Looking Back At The Career Of Kobe Bryant...So Far

The reigning NBA Champion Los Angeles Laker's star, Kobe Bryant, has gone through a lot in his career as an NBA player. Being drafted straight out of high school and jumping straight to the NBA, he had a lot to prove to a lot of different people.

Has his career been a successful one, or has it been one that is often overhyphed and overrated?

I believe that it has been one of the most successful of all-time, but my words alone will not persuade you, only stats can.

Below, I will outline the career of Kobe Bryant in a timeline, helping you better understand the greatness that is Kobe Bryant.

The Beginning Years (1996-1999):

The year 1996 was a rollercoaster ride for Kobe Bryant and his family. The media constantly asking him questions, wondering what college he would attend or even if he would go to the next level.

Then the announcement was made.

Kobe Bryant would bypass college basketball and enter his name into the NBA Draft. Many speculated that it would hurt him not to play in college, but they would soon be proved wrong.

The 1996 NBA Draft is widely considered to have been the most talented and deepest class in the history of the draft. It was held in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Stephon Marbury, Ray Allen, Antoine Walker and Lorenzen Wright were just some of the names announced before Kobe Bryant was taken with the 13^th pick of the draft. The Charlotte Hornets had just selected a future superstar.

Or so you may think.

The Hornets then traded the draft rights of Kobe Bryant to the Lakers for center Vlade Divac on July 1, 1996. Kobe Bryant had now reached his destination: Los Angeles, California.

The first few years in the NBA were learning years for Kobe Bryant:

1996-1997: 7.6 pts, 1.9 rebs, 1.3 ast.

1997-1998: 15.4 pts, 3.1 rebs, 2.5 ast.

1998-1999: 19.9 pts, 5.3 rebs, 3.8 ast.

He made a drastic improvement in the 1998-1999 season, but he still was not as effective as he needed to be. The first two years, not much was made about him. But during the 1998-1999 season, people expected greatness, and he answered.

The Championship Run  (1999-2002):

In what would be three of the most dominating years in all of sports, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal still did have their differences.

Still, many people could complain when Shaq and Kobe combined for one of the most lethal 1-2 punches in all of NBA history and won 3 straight titles.

To this day, however, many people consider Kobe Bryant as the sidekick to the Big Diesel himself, Shaq. This is actually not a fair assessment, as Shaquille O'Neal would not have been able to win the titles in Los Angeles without Kobe.

Although talks of which superstar was better than the other was spreading throughout the media, Kobe and Shaq still held it all together and combined to have great on-court chemistry.

The chemistry did not, however, carry over off the court.

1999-2000: 22.5 pts, 6.3 rebs, 4.9 ast.

2000-2001: 28.5 pts, 5.8 rebs, 5.0 ast.

2001-2002: 25.2 pts, 5.5 rebs, 5.5 ast.

The Final Years Of Kobe And Shaq (2002-2004):

Most people knew about the on-going feud between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, but nobody knew how bad it would get.

Every few days, one would say something negative about the other and it would make front page news. The following day, the other would reply with something even worse.

And it continued to increase in intensity.

It got to the point that the team could not function with two superstars who could not stand each other. Something had to be done, and thus one would have to leave LA.

That person was Shaquille O'Neal, and although Shaq won the 2006 NBA Championship with Miami, Kobe Bryant has had the better overall career since.

2002-2003: 30 pts, 6.9 rebs, 5.9 ast.

2003-2004: 24 pts, 5.5 rebs, 5.1 ast.

The Adjustment Years (2004-2007):

The following years after Shaq left Los Angeles were tough years for the franchise. Kobe Bryant had no superstar-caliber talent to work with, and no one to feed the ball to in the post.

When no teammates showed that they could step out of the shadow and assist, Kobe Bryant did the only thing he knew he could: Score, and score ALOT!

Most people remember the January 22, 2006 game against Toronto in which Kobe Bryant exploded for a career-high 81 points and 28 field goals made.

The 81 points scored by Kobe was the second most in a single game in NBA History, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game.

Though the Lakers had little success during this time period, Kobe Bryant was at his best. He won the scoring title twice during these years, 2006 and 2007, and was firing on all cilinders.

Most critics believed that the one thing Kobe needed was an All Star-caliber teammate to put the Lakers back on the map. And they were correct!

2004-2005: 27.6 pts, 5.9 rebs, 6 ast.

2005-2006: 35.4 pts, 5.3 rebs, 4.5 ast.

2006-2007: 31.6 pts, 5.7 rebs, 5.4 ast.

The Resurgence Of The Lakers (2007-2009):

In 2008, Kobe Bryant received the piece of the puzzle that had been missing in Los Angles since Shaq had departed: Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies.

In what was one of the most surprising trades of all-time, the Lakers had earned the rights to Gasol for little to nothing.

Along with Gasol, Andrew Bynum was slowly maturing into a great player. Derek Fisher returned for his second stint in LA, Lamar Odom was harnessing his talent and various athletic and talented bench players were reaching their potential.

Kobe Bryant had all he needed to once again have success.

Kobe Bryant was named the 2008 NBA MVP after leading his Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Finals, where they eventually lost a tough series to the Boston Celtics.

This season, however, the Lakers were out for revenge.

After winning a tough series against the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers marched into the NBA Finals and defeated the Orlando Magic in a great series.

The Magic gave a very valiant effort, but the Laker's depth and overall talent proved to be too much to handle.

Kobe Bryant won his fourth ring, the first without Shaq, and proved that he is one of the all-time greats. He still has time to win more NBA titles, but for the time being, his career is one of the greatest careers of NBA history!

2007-2008: 28.3 pts, 6.3 rebs, 5.4 ast.

2008-2009: 26.8 pts, 5.2 rebs, 4.9 ast.