The Evolution of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant: How a Leader Was Born
By David Neiman | The Score, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Column
One of the first feature pieces I ever wrote for the Washington Post was about Kobe Bryant. It was November 2002, the Lakers were coming off their third straight NBA title, and No. 8 – as he was then – was starting to emerge from the shadow of Shaquille O’Neal.
As part of the story, I asked Phil Jackson to compare Kobe with Michael Jordan. The fact that I posed the question gives you a sense of how I – and many other people – perceived Bryant at the time.
Phil, as one might have expected, offered what I saw as a politic response:
“A lot of people throw . . . Michael’s cape on Kobe, and it’s not fair to either one of those players,” said Jackson. “Yet they both have this competitive standard that everybody can recognize, a competitive level they carry themselves with on the court.”
The comparisons might not have been fair. Still, in 2002, people were constantly making them, and to a large degree — and I was not the only one who held this viewpoint — Kobe was the cause.
As I wrote back then (and I promise to stop quoting myself after this):
Since leaping from high school to the NBA, he has been routinely hyped and rejected as the second coming of Michael Jordan. For much of that time, Bryant has not only tried to live up to the comparison, but perhaps, encouraged it.
The fact is that whether by coincidence or conscious effort, the similarities between Bryant and Jordan’s mannerisms are unmistakable. The steady, loping strides as Bryant drives the ball upcourt, tongue wagging; the backward strut, head nodding, after he buries a jump shot; even the timbre and rhythm of his speech when he addresses the media are all vintage Jordan. And with Bryant’s new bulk, the physical similarity between the two — they are the same height and virtually the same weight — is impossible to ignore.
At age 24, Kobe was remarkably like Jordan — and somehow, not him, akin to a musical prodigy, capable of playing any sonata the seasoned concert pianist could, yet somehow, lacking the intangible quality that distinguished the genius from the flawless imitator.
At the same time, there seemed to be no “real” Kobe Bryant. He said all the right things in ads for shoes and Sprite, yet even in one-on-one interviews, one never got the sense of him, of a voice and personality that made you feel, “Ah, now I’m speaking to Kobe Bryant.” It felt more like you were talking to someone “playing” the next Jordan. Something was missing, and there was little to suggest that it would ever be found.
Six years later, things are radically different.
THE BEGINNING
To me, Kobe’s evolution from star mimic to true superstar was catalyzed, strangely enough, by his arrest on rape charges in Colorado prior to the start of the 2003 season.
The distasteful nature of that event notwithstanding, it had the effect of obliterating the contrived, plastic, clean-cut image of Kobe that existed at the time. Every major sponsor either dropped or suspended their deals with him. Overnight, he went from NBA poster child to persona non grata, a basketball savant assailed by the public on all sides for his conduct off the court.
The notion of being the next Michael Jordan — and granted, I’m speculating here — was likely far from the forefront of his mind.
In a 2003 column entitled, “Is Bryant’s best behind him with the burden he carries?” USA Today columnist Jon Saraceno wrote:
This season will test Bryant like no year, or defender, has. The mounting anxiety on him will make every night feel like a seventh game. Maybe Bryant thinks resuming his occupation will be good therapy, but I wonder what will happen before, during and after games.
I imagine that even posh four-star hotels can feel like prisons to a celebrity under siege. Bryant may never serve a day behind bars, but that doesn’t mean he won’t understand what Alcatraz was like, even if his solitary confinement includes room service and a cluster of bodyguards.
And can you imagine the catcalls from fans on the road in places such as Sacramento, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas and, of course, Denver?
“Playing the game of basketball is not difficult for me,” he said. “Going through what we’ve been going through is difficult.”
The column concluded with this sentiment:
Regardless of the outcome, I can’t help but wonder if this young man, whose life once seemed so idyllic, can ever be the same player or person.
I don’t know.
I’m not sure Kobe does, either.
Saraceno was right. The Kobe Bryant we knew — or didn’t really know — was gone, and the question was, who would replace him?
