He came straight out of high school he didn’t make an impact for the Lakers until the 1996-1999 season where he started all 50 games and averaged a total of 19 points per contest (ESPN). But during the 2003 season Kobe was involved in a case where he was charged with sexual assault of a 19 year old in Colorado (CNN). But the case was eventually dismissed after prosecutors spent more than $200,000, because the accuser refused to testify all that drama took the summer by storm and didn’t let the Spurs get any glamor from the championship that they had won. Kobe and Shaq had won 3 championship then Shaq left and Kobe had to find a new duo and that time came before the 2008 season when Pau Gasol had came from the Grizzles (NBC). They finally came together as a team and won two straight championships as a team (ESPN). But now as time goes down on his excellent career everybody is chanting his name at every stadium he goes to and some players are commenting on his greatness and Derrick Rose said that he is “This generations Michael Jordan” (ESPN). Kobe Bryant is arguably the most well known basketball player to ever play the game of basketball but he is could be the with his 5 rings and he is the third leading scorer in NBA history (NBA) teams are really starting to reflect on his greatness and they are all giving him …show more content…
The Lakers have retired a total of 9 numbers the first of course was the great Wilt Chamberlain he was apart of the 71-72 that had won a record 33 straight games and a then record 69 contests overall (NBA). He was a big part of that franchise the years he was there and that’s why he got that amazing honor in having his number be retired on November 9, 1983. Another great by the name of Elgin Baylor got his number 22 retired on the same date as Wilt. He holds the Lakers franchise record for rebounds, he’s 3rd in points, and 6th in assists. He was on the list of 50 greatest players in the NBA’s 50th anniversary season in 1996-97 while he was on the Lakers he was a big part of how they worked and how they had won with the way he rebounded and scored. This guy is one of the last people that I will mention is Magic Johnson while he was at the peak of his career he made an announcement that would change his career and even the basketball world. November 8th, 1991 Magic had an announcement to tell the world that announcement was that he had HIV and that he would retire; many people were scared to play with Magic because so little was known about the fatal disease back then and half of them thought that you could