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Los Angeles Lakers: Moving Forward From Kobe Bryant’s Final Strike

By Clevis Murray

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Kobe Bryant‘s final chapter was one for the record books and should never be forgotten, but it’s time for the Los Angeles Lakers to move on

From a young arrogant protege to a cantankerous old man. From “Frobe” to the Black Mamba. From highlights for days to injuries for years.

From emphatic dunks on people out in the open, to rim grazers when there’s an opening. From basketball heaven to basketball purgatory. From setting records as a teen to setting records almost at 40. From the competitiveness of a champion to the heart of a warrior. From the glory days to the horrible days.

From the great athletic days as a true young man in a grown mans league, to an “old man” watching his body breakdown. From “He’s the next Jordan” to “Who’s the next Kobe?” From doing the same job you love for three decades and literally half your life, to hearing Father Time now yelling your name as your time has come.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is Kobe Bryant.

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Bryant has laced up his signature sneakers for the purple and gold for the last time, throughout his rather ambiguous 20th season, a milestone campaign that has been one of the hardest for him yet. Bryant had something to prove to himself personally and to everyone who counted him out, coupled with preparing the young core of the Los Angeles Lakers future — Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle — with his experience and wisdom as a mentor and teammate with the respectability and credibility he has amassed over his three decade career.

Bryant didn’t have much to accomplish except two things: maintaining health and educating the future. Trying to show he was still an elite and dominating player, was an attempt but didn’t come to fruition. He just wanted to go out on his own terms, and nobody else’s.

Entering the season, he had to know deep down he to that he wasn’t going to win a sixth ring unless he went elsewhere.

Running away while times were tough was never Bryant’s motive. As the season progressed he was looking for blood and would attack everything and anything in his way. Its why he’s uber-competitive, puts his body and mind through unkind and grueling workouts, and is consistently thinking about the game of basketball.

He’s Mr. Ball is life, with no off switch of any kind.

His Presence

Bryant is the most respected and intimidating player in the history of the league. Most of the young players that are over a decade younger than him have on a pedestal next to Allen Iverson, when it comes to influential players.

The ambient presence Bryant demands constantly requests the eyes of others to turn to him and his voice demands that their ears listen to him and brain to retain his wisdom.

As a veteran teammate, Bryant had the secret antidote to prepare the younger players for key events, such as when they played their first game at Madison Square Garden. Along with that his richness of basketball knowledge also helped educate the future when it came to their inaugural face-off against an idol or to help mitigate nervous jitters of having to guard an elite player at their same position.

Vino’s game had reached already peaked prior to his last. His final “thank you” to the game of basketball as a player won’t be seen on camera, online, in the box scores or record books. It’ll come off the court in practice, the lockeroom, bus and plane rides, and in the moments where his younger teammates become overwhelmed with the league and begin to put too much of a burden on themselves.

Bryant’s last go-around the NBA was penned “the farewell tour” by many, and has been a memorable one for fans, Bryant and the NBA itself

Bryant has always been a student of the game, and will remain to be in the afterlife of basketball. He used what he learned over his career to become one of the best teachers the Los Angeles Lakers have had by giving his teammates a education in basketball, as he’s one of the best professors any player can learn from.

The NBA’s version of Batman has seen, heard, and been through it all. He doesn’t know everything, but he comes very close to it in the realm of basketball. He’s a walking “How To” manual.

Telling the youth how it took him years to understand some things and has to modify for his personal experience, along with knowing how important communication is, and softening up to teammates. He’s been known for his tough love ideology, but as the years advanced and the league become more buddy-buddy, Bryant’s best way of communicating with his teammates was so abolish his tough persona that had become anachronistic in the new age of players.

In the past, his competitive drive wasn’t palpable in a good way. Nobody else could match it because it was only like MJ’s, his ambition rubbed many the wrong way. He wanted the game played a certain and correct way.

No one will truly known how much of an impact Bryant had on his teammates, until some choose to speak on it in the future, if it involved communicating via texting and calling, providing information on how to deal with back-to-backs, four games in five nights and how to take full advantage of offensive and defensive schemes.

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Kobe Bryant’s final campaign had him as lone star riding off into the sunset, along with being a professor with tenure. When the cameras weren’t lighting and the media present, Bryant was an educator pointing out details that most NBA neophytes have yet to discover.

The betrayal of his body made him the right individual to explain the therapeutic boon of using the latest innovations in medicine at a younger age instead of waiting until a respective careers is approaching a conclusion.

