One of NBA’s Greatest Starters

Saying Kobe Bryant sucks at basketball, is like saying Napoleon Dynamite isn’t funny. He is, and Kobe for sure doesn’t! In May of 2008 he got his â€Å"Most Valuable Player Award† for the first time ever in his career. (Naik, par. 5) He has won many awards in his career, and helped the Lakers win the playoffs 3 years in a row. By the ending of 2007, he was the youngest player to reach 20,000 points in his career. He’s a hard working basketball player who deserves all the praise he gets. Kobe had an easy early life, with his dad being an NBA player himself. Except his dad wasn’t exactly a star. Jellybean Joe† was one of the players no one wanted. He was drafted to the Warriors, but they didn’t like his contract demands, so he was traded to Houston. After a year with Houston, the Bryant family packed their bags for Europe, where Joe signed a contract with a team in Reti, Italy. It only took a couple of months for Kobe and his two sisters, Shaya and Sharia, to learn the Italian language. (Stewart, par. 7) Joe was the reason Kobe developed the love for basketball. In Italy, Kobe would go to practices with his father, and would hardly ever miss a game of his. He would often entertain fans during halftime by shooting some baskets. When the Joe decided to move back to the US, Kobe was just starting High School. It took him to his junior year to really get the hang of things and get used to living in America again. When they moved back to America, Kobe was one of the best players on his summer league at Sonny Hill. When he started high school, he made the varsity basketball team. (Stewart, par. 16) His junior year, he averaged 31 points and 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He was named the Pennsylvania Player of the Year award. (par. 9) When Kevin Garnett went pro right out of high school, Kobe knew he wanted to go pro straight out of high school. So he knew he needed to step his game up to be good enough to. His dad scheduled that he practice with the 76rs that summer. The practice really paid off because his senior year he helped his team win its first state title in 42 years. That summer, Kobe decided to go pro immediately after high school. On Draft day, he was picked at #13 by the Charlotte Hornets, except when Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers talked to the coach of the Hornets, and got Kobe Bryant at the 25th pick. He signed a 3. million contract lasting 3 years with the Lakers. He averaged 25 points on their summer league. He was only 18 years old, and was the youngest starter in the NBA (par. 35). His success didn’t end there, though. Kobe helped the Lakers win in the Championships 3 years in a row. In 2002, he was named Most Valuable player of that year’s All-Star Game (Naik, 3). But in 2003, he came back into the spotlight for something other than basketball. He was at a resort in Colorado, where he accused of sexually assaulting a 19 year old who worked at the resort. Kobe admitted to having sexual contact, but it was a mutual agreement on doing it. He turned himself in, and he was arrested but then released on a $25,000 bond. The case was dropped though, and he got away free of charge. In 2008, when he played in the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, he won gold in the Men’s Basketball division. Later that year he won his first ever NBA Most Valuable Player Award (par. 5). Something recently happened to Kobe Bryant lately, though. Kobe has had a pretty successful past year so far. In 2010, he and the Lakers won the Play-offs. He is currently working really hard on helping the Lakers get to the Play-Offs again this year. His current point average is 25. ; it’s gone down, but not by much. In January of 2009, he was the youngest player to reach 27,000 points in his over all career. On April 13, 2011, he was issued a $100,000 fine for an â€Å"offensive and inexcusable† comment during the night before’s game. His comment was â€Å"such a distasteful term† that â€Å"should never be tolerated† says NBA Commissioner David Stern (Stern, par. 1). He is one of the highest scoring players in the NBA. Some rumors have been going around saying Kobe is retiring after the 2010-11 season is up, so he and Phil Jackson (his coach) can retire at the same time. Kobe Bryant has been very successful in what he does. He’s one of the best players out there. The Lakers are very lucky to have him on their team. But my question is, what is the basketball world going to be with out Kobe Bryant playing? Who’s going to take his place when he retires? But anyways he is a very, very, very successful basketball player, and he really does deserve praise and honor of what he does. He’s the best of the best, and the best should be recognized. Some may say that he’s not good at what he does, but I say he really is the best, and they are all just jealous of the skills he has.