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
If they want to win right now, I'm all for it. That's all I said the whole time. If you want to wait five years, let me know. My legs aren't as young as they used to be.
I'm just so excited. We all are. We've been waiting for this [the gold medal] for years now and it's finally here. This meant so much. It just felt so good.
The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don't have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven't had that fear.
As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be.
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.
The big three he took says a lot about him because he hadn't been shooting threes well all night. And he pulls up down there in the stretch, on a big possession and not only takes it but drills it.
They just have more sets now and more options. They are looser.