LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Tonight, Kobe Bryant, the black mamba, bids farewell to the NBA. Thousands of fans will fill the Staples Center to bear witness to Kobe Bryant’s last game. Applauded as the greatest player of his generation Kobe’s record grants him the title Legend.
His career has been one for the books and his accomplishments overwhelming. At just 17, the Charlotte Hornets drafted Bryant at the 1996 NBA draft when he joined the league right out of high school. He was traded to the Lakers for another player and would remain for the entirety of his 20-year career. Bryant has won five NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals in addition to 18 All-Star selections, being a two-time NBA scoring champion, a four-time NBA All-Star Game MVP, and the 2008 NBA MVP.
Kobe’s career highlights include scoring 81 points on January 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest total in NBA history, a grand performance making two free-throws with a torn Achilles, and single-handedly outscoring the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 20 2005.
To commemorate his legacy, the Lakers have gone all out. Giant screens of Kobe will surround the arena, the bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers will play the national anthem, and his former teammates will be in attendance to share in his final moments as a Los Angeles Laker. Courtside tickets have sold for almost $30,000, astronomically more than the $1,000 or $2,000 they usually go for. The LA metro will also pay tribute renaming the metro stop nearest to the Staples Center, “Kobe …show more content…
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
He announced this would be his final season in his poem “Dear Basketball” for The Player’s Tribune in November and soon it will be time to say the last goodbye to the black
His career has been one for the books and his accomplishments overwhelming. At just 17, the Charlotte Hornets drafted Bryant at the 1996 NBA draft when he joined the league right out of high school. He was traded to the Lakers for another player and would remain for the entirety of his 20-year career. Bryant has won five NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals in addition to 18 All-Star selections, being a two-time NBA scoring champion, a four-time NBA All-Star Game MVP, and the 2008 NBA MVP.
Kobe’s career highlights include scoring 81 points on January 22, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest total in NBA history, a grand performance making two free-throws with a torn Achilles, and single-handedly outscoring the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 20 2005.
To commemorate his legacy, the Lakers have gone all out. Giant screens of Kobe will surround the arena, the bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers will play the national anthem, and his former teammates will be in attendance to share in his final moments as a Los Angeles Laker. Courtside tickets have sold for almost $30,000, astronomically more than the $1,000 or $2,000 they usually go for. The LA metro will also pay tribute renaming the metro stop nearest to the Staples Center, “Kobe …show more content…
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
He announced this would be his final season in his poem “Dear Basketball” for The Player’s Tribune in November and soon it will be time to say the last goodbye to the black