The presence of Father Time forced Bryant to sacrifice his minutes to 28.2 per game — third lowest of his career — and to attempt 16.9 shots per night — fifth lowest of career. That sacrifice is what Bryant was forced to learn the hard way over the years, and made for moments for educating the next generation of Lakers.

Not a lot of athletes have the luxury of exiting their respective sport on their own terms. Bryant did despite an erosion of skill and health over the past few seasons. He was a bit lucky to also, because of his stubbornness as wanting to remain the Sergeant Major of the Lakers over a bunch of Private’s.

Not taking a reduced role like his late 90s counterparts in Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan meant Bryant couldn’t spend his last few years in the postseason, taking in the importance of each game and possession in meaningful games in front of a national audience.

The Final Chapter

The last page of Bryant’s book was April 13th, 2016. It was titled Mamba Day, with the world honoring one of the most influential people to walk on Earth. This last page would soon enough become the most exciting page of chapter 20, and it was only fitting that Bryant saved his best for last against the Jazz.

It was one of the greatest games in sports history, for one of the most polarizing people on Earth, with Bryant take shot-after-shot from pull-ups, drives, post-ups and his pat tended fadeaway which has inspired a generation to say “Kobe” when doing so.

This last game had all of the tropes of a typical game: teammates passing to him, taking a bevy of shots (50), having all of the stars in attendance, and hitting clutch baskets towards the end of the game to lead his team to a victory. It was the perfect closing to a well written novel, with the final words saying “Mamba Out.”

The consistent assassin killer mentality Bryant has had since he began dawning purple and gold in 1996, with the mentality of lone wolf thinking process and not a care in the world for anyone who isn’t on his level is why he’s become a legend and a fixture of an era from the past and present.

Bryant’s last go-around the NBA was penned “the farewell tour” by many, and has been a memorable one for fans, Bryant and the NBA itself. It was a showcase for fans to see a basketball legend one last time, against their favorite teams.

The journey of the tour has been a memorable one, with throwback games, highlights and moves, coupled with tear-jerking moments with the Mamba being honored by every team he’s decimated and by thousands of fans that once booed him.

The tour has reached its climax, and one of the NBA’s greatest villains has now slithered into the dark abyss forever.

The Future

The future has come. He needed to let the Los Angeles Lakers newbies get the shots he could no longer take, in order to miss and learn from their mistakes for improvement. Despite a horrendous season, the Lakers did a good job surrounding Bryant with teammates to alleviate his workload on the court mightily.

The purpose of this season, especially after he announced his retirement, was to get him through an entire season. It helped decrease the damage already done on his crippling body.

Year two for D’Angelo Russell, Bryant’s old teammate, if the new face of Lakers organization with his baby-faced appearance which includes thick eyebrows, and a haircut that is now very common in the black community: line-up fade at the bottom, and a nappy Afro at the top.

The sophomore year for Russell is for him to showcase his array of eye-opening moves on a team he’ll most likely take the most shots on.

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Russell’s skill and flash will make the old-school heads hate today’s game even more. D-Lo is a very crafty left-handed player with a penchant for his ability to engineer plays with great style or simplicity contingent on the momentum of the game.

Russell is also cut from a similar cloth of his predecessor, Mr. Bryant.Russell is what the NBA is. Bryant is what the NBA was. Russell is a point guard that can score and facilitate at an exponential rate with ease.

Expect him to be put in many pick-and-roll/roll situations with Randle, in which he’ll maximize the opportunity of being the primary ball-handler by getting to the hoop, pull-up or passing. Russell is what a prototypical guard is these days which means he’s adept at scoring and shooting the three-point shot.

The rising salary cap and draft will play a vital part for L.A — 2016 first-round pick heads to Philly if it’s not Top-3. The past few seasons the Lakers lost the free-agent battle, and the way the NBA landscape is changing, becoming a Laker isn’t what it once was unless it’s a win-now situation.

Dwight Howard spurned them for to the Rockets, LaMarcus Aldridge went to the Spurs, Greg Monroe became a Buck, and the Lakers had to settle for a group of known and respect veterans — Lou Williams, Roy Hibbert and Brandon Bass — that won’t be there in the long-term last summer.

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The future is an iffy one for the Los Angeles Lakers. It’ll be interesting to see how the franchise is without Bryant, and how long it’ll take for the team to once again compete for a championship. Only time will tell.

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