Kobe Bryant Will Supplant Magic Johnson as Loudest Lakers Alumni Voice

LOS ANGELES — Amid all the speculation as to when Kobe Bryant will retire, let’s bear something in mind: Whenever it happens, Bryant isn’t vanishing from our lives.

He has put a lot of thought and considerable planning into his post-basketball identity: Kobe Inc. has already established a West Newport Beach office location as its global headquarters. Bryant’s highest public profile, rest assured, isn’t going to be cheering at his young daughters’ Mamba FC games (their actual club name, yes) in the Coast Soccer League.

For as much as he has used Michael Jordan (style) and Bill Russell (results) as his muses, Bryant has cited Magic Johnson (business) as his standard for moving from basketball to a big-time off-court presence…except you know that Bryant believes he can be even bigger and better.

Have no doubt: Bryant will still have his say. He might not have his way as often as he still does now as the Lakers’ marquee player, but there will be no shortage of folks eager to hear what he thinks about whoever follows in his footsteps. That means he could be one heck of a back-seat driver in a few years.

The Lakers’ entire operation is geared toward superstar identities contributing to the ongoing strength of their brand. Whenever he steps aside, Bryant will be the most relevant Lakers alum ever. Johnson has that platform currently, and he has caused Lakers management no shortage of annoyance with public statements about his old team.

It’s no secret in local circles how badly Johnson wants to be majority owner of the Lakers. Yet no matter how much Jerry Buss might’ve treated Johnson as a son (and allowed him minority ownership that Johnson has since sold), the Lakers have stayed in the actual family.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

It follows that Johnson has a unique sort of sibling rivalry with Jim Buss, Jerry’s son chosen to succeed him in charge of Lakers basketball operations. Magic’s criticisms of Jim and recent head coaches Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni have been impossible to miss—even if Johnson has shifted those opinions far too easily in whichever direction is popular at that moment.

The Lakers stemmed Johnson’s flow of venom on the coaching front by hiring his beloved former teammate, Byron Scott, this time—until Johnson still generated headlines three weeks ago at a business promotion in New York.

Johnson said, according to Newsday: “I hope the Lakers lose every game, because if you’re going to lose, lose. I’m serious. If you’re going to lose, you have to lose, because you can’t be in the middle of the pack. You either have to be great or you have to be bad to get a good pick.”

To have someone as prominent as Magic getting behind the tanking concept is noteworthy—even if Johnson was, again, rather uninformed. He followed up later from his Twitter account: 

In reality, the Lakers can’t possibly have a middle-of-the-pack lottery pick, because it would be conveyed to the Phoenix Suns as part of the 2012 Steve Nash trade. The pick stays with the Lakers only if it falls in the top five of the draft, whether Johnson gets it or not.

When asked about Johnson's arguing that the current Lakers should lose, Bryant wasn’t ruffled one bit. “He’s used to being an owner,” Bryant said. “He’s an owner of the Dodgers; he was an owner of the Lakers. That’s speaking from an owner’s perspective. … From an owner’s perspective, his opinion is to get top picks and to be able to use those as leverage to trade and get a competitive team and so on. From where I’m sitting, I just look at his point of view.”

Bryant knows Johnson is being businesslike—and he knows Johnson’s words carry exceptional power. And if in 2016-17 Bryant isn’t still on the court, he’ll be in an even mightier position to declare that the Lakers need to make a trade or Julius Randle isn’t working hard enough or (insert prized free agent’s name) needs to be a tougher leader like he was.

Bryant isn’t going to recede into the woods and waters of Arkansas like Karl Malone, and Bryant isn’t going to be held back by awkwardness or shaky people skills the way Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been. Those are the only guys to have scored more points in the NBA than Bryant, and neither played when the world was this flat.

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Bryant’s aptitude with social media is obvious (he won NBA TV’s inaugural “Social MVP Award”), and he is increasingly unrestrained when speaking on all topics.

He used LeBron James’ NBA Finals cramping to get a plug in for his BodyArmor sports drink last June and just did it again in his post-victory walk-off interview Tuesday, explaining feeling better to Time Warner Cable SportsNet’s Lakers sideline reporter Mike Trudell by saying: “Rest, hydration, a lot of BodyArmor.”

Kobe Inc. is about business opportunities but also the vehicle whereby Bryant plans to redefine and inspire beyond basketball. If Bryant has his way in the future, his voice will only grow stronger.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.