A WINNER IN PURGATORY
The 2004 season saw the end of the Kobe-Shaq era, and what followed it was a period that, it seems to me, perfectly reflected Kobe Bryant, the player. Ostensibly, he was the new leader of the team, yet it quickly became clear that No. 8 had no real experience leading a team. His impressions of leadership reminded me of his impressions of MJ — he said all of the right things, but you still found yourself thinking that he’d rather be playing with two replicas of himself than four other players. His first season, Los Angeles finished 34-48. The following two, the Lakers exited the playoffs in the first round.
Interestingly enough, as these years were passing — and I have to admit, I hadn’t thought about this until now — Kobe seemed less and less like he was affecting Michael Jordan. All of the physical tics seemed to vanish.
Instead, as Los Angeles turned in multiple subpar seasons, Bryant began to cultivate a profound disdain for losing possibly unmatched by any basketball player in the world, past or present — with the exception, ironically, of Michael Jordan — and in time, that disdain transformed into anger.
In the summer of 2007, that anger boiled over, and Kobe Bryant demanded a trade. Not long after, in a parking lot in Orange County, he unleashed a profanity-laden tirade against teammate Andrew Bynum.
My initial response to both acts was disbelief. How could he lash out like this against a franchise that stood by him unhesitatingly through his entire ordeal in Colorado? On the one hand, it seemed like the height of betrayal, and to a degree, it still does.
Looking at it another way, however, these seem like the first genuine acts — misguided, though they were — of an emerging leader. And what we were hearing, for the very first time, was Kobe Bryant finding his voice.
It was impossible to know that at the time, but in the months that have passed, Kobe Bryant’s actions have proven exactly what kind of player, teammate and employee he truly is. His effort has been unparalleled — he is currently playing with a dislocated finger, and will be for the duration of the season, yet he continues to be unstoppable at both ends of the floor. While he was wrong about Bynum and his teammates — before his injury, Bynum was playing phenomenally, and the quality of Los Angeles’ bench has been one of the stunning stories of the 2007-08 season — one could convincingly argue that Kobe’s trade demand and tirade were what shook up the Lakers franchise.
A LEADER IS BORN
The popular take in early MVP conversations is that Kobe deserves it. I agree, but not for the reasons cited by columnists like the Los Angeles Times Bill Plaschke. To Plaschke, Bryant is finally making his teammates better, and thus, should get the award:
He doesn’t scream at his teammates so much anymore. He doesn’t ignore them during moments of frustration anymore.
He has helped turn Sasha Vujacic into a weapon, and Farmar into a pest, and, man, considering he once wanted the guy traded, he has been huge in the development of Andrew Bynum.
In Plaschke’s column, Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson agrees:
“You can see the emphasis in Kobe’s game to get other people involved and to make the rest of his teammates better,” Jackson said.
Earlier in the year, I argued that the entire notion of “making one’s teammates better,” at least as far as it’s commonly meant, is nonsense, the NBA equivalent to giving an NFL quarterback too much of the credit or blame for winning or losing. Yes, Kobe’s teammates are better, but it’s not because he’s suddenly passing them the ball where he wasn’t before. A season ago, he gave them the ball plenty.
They’re better because for the first time, they’re matching his effort.
They’re better because Sasha Vujacic is making open threes where he missed them all last year. They’re better because Jordan Farmar isn’t a rookie, is stronger, and has a much better sense of the pro game. They’re better because Derek Fisher is giving Los Angeles and Kobe trustworthy veteran leadership. They’re better because Lamar Odom is healthy and thriving, now that he’s free of the pressure of being the second scoring option. They’re better because Andrew Bynum is a freak of nature. And they’re better because, in what I refer to as the Immaculate Transaction, they somehow picked up Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for nothing.
Kobe’s teammates are playing better, and because of that, he has more confidence in them, and looks for them more often. In turn, Kobe’s growing confidence emboldens his teammates to play even better. It’s a two-way street. If you don’t believe me, watch what Kobe does on a night when no one else can find their shot (which is now unlikely, given the Lakers’ multitude of weapons). I guarantee you that the man who makes his teammates better would still shoot 40 times.
