In sports ‘real’
milestones occur every so often. And
they are often made a big deal. This
recent milestone has only four NBA players who have reached the 30,000-point
club. Kobe Bryan is the newest. Kobe Bryant’s legacy amongst the basketball
greats will always be debated around the league, and in barbershops. At the age of 34 years old, Bryant is the
youngest to reach this mark. However, it
took him the longest to achieve such a mark.
Making the jump
from high school to the NBA, by far the best to ever do it, has allowed him the
most opportunity to pursue this record. Now,
with him playing in his 17th season with the Lakers, he will truly
go down as one of the greatest Lakers of all time. I’m sure that too will be debated. The other NBA greats that Bryant joins in the
30,000-point club are Chamberlain, “The Captain” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “The
Mail-Man” Karl Malone, and His Airiness Michael Jordan. Those five I’ll match up against any five you
can get any day!
What makes this
more remarkable is that Bryant’s numbers are up even at this age. Yes, the Lakers’ season hasn't gone as planned,
thus far, but Kobe has seemed to be improving.
His free-throw attempts are higher, and the stat that stands out to me
the most is he is assisting on a higher percentage of his teammates baskets. That means he’s passing the ball more. I’m sure Bryant would like to see more wins
and championship rings to catch Jordan, and his six.
I notice Bryant’s
skills are far from declining. That’s
great for Lakers fans, maybe not so great for other teams around the
league. The rumors of him retiring are
no longer heard of. I think those
retiring rumors only had legs because Bryant seemed to struggle throughout last
year.
Bryant had this
to say on joining this elite group
“I really just love what I do. I just have
a passion for it. I thoroughly enjoy it and this is my 17th year but
for some reason that passion hasn't gone down.
It’s been quite the opposite and I really have no explanation for it; it’s
actually increased.
I have so much love for the game and I
just enjoy working hard and doing what I do best”
It’s not surprising
that Bryant spoke about working hard. He
has a work habit second to none of any current NBA player. He truly has no off
season.
Will Bryant win
another ring or two, catch Kareem for the all-time scoring leader, and more
importantly keep his sanity with this current Lakers roster? Only time will
tell and if we know anything about Kobe Bryant he will down taking a shot.
Until next time
live, out your DREAMS with some Determination, put forth Real Efforts and given
your Abilities; Means you will have Success.
No comments:
Post a Comment