Basketball fans from around the world said goodbye to a sports legend on April 13. Kobe Bryant, also known as the Black Mamba, wrote a heartfelt poem early in the season announcing his decision to retire from professional basketball. Drafted by the Lakers right out of high school, Bryant has been playing with the Los Angeles Lakers since he was seventeen years old. By his second season, he was already named an All-Star. Through his talent and hard work, Bryant became a cornerstone for the Lakers, leading them to five NBA championship victories. Beyond just a star player, Bryant changed the statistics in basketball history. In a 2006 game against the Toronto Raptors, Bryant scored a career-high of 81 points in that one game, the second
most in basketball history. At the age of only 34, he became the youngest player in history to reach the 30, 000 point milestone. During the past two Olympic games, Bryant won gold both times as a star player in the US National Basketball team. However, the rigorous and intense sport eventually took a tool on the athlete’s body. In the past 3 years, Bryant was forced to take time off for various injuries to his body. He has had surgeries for patellar fractures and a torn Achilles heel, forcing him to take more and more time off. In a poem titled, “Dear Basketball,” Bryant poured his love for the sport. "But I can't love you obsessively for much longer," Bryant wrote. "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.” The Black Mamba played in his final game to a sold-out crowd in the Staples Center. Keeping up with his legacy, Bryant scored a record 60 points in the single game, making him the oldest player in history to score so many. Tickets to his final game sold for as much as twenty-seven thousand dollars, as his millions of fans from all over the globe watched him score for the last time. While some great players come and go, legends like Bryant have changed the game forever. Even ten or fifteen years from now, people won’t be able to resist calling out “Kobe!” before shooting crumpled up paper into trash cans, a small token of remembrance to the star player.
The source that I used, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” by Biography.com no authors are listed is a great source that gave me a lot of information that will help me with my reader response essay. I came across this website by entering my search question into Google. After looking through a dozen of articles “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” had the most detailed information of all the links. This article gave me a lot of information that will be correlating to my search question which is this: What major influences did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in his basketball career? The “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” article had three sections that broke
The Fab Five In 1991 in the Crisler Center Arena of Michigan University a revolution of culture rebellion had begun. The Fab Five or formally known as Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and Ray Jackson. Some might say they were the best thing to happen to basketball but to some they were everything that was wrong with college basketball. In my opinion they were more than just people playing basketball. The Fab Five transformed the way basketball is played and how it is viewed.
For many years Michael Jordan has been seen as one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball. Michael Jordan was first drafted into the NBA by the Chicago Bulls as the third pick in the first round of the NBA draft of 1984, after finishing his college career at the University of North Carolina. Michael Jordan has been known for his high flying and stylish dunks ever since he first stepped into the basketball scene, but there is more to Michael Jordan than his ability to dunk.
He was drafted 3rd overall in 1984. (“Michael Jordan Fast Facts”). Jordan averaged .515% field goal .845% free throw 2 offensive rebound 4.5 defensive rebounds 5.9 assists .8 blocks 2.4steals 28.2 points.(“Michael Jordan Stats”). Jordan and the Bulls made the playoffs Jordan’s first year as a pro. He also got rookie of the year and went to the all-star game. Then his second season was cut short by an injury (Biography.com Editors). After his second year in 1986-87 Jordan was the second player to ever score more the 3000 points in a season. The year after that he was named the Most Valuable Player of the year. He got it 4 years in 1991, 1992, 1996 and, 1998. By the late 1980s the Chicago bulls were becoming more popular team because of Michael Jordan. In 1990 the Chicago bulls and Jordan won their first National basketball association championship by defeating the Lakers. While Jordan was dominating the NBA during 1980s and 1990s he started getting endorsements by Nike (Biography.com
Before Shaq was a Bigman for the NBA, he played Bigman for high school and college. In high school, he was 6’9 and in college he was 7’1 so he was dominant in high school and college as well as the NBA. He went to high school at obi wan kanobi High School in San Antonio, California, he would play pickup basketball sometimes and in his one on one record he went undefeated
Everybody had high expectations about him, they were seeing in him a new leader, a new beginning for the Pistons. He didn’t prove anybody wrong. He started at the 1995 all-star game after becoming the first rookie ever to lead all players in fan voting. Along with Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, were co-voted as the Rookie Players of the Year. In the next four seasons, he started in all all-star games and averaged 23.2 Points Per Game, 7.6 Rebounds Per Game and 6.7 Assist Per Game.