If you want to credit Kobe Bryant with something, credit him with putting his reputation on the line to light the proverbial inferno under the entire Lakers franchise. Credit him for continuing to push everyone, from players to coaches to management to ownership, to demand nothing less than what he demands of himself — every last ounce of effort in the pursuit of a championship.
And that, to me, is what ultimately makes him worthy of an MVP award. It’s also a clear indication that Kobe Bryant, a leader in his own right, has arrived.
IN RETROSPECT
Thinking back to that 2002 feature I wrote, I think that I — just like Phil Jackson suggested — had unfair expectations of Kobe Bryant. Yes, he did seem like more of a Jordan emulator than the superstar he has involved into; then again, he was 24 years old. Most 24 year-olds, whether or not they have superhuman athletic or intellectual or musical abilites, have an underwhelming sense of who they are. We, as sportswriters and fans, are applying the same grossly critical eye to LeBron James now. In a decade, we’ll all look back and laugh.
To me, Kobe Bryant circa 2008 is transforming into every bit the player and leader that Michael Jordan was, and I think this season will bear that out.
Who is the best of all-time? Does it matter, really? In his prime, MJ left you in awe every time he stepped onto the floor. Kobe is the same way now.
A jazz musician once told me that he began his career imitating a hero because, “It’s better to sound like somebody than nobody.”
In time, of course, that musician — like Kobe Bryant — became a somebody as well.
David Neiman is a freelance sportswriter who has worked for the Washington Post, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, Lakers Magazine, and other award-winning publications. He is also the president of Athlete Interactive, a web development company for professional athletes.
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Work of art David and I agree with you 100%
With all the TV and marketing focus, we are a nation demanding instant gratification. People are not like that; they have to develop. The arc of everyone’s life is different - look at the difference between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
While we are in heaven now, how many of us failed to enjoy Kobe Bryant over the last two seasons, when he scored 81pts and averages 40pts/game? Those were historic times and we probably will never see them again. Because we were arguing about who Kobe was we failed to fully enjoy who he is. Let’s not repeat the situation because we are listening to the haters.
For years I am saying that, when role players are not making shots, the leader on the team always gets the blame of not making his teammates better. I strongly agree that to make your team mates better you have to push & encourage them, not only just passing the ball to them. Kobe’s really pushing them this year. Kobe Bean Bryant is indeed the MVP this year based on what the voters uses in previous years.
Would you be writing all this if the Lakers were not winning i wonder? Success truely is the best deordorant. Two years ago Dwade was the next Jordan until he fell down for the eight and couldn’t win a game, now he is injury prone and a one trick pony. The press has too much power in my opinion, they shape and distort with the greatest of ease, laziness has turned the reading public into amoeba they only respond to stimuli. If the press says Kobe is selfish, can’t lead and is imitating MJ it must be true, if they say he has evoloved and become a better leader and person it most be true, if the press says the NBA has an image problem and can’t connect with the red states it must be true. Maybe all that has changed is that instead of playing with Kwame Brown and Smush Parker as starters KObe now has Pau Gasol and DFish? Maybe if you are not Lebron James or Kevin Durant with the Keys to the car on the first day at the job, you have to take from someone else if you want to drive? Maybe the blogs will change the way the traditional press tries to reshape the world into their own image.
Ted,
That’s a great question, but a larger point of the article is that Lakers are, in fact, winning because of Kobe. Not just because of his ability per se, but because he was willing to risk everything — the ire of fans, his future in LA — to shake things up. And that risk, at least to my mind, has a lot to do with the changes that you mention. It, at the very least, catalyzed the new additions and subsequent winning. The wins aren’t coincidental.
I think that the rest of your post has a degree of truth to it — the press, and in particular, talk radio and television, is overrun with mediocrity, and that mediocrity does have far more power than it deserves. On the other hand, I think your criticism suffers from the same kind of mental laziness and blanket generalizations than you’re harping on. Players do evolve and change; with regard to Kobe, that’s not some media creation. It happened.
