GRAPHIC | Johnan Mitchell
Today I will be writing about my favorite basketball player of all time. This player is known by almost every basketball fan in the world.
This player had such an act for scoring the basketball that he was referred to by many as one of the deadliest animals on the face of the earth, the Black Mamba.
Kobe Bryant, to me, is the greatest scorer of all time. I think that his game revolved around his ability to simply find a way to torch defenses night after night in a league where the greatest players in the world competed.
Bryant is known for taking on entire defenses single-handedly and winning time after time. Few rivaled Bryant’s abilities during his time in the league. Bryant was the player everyone in the gym knew would be taking the last-minute clutch shot, and he would never shy away from his role as a scorer.
Bryant would spend countless hours practicing his jumper. I am here to argue that no one in the game of basketball as of now has trained as rigorously as Bryant has, nor has anyone been as competitive.
Jerry West, NBA legend and Laker general manager at the time of Bryant’s acquisition to the team, said, “Bryant comes to the arena at 4:30 a.m, before anyone is here, and works on his game alone.” Kevin Durant told a story about Bryant using his off day during a team USA game week to get shots up for their upcoming games.
Durant explained that Bryant was the only player to do so, and it spoke volumes about the true work ethic and determination that went into his success. Jason Kidd said, “He practices as if it’s game 7. He wants to prove that he’s the best player in the world every practice.”
He proved Kidd’s statement through his work ethic. He thought that he was cheating himself if he missed a day or even a minute of practice.
Bryant struggled with a bad shoulder for a few years and lost the ability to shoot with his dominant right hand in one game. This didn’t stop the Mamba from scoring; he finished the second half using only his left hand and still managed to score on the defense countless times.
He is second to Wilt Chamberlain with the most points scored in a single game. On January 26, 2006, Bryant scored a baffling 81 points and accounted for more than 66 percent of the Lakers points that night.
To put into perspective how competitive Bryant indeed was, he scored 60 points in his final game. For all these reasons, Kobe Bryant is by far the most competitive and hard working basketball player.
