Los Angeles Lakers: What should the statue of Kobe Bryant be?
How can you describe the legacy of Kobe Bryant? You can’t. It’s the same with all the greats like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and so forth. What each brought to the league was nothing that we’ve seen before. As the Lakers unveiled their statue for Shaquille O’Neal it got me wondering, what a Kobe statue should be.
Shaq was power and his statue couldn’t be more fitting with him dunking. But Kobe?
[Mark]Kobe was a dunker, a dribbler, a passer, a defender and a shooter. How can you do all those for a single statue? You can’t, that means that the Lakers will have to be creative in their approach to honor, possibly the greatest Laker in team’s history. It has to be something that tops Shaq. I mean no disrespect to O’Neal but the Lakers won two more rings without him and Kobe’s legacy in Purple & Gold far surpasses his. So, the team would have to go waayyyy beyond what they did for the Big Diesel.
It’s only right. But which move?
Do you go with the sick crossover, him defending, a no-look pass, a dunk or do you choose my favorite– the fadeaway? The fadeaway became his signature move. This was also a favorite move of Jordan’s as he became older but Kobe perfected it to a level that will never be duplicated. This is Kobe explaining how the move came to be.
“When you watch me shoot my fadeaway jumper, you’ll notice my leg is always extended,” Bryant said. “I had problems making that shot in the past. It’s tough. So one day I’m watching the Discovery Channel and see a cheetah hunting. When the cheetah runs, its tail always gives it balance, even if it’s cutting a sharp angle. And that’s when I was like: My leg could be the tail, right?”
It’s a thing of beauty and the only one worthy of a statue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zDRW08XQ2g
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