Reggie Harding was the first high school player to make the jump from high school to the NBA, and he did this in 1963. He spent five mediocre seasons in the NBA and was never the special player that people thought he would have been. Since then, there have been around 40 high school players who have decided to skip college and declare for the NBA draft. The bulk of these players have come within the last seven to ten years. Out of these forty or so players, no more than ten have had a successful career. Last year seven high school players entered the NBA draft, and only one of those seven had a successful first season, and that was Lebron James (Smith).
The NBA is well known for the number of amazing professional athletes it has had over the years. Some of the most gifted and talented individuals come through the NBA and one of the better-known superstars is none other than Kobe Bryant. For years people have wondered what makes Bryant so successful. The main contributors that lead to Kobe Bryant’s success is his hard work and dedication, his mindset, his natural ability’s and talent, and the people that have helped him throughout his life. Kobe Bryant was very successful in the NBA because of the amount of hard work he has put in, the people in his life, his relentless determination and his god given natural abilities.
Dreams come and go every night, but some dreams tend to stay for a lifetime. I have always dreamt to become a professional athlete in some way or another. Growing up I have always looked up to many different athletes. Whether it was Ladanian Tomlinson on the football field or Kobe Bryant on the basketball court I have always had some athlete that I wanted to be like someday.
He is the only player in the NBA history to average at least 30 points in a season. After he retired from the Lakers he started coaching volleyball and basketball and he was put in the volleyball Hall of Fame. Wilt Chamberlain was considered one of the greatest and most memorable players in the NBA. One of his tragedies was his death at age 63.
First, let me start off with the career of Kobe Bean Bryant who is currently on the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe was first drafted into the NBA in the year 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets, but was later traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The most amazing part about him being drafted was that
When I began my report I didn’t know much about Michael Jordan, but I did know that he was “undoubtedly the greatest player in the history of the NBA'; (“Michael Air Jordan'; 1). It seemed like every time I heard the word basketball I also heard the name Michael Jordan. There’s just no avoiding him. If you are watching television you might see him playing basketball or golf. If you were reading a magazine there will probably be an advertisement with his picture. If you were walking down the street you might see a kid wearing Air Jordan shoes or a Bulls jersey with “JORDAN'; on the back of it. This man is probably as recognizable as the Pope.
...retirement, feeling that he had nothing else to accomplish. "This would not be the last time Jordan would see the hardwood ("Michael Jordan")." On September 25, 2001, Jordan announced his second comeback This seasons was ended early due to injuries that Jordan had to cope with. In the 2002-03 season, Jordan was the only Washington player to play in all 82 games and started in 67 of them. Michael played his final NBA game in Philadelphia, on April 16 2003. Michael would retire for the last time ("Michael Jordan" Wikipedia).
Kobe Bryant vs Michael Jordan? This is a controversial question in the NBA league. Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball players of all time who was approaching or even goes beyond Michael Jordan. Both player are well-known to the world and as well as their basketball skills. As a similarity, both players are playing shooting guard and with similar play-style. I grew up with Kobe Bryant as a personal hero and barely knew who Michael Jordan was, now that I have examined the two players objectively. I concede that Michael Jordan’s skills are superior.
...MVP twice, NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA scoring champion, All-NBA First Team six times, All-NBA Second Team twice, NBA All-Defensive First Team 4 times, NBA All-Rookie First Team, 2012 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, 2012 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Cleveland Cavaliers all-time leading scorer, Naismith Prep Player of the Year 2013, and USA Mr. Basketball for two consecutive years.