From the day Kobe Bryant announced he would be skipping college and “taking his talents” straight to the NBA, I did not like the guy. 

I abhorred everything about Bryant, from the goofy way in which he grew his hair during his first couple of years in the league to his borderline-creepy Adidas commercials. 

Looking back, I am not sure what it was about Kobe Bryant that boiled my blood so much.  Maybe it was the arrogant manner in which he carried himself before accomplishing anything in the NBA; the way he openly compared himself to His Airness. 

Maybe it was the ’98 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden—Michael Jordan’s final All-Star Game (’02 and ’03 with the Wizards never happened).

Kobe bent over backwards to steal the show on a night Jordan’s greatness was supposed to be celebrated, not challenged by a punk kid who, at the time, couldn’t crack the starting lineup of his own team. 

On the other hand, maybe I hated Bryant because I was forced to wear No. 8 during that basketball season because they did not have the numbers I wanted in my size. 

Either way, Kobe was front and center in Dan Love’s Burn Book.

I detested Bryant’s meteoric rise to the top of the NBA as he, along with Shaquille O’Neal, catapulted the L.A. Lakers’ mini-dynasty to three consecutive NBA Championships from 2000-2002. 

The more Kobe Bryant won, the more he grew and began to establish himself as “The Next Big Thing,” the more the inner Jordan fanatic in me became threatened by this “punk kid.”  

Although I am somewhat ashamed to admit it now—I thoroughly enjoyed the rapid fall of Kobe Bryant after the 2003 season.  After the Lakers disintegrated in the ’03 playoffs, Kobe’s wheels fell off shortly after Bryant underwent knee surgery in Colorado.  

We all know what happened there.  On top of the rape charges against him, Kobe’s feud with Shaquille O’Neal reached new levels as the two exchanged verbal blows in the media, and a split seemed imminent. 

FAN-tastic, I thought joyfully, as the MJ comparisons temporarily stopped.  I loved it.  

Despite troubles off the court, Bryant’s Lakers loaded up that season—adding veteran stars Karl Malone and Gary Payton—reached the 2004 NBA Finals and were heavily favored to beat the Detroit Pistons for the Lake Show’s fourth title in five years. 

Initially, the old worries began to creep back into my thoughts, however, much to my delight, the Lakers imploded during the finals. 

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