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Watching last nights game specifically when Kobe drove the lane and monster dunked it reminded me of the Kobe of old. Circa 2002 to be exact.

Kobe is only 32 but it got me thinking whenever Kobe does eventually call it a career how many NBA fans will appreciate him more once he's no longer playing. Now im not saying people dont praise him now or that his detractors will all of sudden change tunes and worship him like some do Jordan.

I just think despite players like Wade, Lebron, and now Kevin Durant emerging in the NBA as the next wave of NBA superstars, there won't be a player like Kobe, who lays everything and more on the court each and every time, is a complete student of the game and whose basketball IQ seems to constantly be off the charts.

I think of all the times Kobe's made shots that you're not supposed to make. The times he's been on the line with the game in jeopardy only to calmly knock down crucial freethrows. Or the game winners. The last of which he's most recently perfected and added to his arsenal of weapons.

I will always be a Laker fan, an NBA fan, and a Kobe fan, but once he leaves theres going to a big gap between the players that live to play and the players that play to live. The latter being guys like Kobe, and Jordan, Russel, Robinson, Malone, Bird, Magic etc.

Pfft.. too soon to be crying.

He has another 8 years in him.

Last night CWebb said post game going over the highlights as 24 threw it down..."and Kobe goes Hot Tub Time Machine"

LoL@crying

Nobodies crying buddy. Just giving props to a great player. And you obviously took it to heart.


Calm down

Perhaps after he plays out his contract Kobe will hang up the jersey for good and call it quits but for now we should all sit back and enjoy while we can. There are a lot of people who don't appreciate Kobe the way Laker fans do but I have a feeling once Kobe retires a lot more people will admire him just because of what is missing from the NBA.

not really, i dont see kobe playing 8 more years at a high level...closer to 4-5 years max.
also, i dont see another 'passionate' player coming into the league anytime soon...if anything, the closest player i see who has some fire, if any, would be derrick rose or chris paul

DubaLakers wrote:Last night CWebb said post game going over the highlights as 24 threw it down..."and Kobe goes Hot Tub Time Machine"

Can I get a LOL please, damn' I'm talking to myself here. I thought that was hilarious, just me and Webb laughing I guess.

I think we've still got a lot of Kobe left, guy lives and breathes ball, but there is that slight chance that as he fades off his pride will make him leave earlier then he wants to, while he is still near the top.

The thing I've noticed lately though is he is still evolving. I think sometimes it takes a while to understand your own diminishing abilities, your mind wants to do one thing but body just can't quite. But the last few games though I'm seeing him use more small fakes and hesitations and timing to get by guys and then use energy to explode. He was getting by Thabo and KD pretty well when he struggled last year.

Kobe still has a lot of game left and this is somewhat more exiting to me then even young Kobe, to see if he can still do it time and time again.

With the way his knee is right now, I can't see him playing a whole lot more than 3 more seasons. At some point, his body won't be able to handle all of this mileage and starts giving up. when that happens, I don't think Kobe, being the competitor that he is, will stay around.

Just enjoy him while we can, most definitely be a sad day when he goes, all we will be left with is a bunch of stacked super friend teams

I like the fire in Rose, Paul and what we have seen in BGriff. Lets hope that Kobe has someone to pass the torch too. So far weak candidates are Wade and Howard.

it'll be sad to see a long time laker retire but I am also excited AGAIN as we dont know what the future holds after his reign is over, just like when Magic retired, I wasn't sure what the team would be like, but the jones/van excel era was fun and then BOOM we get Shaq out of nowhere with some random dude name Kobe Bryant thrown in as a side story lol.

KB24_ILLMATIC wrote: all we will be left with is a bunch of stacked super friend teams

lol sad but true

supaflash wrote:The thing I've noticed lately though is he is still evolving. I think sometimes it takes a while to understand your own diminishing abilities, your mind wants to do one thing but body just can't quite. But the last few games though I'm seeing him use more small fakes and hesitations and timing to get by guys and then use energy to explode.

Good points here. It does seem like he's compensating to adjust for his lack of speed / quickness due to age and or injury. Playing smarter not harder.

Lets keep in mind we were all like... " We traded Divac for who? COBY?!!!" Remember when Kobe came off the bench and shot air-balls?

So the "Next Guy" may not be much of anything at first.

dude is definately going to be missed. people just refuse to give him his proper respect right now. he is the only guy i know who has five rings,2swcoring titles,multiple all defense and nba teams,and yet he haters still think he is somehow overrated. the nba will be kind of weak when he leaves.

magic1fan wrote:dude is definately going to be missed. people just refuse to give him his proper respect right now. he is the only guy i know who has five rings,2swcoring titles,multiple all defense and nba teams,and yet he haters still think he is somehow overrated. the nba will be kind of weak when he leaves.

Weak i dunno about weak, but surely weaker. But players like BGriff, John Wall, Rose, Noah and Paul will be fun to watch.

I will be bawling my eyes out during his retirement press conference.

I'll probably stop watching NBA for a season in respect to him

Just like I did After Magic and Pippen retired (I hated Jordan with passion, but were a big fan of Pippen lol, go figure ).

i think kobe gets plenty of respect

the thing with kobe is the haters overrate how the kobe hasn't consistently been a legend in the finals like past greats have.

i understand their stance but just because of that it doesnt mean that kobe's overall career should be thrown down the drain.

kobe is good enough to get the job done and that is all that matters, whether you do some legendary ish like wade did in that 2006 finals game 3 thats a bonus and adds to your legacy but just getting the job done is a great achivement. kobe has done it twice being the lead dog and 3 times being an important piece to a championship team. you dont get 5 rings if your not great plain and simple.

respect to kobe an all time great