Mike Breen yells out, “The Los Angeles Lakers repeat! Back-to-back titles!” Confetti rains down from the rafters at the Staples Center in Los Angeles as Kobe Bryant is presented with the 2010 NBA Finals MVP award.
It was a decade-long road back to the mountain top for the Lakers, filled with as many twists and turns as you could imagine. The next three years featured the Lakers trying to claim another championship with their hopes dashed as Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles heel on April 12th, 2013.
Kobe was having one of the best stretches of his career in his 17th season, but his body finally gave out as he dealt with two more consecutive season-ending injuries. This stretch from 2013-2016 featured some of the worst starting lineups and win-totals in Laker history. After having never gone more than two years without making the playoffs since the franchise’s inception in 1947, they missed the playoffs for six straight years!
2016 may have featured the worst record in franchise history for the Lakers, but it was also the final season for The Black Mamba in his 20th year with the Lakers. Kobe had a multitude of throwback performances, performances where his age caught up with him and even wrote a poem announcing his retirement before bowing out in a 60-point finale for the ages on April 13th, 2016.
A year and a half later, the Lakers were reminded of their past glory when Kobe Bryant became the first player to ever have two jerseys retired by one franchise in December of 2017. 2018 would bring good fortune for the Lakers once again.
Five months after Bryant won an Oscar for turning his retirement poem into an animated film, the Lakers signed LeBron James on July 1st, 2018 as they once again had the star power they were used to with Kobe. After a portion of Bryant and James’s primes overlapped, where many fans circled James’s matches against the Lakers, it took some time to get used to seeing Lebron in the purple and gold.
In James’s first season with the Lakers, they failed to make the playoffs, but after trading a large portion of their roster and budding talent for Anthony Davis, the Lakers were once again the toast of the National Basketball Association.
However, a tragedy unlike anything imaginable struck as 41-year-old Kobe Bryant was involved in a fatal helicopter accident with his daughter Gianna, who was at Staples Center for some of her father’s greatest moments and beloved by Laker fans just like her father.
The night before Kobe’s passing on January 26th, 2020, LeBron spent 10 minutes speaking on his admiration for Kobe. All of a sudden, LeBron’s familiar face seemed destined to help lead Laker Nation through their darkest hour as he gave an impassioned speech during the first game since the tragedy.
This roster was riddled with Kobe. Kobe beat Dwight Howard in the 2009 Finals and played with him on the lakers in 2013. Kobe and LeBron were compared throughout their overlapping primes, even in commercials during 2009.
Kobe played Rajon Rondo while Rondo was on the Boston Celtics. Kobe was a mentor to Anthony Davis on the 2012 USA Olympic team and Davis was only 17 when Kobe won his last championship. Kobe even took Kyle Kuzma for dinner, telling him to be great and Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka is the Lakers General Manager.
A global pandemic hit less than two months after Kobe’s passing, with the season suspended before the NBA would return inside of a bubble at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The team played without its fans, but the spirit of Kobe Bryant and Laker Nation was with this team all the way.
They say Disney World is the place where dreams come true and fairy tale ending happens. On October 11th, 2020 the Los Angeles Lakers completed their real-life storybook ending. The only way to end a season with Kobe’s presence felt at every moment, was by winning the 2020 NBA championship in honor of the five-time champion.
Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Castle shines with a purple and gold glimmer. Who says fairy tale endings don’t happen in real life. This one is for Kobe.
When it comes to the Lakers, they go for dynasties not just championships. I predict they will win the 2021 NBA Championship, and therefore in the words of Kobe Bryant, “Job’s not finished.”
Regardless, Lakers fans need to savor the most meaningful championship in NBA history. This one is for Kobe.