On a franchise with an extensive list of great players, Kobe Bryant was arguably the greatest Los Angeles Laker of all.
Bryant joined the team as a 17-year-old in 1996, playing his entire 20-season career for the Lakers, becoming their all-time leading scorer and helping them to five NBA championships before retiring at the end of the 2015-16 season. He was chosen as the NBA Finals MVP for both of the last two championships.
“To spend 20 years with the same team, the team that was my dream team growing up as a kid, to spend my entire career wearing that golden armor has been a huge blessing and a huge honor,” Bryant said on Aug. 24, 2016, when the Los Angeles City Council declared it Kobe Bryant Day.
The date was chosen because Bryant wore the number 8 in his first 10 seasons with the Lakers and 24 for the final 10. It came one day after his 38th birthday.
Jerry West, the Lakers’ former general manager struggled to maintain his composure Sunday as he discussed Bryant’s life and career, telling CBS2 sportcaster Jim Hill that the father of four was known for “hard work, dedication beyond many and this enormous desire to succeed.”
“A lot of people were inspired by him. I think he’ll inspire more people. He’ll be revered forever,” West said, his voice breaking. “To think I won’t see him, his family won’t see him. “People loved him, people admired him. He was definitely a gift, he definitely was. Losing was not in his vocabulary.”
West said “the thing that brought me great joy was watching him with his wife and kids. It was truly inspiring. He lived in a world of testosterone, as all athletes do, and for him to be able to separate the athletic accomplishments with his personal accomplishments … This wasn’t some athlete who happened to be a great basketball player. He was more than that. It’s going to take a long time for me to get over this.”
Bryant officially became a Laker on July 1, 1996, when the team completed a previously agreed to trade with the Charlotte Hornets, who had chosen him five days earlier with the 13th choice in the NBA draft as part of the trade agreement with the Lakers.
Bryant was the league’s MVP in the 2007-2008 season, received All-NBA honors 15 times, including 11 first-team selections, and was chosen to play in the league’s All-Star Game 18 times.
Bryant’s 20 seasons with the Lakers were the most by a player on one NBA team.
The 6-foot-6-inch Bryant, a guard for most of his career but listed as a forward-guard in his final season, scored 33,643 points, including 81 on Jan. 22, 2006 — the second-most in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 — and 60 in his final game on April 13, 2016.
Bryant was the NBA’s third-leading scorer at the time of his retirement behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928).
LeBron James moved past Bryant into third on the list Saturday when he scored his 18th point in the Lakers’ 108-91 loss at Philadelphia.
“Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother,” Bryant tweeted Saturday night in what would be his final tweet.
Bryant also played on the U.S. Olympic teams that won gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Bryant announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2015-16 season on Nov. 29, 2015, in a poem titled “Dear Basketball,” published on the website The Players’ Tribune.
“This season is all I have left to give.
“My heart can take the pounding
“My mind can handle the grind
“But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”