Allow me, please, to repeat Paul’s earlier refrain … for what I’ve just read, here & now, truly is a(n) (Earvin) Magic (Johnson-esque) … ‘Work of Art’, by David.
A gigantic ‘tip-of-the-cap’ to you.
Interesting analysis. I don’t believe Kobe Bryant has varied as much as Dwayne Wade has. The drive, energy, determination, and will was always present with Kobe, even during the losing streaks and disappointments. You can almost see the air rushing out of Dwayne Wade, and while he’ll be a great bball player, he’ll never be in the same category as Kobe B, MJ, Elgin Baylor, or Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc. Even if the Lakers remained a mediocre team Kobe would be in that highest elite level, notwithstanding whether he’d be a leader or not. There is something mysterious and awesome in the traditional sense of that term when watching Kobe. There is a whiff of some deal with the devil in his play and in the way his improbable and sometimes impossible shots drop through the hole. In other words, no matter what the “leadership effect” might be, there is something about Kobe’s play, like that of MJ’s or the likes of Magic Johnson, that seems other-worldly. We’ll never know if Kobe was calculating or not in shaking up the Lakers, and let’s not forget to recognize the subtle genius of Mitch Kupchak, who was vilified by everyone, including Kobe, just a short while ago.
Wow, thanks David. That was the first time I have ever read an essay on Kobe that matched every feeling I have had about the guy. Kobe oftentimes will comment about the NBA that he grew up with, namely the 80’s, the golden age of basketball. We as fans often complain about the overall lack of fire in the league and compared to those golden years, that may ring true. If Kobe came into the league in 1984, like Jordan, our opinion of him would have been different from day one. Alas, he joined a different league, most likely one that was unlike what he expected. He has always been close with the throwback players, the Shaws, the Fishers, the Foxes. It’s not that he didn’t “trust” his teammates, he just didn’t respect them. And that eventually led to disappointment and anger when the losing followed. The reason Andrew Bynum, as well as Mitch Kupchak, has responded the way he has is because he knows that Kobe was right. If you aren’t going to give everything that you have, why give anything at all? All we want as sports fans is for our heroes to care. We should appreciate Kobe Bryant now, because the ones that care are slowly fading away.
Yeah the media is always trying to crown the next King. Even before they are ready to step into those shoes. But you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Who else has worked the triangle and exceled the way Kobe has besides Jordan. Nobody takes into account the role players with less talent, that are young, and have a rookies basketball IQ to the triangle. It takes time to develope that experience. But Kobe didn’t give up. He got better. Took on whatever needed to be done. He kept scoring and scoring where only legends ascended to.
Where is that fire from the great veterans in his age range? Vince Carter? Jermaine O’Neal? Darius Miles? Look at these high school to NBA players like KG who just dried up on their team until his contract expired and was send away packing. To his luck he joined a team with talent. Why wasn’t KG raked over the coals?
Who got annointed in the past and just faded away? Penny Hardaway, Harold Minor, Grant Hill. Kobe was willing to go through the fire to win. He wanted the organization and his teammates to be on the same page. Committed to winning and to win now. You see how devasting Kobe can be on the world stage as he displayed in the Fiba America games. He doesn’t need the triangle to succeed. He needs talented and dedicated people on his side with the mission to win. Kobe’s proven to win in High School and the NBA w/Shaq and the World. Now he’s on a mission to just win in life. And he has been quoted that basketball and life in his world is the same. Who am I to argue with someone who loves what he does. Kobe definitely MVP whether or not he is given the award.
fack kobe.
Kobe deserves the MVP this season.
I want to add that the year Kobe & Co. missed the playoffs they had bunches of major injuries, Kobe himself, Odom, Mihm, etc.
