Kobe Bryant Going Out With A Bang
By Keith Rivas
Kobe Bryant has erupted lately for the Los Angeles Lakers, including dropping a season-high 31 points in Denver.
If Kobe Bryant keeps playing like this, he might be confident enough to push one more year out of himself.
Being the most notorious workhorse in an earn-it-or-lose-it league, Bryant’s emergence from the shadows and the sidelines is proof that there’s still plenty to be optimistic about in Los Angeles.
He dropped 22 points apiece against the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets last week, and scored a season-high 31 points to help lead the Lakers to a road win against the Nuggets.
The Clippers and Lakers meet this Christmas with both programs trying to find the right spotlight.
Neither team wants to be in the news for the wrong reasons, and it doesn’t get more intense than a Christmas Day game between two inner-city rivals to prove who’s the best in town.
Based on Bryant’s retirement declaration, this will be his final Christmas Day game — he won’t go quietly.
Right now, the Clippers find themselves in the fifth spot out West, while the Lakers are far from any mention of the playoffs.
The winning mentality that Bryant has brought to this team for the entirety of his career is starting to shine brightest on his way out.
It very well could’ve been the sense of clarity that comes with knowing, finally, what direction you are ready to take things in, as it leaves doubts and uncertainty off the table.
Seeing some of the game’s greatest names hang them up is never easy, but with Kobe Bryant it feels like a certain kind of specialty.
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A player that went toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan and didn’t back down, went on to win numerous NBA championships and other awards, and someone who will always be remembered as the once-upon-a-time that never gave up his hope to play in the NBA.
Yes, Los Angeles is 5-24 heading into Christmas — dead last in the Western Conference standings — but, realistically speaking, we should’ve known things would get a little worse before they’d get better.
Lastly, it feels that he knows better than anybody that it’ll take time to truly heal the city’s basketball issues.
The Clippers aren’t set to really bring home a title anytime soon — unless for some unforeseen reason the top three or four teams in the West all choke to lower quality opponents — and the Lakers are in the middle of a rebuild.
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It’s not pretty, and not what many of us want to see, but it’s remarkable to see that Bryant’s greatness can transcend all of that.