Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I'm just doing what I need to. When the game's on the line, they put the ball in my hands, and we worked on getting in the position where I could deliver.
It means a lot to me because we're playing well and we're in a position where we can get into the playoffs and make some noise. We've achieved everything we have as a team, and the individual stuff just makes for a more pleasant journey.
We're a really young team that comes into this hostile environment playing against a championship contender. And we didn't play well. I mean, at all. And we found ourselves in a position where we should've won this ballgame.
I think that'll come as camp continues to unfold. You have to have a system, you have to have a structure, everybody falls in line. The thing about this offense is every position is interchangeable.
I think it's a learning experience. We've learned we have to do a better job of closing those games. We'd much rather have won them, but we're not that far off. A play here and there and we're in a completely different position right now.
We've made some significant strides. I look for us to make more significant strides. We're not in a position where we're playing our best basketball.
I mean, it's tough to make the jump, ... So you know, the person's going to be faced with a lot of challenges, some ups and some downs...I can't speak on behalf of other players, but I can only speak on behalf of myself. And in that situation, you know, it was best for me to skip college and go straight to the pros. It worked out well.
I know this city is used to championships, and I am as well. But it's one step at a time, and this is a step in that direction.
I'm proud of us. We came back and played hard. We got into a big hole in the first quarter but we were able to fight back. Late in the fourth quarter, we were able to make a push and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. Both teams played hard, it's a shame somebody had to lose.
I'm just sick and tired of talking about it. It's been two years. Enough is enough.
It's such a learning curve. Once you start getting it, it usually comes at the end of the season. Everybody is pretty much in rhythm and in tune with one another, and then you start playing better.
It's not going to have any carry-over effect from a mental standpoint or anything like that. Everything's thrown out the window. It's a new season.
Everyone is not jumping for joy with finally making the playoffs but it is a big accomplishment for us being that we didn't make it last year and nobody expected us to make it this year and here we are.
Everybody's been pretty amazed. I got hundreds of calls congratulating me on the game, saying keep it up.