One point of contention…Kobe did not lash out AT Bynum. His tirade wasn’t against Drew. His tirade was against the front office, who wouldn’t make a move. The “ship his ass out comment,” while implying that Bynum wasn’t valuable, needs to be taken in the context that it was in comparison to Jason Kidd (in fact, he said “we’re talking about Jason Kidd” as a direct quote from the tape). Kobe was angry with the front office for not trading Bynum for Kidd, because he wanted results now. Drew was collateral damage in that tirade, not the target. I think this is something that needs to be made clear every time it is mentioned. People always interpret the event as Kobe talking about Bynum being a worthless player, when in reality all that could be said is he thought he was worth less than Kidd.
To be fair, MANY of us had concerns with Drew last year being soft and needing a long time to improve. He busted tail and got better, and Kobe has acknowledged the hard work.
You nailed who Kobe is…he respects and expects nothing but 100% effort, during, before and after the games. And by the way, Jordan Farmar is turning into a little mental clone of Kobe, and I love it. This lakers team mentality is amazing…They are like hired killers with a “nothing personal, just business” attitude. Cold. Blooded.
And thank goodness the front office didn’t do a Kidd for Drew deal..hindsight is 20/20.
Best…article…ever. (at least as it relates to kobe)
BRAVO!!
Someone with an audience finally “gets it”. Finally seeing this in print feels like a weight off the shoulders for ME. I can only imagine what it might feel like for Kobe, should your view finally become the prevailing one.
David,
Your article, in the 5 minutes I spent to read it, has really changed my stance on Kobe Bryant. As a lifelong Laker Fan, I was never really a Kobe fan. I always knew he was a gifted player, but never had the connection with him as I did with Magic or even Vlade Divac (see Gillette commercial). However, through your very thoughtful analysis, I realize that I was unfairly hard on this guy. Who doesn’t get frustrated ? So how can we criticize him? I sure can’t (but did). I used to also be annoyed by his “Jordan Emulation” as you called it, but he was just finding himself, like so many of us still are.
One poster above contends that you wouldn’t be writing this article if the Lakers were not winning. OF COURSE NOT! The Lakers winning is precisely why Kobe should be praised.
This is one of most insightful pieces of sports literature I’ve come across and I thank you for allowing me to better appreciate Kobe while he’s still in prime form. The Kobe era is officially here and I’m excited to see what the future holds for him and the Los Angeles Lakers.
One last thing… My dying wish is for Kobe to give a formal apology to the Lakers front office. He owes it to himself to do this.
Well done.The local sports scene can use more insightful coverage such as this.
This is the most brilliant piece of sports writing I have ever read. Absolutely amazing. So much more insight and critical analysis than 99% of the stuff out there.
great article man!!!
This is one of those articles that you just want to keep reading and never want to stop… amazing!
–and for the truth shall set you free… free of hate and free from ignorance…
Couldn’t agree more
I think you are absolutey correct about the “making your teammates better” myth. This is a fantasy stat that has become the catch phrase of all sportscasters and media types alike. Did MJ make his teammates better? Or did he play within the triangle offense with guys who understood what they were doing and could knock down open shots? Jordan didn’t make anybody better, he let his teammates play and then subsequently took over in the fourth quarter if his team was in need of being saved. The Mamba is finally playing with guys who can knock down open shots. It’s as simple as that. Nobody in the NBA is as motivated, and as determined to win as KB24. That’s what puts him in the upper echelon with the Magic’s, Jordan’s, and Bird’s. Like the one guy said, he is not fading away like the Vince Carter’s, the Allen Iverson’s, the Ray Allen’s and the Tracy McGrady’s of the NBA. He is hungrier and growing more competitive that he has ever been, and that is scary to some people in the league.
Great piece! I think Kobe still has many years ahead of him. Considering his fight and desire to win now, I don’t see that waning for a long time. You don’t become a worse shooter with age and with today’s conditioning and advancements in sports medicine, he should play until his mid forties. I can believe that because he just loves the game.
David,
At first glance, I thought this article would be too long to read through. I suddenly became more interested with the great insight and fair analysis of the sometimes misunderstood career of Kobe. You definitely deserve kudos on this piece.
gr8 write.