Top 5 iconic moments of Kobe Bryant's illustrious 20-year career

13 April 2016 – the end of an era, a legacy. It’s the last time Kobe Bryant will ever don a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. It’s the end of the road for one of the fiercest, ruthless and die-hard competitive players the NBA has ever seen. It’s the last day of a successful and storied 20-year association between Bryant as a player with the game of basketball.

It’s going to be an emotional day for Kobe Bryant fans. Having said that, this was a long time coming after Bryant announced his retirement on November 30th, shortly before facing the Indiana Pacers at the Staples Center.

Following the announcement, he’s been getting gifts from every team when he faces them on the road for the final time, he’s been having long introductions in the road arenas and at the end of games he’s been giving out a lot more hugs than you would normally associate with Bryant.

So in tribute to the Black Mamba and his career, here is a compilation of his 5 greatest basketball moments:

#5 The 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors

Kobe Bryant with the ball against the Toronto Raptors on January 22,

2006

at Staples Center.

At the bottom of his heart Kobe Bryant is a flat out scorer. In crunch time he prefers to have the ball in his hands, whether it be to make plays for his teammates or himself.

He has always been the to shoulder responsibility in the time of need and would have the rock himself rather than trust somebody else make the call. We saw a lot of that version of Kobe during the transition years from 2004 to 2007, the years where the Lakers were rebuilding and Bryant was in his physical prime at 27 years old.

It was the 22nd of January 2006 when Bryant scored 81 points (second in league history only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points), leading the Lakers to a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors.

The points tally was the most by a Laker, breaking the previous best of 71 by Elgin Baylor. In 42 minutes of playing time, Kobe also amassed 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers to along with his record breaking points tally. He shot 28 of 46 (60.86%) from the field, 7 of 13 from beyond the arc (53.8%) and 18 of 20 (90%) from the free throw line.

Bryant in his characteristic way, talks about scoring 81 not being such a big deal:

"It sounds crazy to say...but scoring 81 wasn't surprising to me. I hope people don't take that as being arrogant or whatever the case may be, but you have to understand at my age at that time (27) and being in my physical prime, it wasn't surprising.

“Working all summer the way I did with the track work and the conditioning work and making a thousand jumpers a day, it wasn't surprising."

This game along with his four-game streak of scoring 50+ points in the following season really captured the essence and ease with which Bryant could score.

#4 Winning two Olympic Gold Medals with USA National Team

Kobe Bryant with his 2008 Olympic Gold Medal

It comes as a surprise to many that it took such a great player like Kobe Bryant 12 full years to finally represent his country at the Olympics. Part of the reason for his absence was injuries and surgeries he needed to undergo over the off seasons. In 2006, USA Basketball program director Jerry Colangelo called upon Bryant as a veteran to help a relatively young team to reclaim the Olympic Gold for USA, after disappointingly losing to Argentina in the semi-final of the 2004 Olympics.

Bryant, who was at the peak of his NBA career at that moment, not only led his team off the court by setting the example as a leader but also when the team needed it the most. During the last four minutes of the Gold medal game against the Spain national team in 2008, Bryant was an integral part of every play the USA Basketball team ran whether it involved creating a shot for somebody else or finishing a play himself.

In 2012 at the ripe age of 36, Bryant flew to London with USA Basketball for his second attempt at winning gold his country. With the rise of superstars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Bryant just had to play the role of a spot-up shooter and the occasional playmaker. However his presence in the locker room was much needed.

Here’s Bryant talking about what it meant to reclaim the gold for the USA:

#3 Being named the 2007/08 regular season MVP

Kobe Bryant with then-commissioner David Stern posing with his MVP trophy

At every MVP acceptance speech, the player receiving the award makes a concentrated effort to explain how important the team was to him being named the MVP. Kobe Bryant did the same, explaining that his MVP award was actually a tribute to how great the Lakers were that season.

Having said that, we all know how Kobe is. Being named MVP is often wrongly taken for being the best player in the league and that was one of Bryant’s goals right from the beginning. So to be named MVP and essentially named the best player in the league, meant a huge deal to Bryant.

During the 2007-08 season, he averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists shooting 46% from the field, 36% from beyond the arc and 84.8% from the charity stripe. The team registered a 57-25 record, the best in the West and eventually went on to face the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.

Although Bryant failed to help his team win the NBA title that year, winning the MVP award meant the world to him. Kobe would later go on to lead the Lakers to back to back titles the following seasons.

#2 Passing his idol Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list

Kobe Bryant waving to the crowd after passing Michael Jordan on the league’s all-time scoring list.

Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest to ever play the game, was Kobe Bryant’s idol growing up. He modeled his game, his technique, his style after Jordan. The duo shared a big brother-younger brother relationship and so for Bryant to surpass Jordan on the league’s all-time scoring list meant he had accomplished what he had set off to do.

Although he does not have as many championships rings or MVP awards as Jordan does, passing your idol would be a proud moment for anybody, and so it was for Kobe.

He surpassed Jordan knocking down his second free throw in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center during the 2014/15 season. It was gracious on the part of the Wolves management to allow the game to pause momentarily after Bryant sunk in the free-throw. He was honored at center court by the Wolves majority owner with the game ball.

Another reason why this moment was huge for Bryant was that he did not have much to look forward to after his Achilles injury. In the three seasons after that, he has failed to finish two complete seasons due to other injuries in his knees or shoulders.

So in the midst of that drama, this was a proud moment for Byrant and something he will cherish for the rest of his life.

#1 Winning the 2010 NBA Finals Game 7 against the Boston Celtics

Kobe Bryant celebrating with the crowd after winning the 2010 NBA title.

Kobe Bryant is all about championships.

“Losing is losing, there aren’t different degrees of losing. You either win a championship or you’re s**t. It’s very black and white to me.” – Bryant.

Bryant has an overall record of 5-2 in the NBA Finals, losing once to the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and once to the Boston Celtics in 2008. However, he’s always stated the ‘08 Finals pinched and hurt a lot more because of the manner in which the Celtics beat them. Boston clinched the title courtesy of a 39 point win in Game 6, drubbing the Lakers 131-92.

He’s repeatedly stated that the 2008 Finals loss was in fact, the blueprint to the Lakers winning the next two NBA titles because it taught them just offense wouldn’t hold. You’ve got to be dominant on the defensive end of the floor to give yourself a chance at the a title.

Los Angeles had already won the 2009 NBA title defeating Dwight Howard’s Orlando Magic 4-1 but they were hungry for more and it was time for redemption when it was set that they were to face the Celtics in their quest to repeat.

Five games in, things weren’t going according to plan as the Lakers were flying back to Los Angeles for the final two games facing an elimination situation in Game 6. With their backs against the wall, the team gutted out both wins to clinch back to back NBA titles. Game 7 was just a defensive masterclass by both teams and the team victorious really needed to grind their way out.

Bryant also mentioned how the 2010 Finals win was the sweetest championship ever:

"This one is by far the sweetest, because it's them," Bryant said after the Lakers beat Boston for the first time in a Game 7.

"This was the hardest one by far. I wanted it so bad, and sometimes when you want it so bad, it slips away from you. My guys picked me up."

The 2010 NBA Championship is the last title Bryant won. It’s the title that took him to five championships for his career, just one shy of his idol MJ’s six. Here’s the mini-movie of the 2010 NBA Finals Game 7: