Kobe Bryant: The 'Fro, The Scowl and His Greatness

"Mama, there goes that man"

-Mark Jackson, Commentator and former NBA Player

With its pair of beady eyes focused squarely on its prey, the Black Mamba lies in wait. 


It slowly raises a portion of its body off the ground, and then strikes with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. And when its fangs have dug deegp into the skin of its hapless victim, he follows it up with several more strikes, doing so with blinding speed. 


A few minutes later and their prey would be paralyzed, with life slowly but steadily departing from them.  

Kobe Bryant is indeed well-named, for, like a Black Mamba, he has slithered past phalanxes of defenders on his way to the basket with relative ease. And that doesn't only mean in the hard court. Because despite the slew of issues and controversies which he had faced, he has not let any of them affect his game, instead using these otherwise negative things as an impetus to raise his game to an even greater plane.

Polarizing

Upon hearing the name Kobe Bryant, "polarizing" is the word that is most commonly attached to the Lakers shooting guard. Most have recognized him as one of the greatest players to ever grace a basketball court, while others have difficulty gravitating towards the man they call "The Black Mamba."

Bryant is definitely no Magic Johnson. He doesn't have the smile that Magic has, that smile that would rake in millions had it been turned into a toothpaste advertisement. What he has instead is that stoic gameface which is perpetually glued to his face, especially during the playoffs. And when he scowls and grits his teeth while in that Laker uniform, you know he means business.

And then there are the endless comparisons with Michael Jordan and him being the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time). Jordan had six rings and he only has five. His Airness even managed to pick up a Defensive Player of the Year Award on his way to six titles.

Finally, there are his infamous feuds with Coach Phil Jackson and former teammate Shaquille O' Neal. The trio had nested at the NBA's mountaintop for three straight years and would have stayed even longer, but ultimately the harmony of their relationships snapped under the tremendous weight of their success, and O' Neal was shipped to the Miami Heat and Jackson forced into a short-lived retirement.

It was here, when he finally became the cornerstone of the Purple-and-Gold franchise, that the naysayers started babbling among themselves: He can't win without Shaq. It was also at this point in his career that his personal life, his marriage, was rocked with controversy.

People love to hate Bryant because of these things and more. But the thing you can't take away from is that he'll always find a way to win.

Long Journey

It took him six years to do so--a journey beginning from the 2004 Finals loss against the Detroit Pistons and the subsequent dissolution of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, and culminating at the end of the 2009 Finals, when he finally hoisted the Larry O' Brien Trophy once more.

Fans found it hard rooting for the Lakers during the years after Shaq's departure, and why not? Kwame Brown was in a Laker uniform, Chris Mihm was the man in the middle and (gasp!) Smush Parker manned the point for the team, but Bryant, basically being a one-man crew, was still able to propel the Lakers to the playoffs for a number of years.

And even when Pau Gasol came on board for the Lakers, a few roadblocks still lay ahead for Kobe and his path to greatness. The number of years which he had played took a toll on his body, but again, he would merely shrug them off.

Not even a sprained left ankle, a bad wrist, a bruised knee, a sore back, and a nagging injury to his right pinkie finger could prevent him from competing. He has battled all those injuries for fourteen grueling seasons, and he has five rings and a plethora of other accolades to show for it.

Hardworking Mantra

There are a lot of things to admire in Kobe Bryant, and unlike some of his younger fans who were only drawn to him when he was already posting numbers which forer player Steve Kerr could only call "Jordan-esque", I already noticed him as a high-flying guard who sported that afro and played behind the likes of Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.

He wasn't banging in 30 a night back then, instead coming off the bench to provide quality minutes in an attempt to earn a spot in his coach's rotation. Kobe then slowly emerged as an outstanding player, finally earning a nod to the starting line-up when Phil Jackson patrolled the sidelines for the Lakers.

This is something that Bryant has the distinction of being able to do: when he started, he did not receive the same hype as that man who took his talents to South Beach. He averaged a measly seven points a night during his rookie season.

But what he did was he continually polished his game to perfection, putting long nights of practice en route to becoming the cold-blooded, pressure-absorbent man we now know as "The Mamba" Practice makes perfect, as that cliche'd adage goes, and there is no better testament to that than Bryant and his hardworking mantra that had led elevated his game and brought him success.

The Great Closer

Along the way to five titles, Kobe also earned the name for being "The Great Closer," as he has constantly proven himself to be a dependent player during the game's most crucial stretches. Again, being a great closer does not entail the responsibility of not missing in those situations, becaus Bryant has. He has muffed game-winners and had even lost in the NBA's grandest stage, The Finals, twice.

But in my opinion, the fact that he relishes those pressure-packed moments and is unmindful of the prospect of failure is what makes him a great player. Even when he's missed his last five or six shots, when the time came down to a handful of seconds and his team is down by a basket, you wold definitely find the leather in his battle-scarred hands.

And the courage to step up to the plate and take that shot, ignoring the crowd and the probability of missing the shot, all the while relishing the pressure, is sets Kobe apart from other players. Some good players develop stage fright during those moments, and that is why they shall only be pegged as good players, while Kobe shall bask in the pantheon of players who are "great".

In my pursuit of a career in the media, i hardly believe that i would encounter the same physically-imposing players that Bryant toys with on a regular basis. But the hardwork that Bryant has put in the perfection of his game transcends the basketball court and applies even in our lives. The lengths that he has gone in pursuit of his goals, and the fact that he uses the negativity, the criticism, as fuel to elevate his game, are traits of his that everyone could learn from.

The Mamba, like all animals, also has predators who want to take him down. The likes of Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James have already staked their claim in The Mamba's Pit and an ushering of the new guard is imminent. 


But the Mamba is ready for them. He slithers in silence on the ground, past the vines and tree branches, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Images taken from:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=6349178
http://youbeenblinded.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kobe-face.jpg
http://lakers.topbuzz.com/gallery/d/17682-1/Paul+Gasol+and+Kobe+Bryant+congratulate+one+another+after+a+play.jpg
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/211/956/Kobe-Bryant1_display_image.jpg?1272391809
http://redeemthedream.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/kobe-gamewinner-miami.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27137867@N06/2535072631/
http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/michael-jordan-kobe-bryant.jpg
http://sportswithlt.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/kobe_bryant11.jpg