Kobe Bryant: One of the Last True Icons

In leagues full of superstars, it’s easy to lose what a player means to the game they play. Fans can argue who’s better from which generation or even the current ones. They’ll hold each player close to their heart because they’d never seen anything like them before and will fight you to death and swear there will be no one like them when they’re done. Each player possesses a unique skill set that drives the passion of fans everywhere, but then there are the players who are more than that. Today’s NBA is full of those types of superstars.

What’s missing too often are the players that transcend the game of basketball, players like Kobe Bryant. Growing up a Chicago Bulls fan and a die-hard Michael Jordan defender it started off hard to admit just how special Kobe Bryant was to basketball. No one wanted to hear “He’s the next Michael Jordan”, especially a Bulls fan. No one wanted to hear this cocky, arrogant, kid straight outta high school and all that talk. Who was he anyway? What did he do to earn that spot amongst the great ones? Yeah, he’s fun to watch, but he’s making a career copying MJ! Even has Phil showin’ him how to do it.

Yeah, those were the thoughts of us delusional Bulls fans back in the day. It’s easy to hate a player for their greatness but you have to respect an icon. From that point on, he’d carve out a career that made far too many take notice but it wasn’t his game that made him an icon. It was his selflessness that gained my respect. Sure, crack all the Kobe don’t pass jokes you want, but the one thing he did pass on was abandoning the city of LA.

In a league where players jump ship at the drop of a dime to chase a championship, Kobe stayed loyal to his fans. Imagine Kobe leaving to build his super team, would he pass MJ’s six championships? Could he have caught Bill Russell’s 11? Unfortunately as a fan, we’ll never know but as a fan, you also have to respect it.

Who Kobe Bryant became a public figure for basketball meant far more than the player he became on the court. Everyone knows of his competitive nature, but staying in LA showed what it truly meant to be a competitor. He didn’t leave because times got hard and he didn’t chase down the coveted next championship.

His loyalty to the team that brought him in, to the fans that fell in love with his game, to the fans that defended him as “the next MJ”, and to everyone that denied him that title, he showed the world what it meant to compete in good times and in bad. Talent brought him into the league, his respect for the fans is what makes him a legend. Plenty of players win championships, not many changed a generation’s love for the game. So in the end, maybe he was just as good, if not better, than Michael Jordan in that way.