Kobe Bryant Painting a New Portrait of Career in His Return to Court for Lakers
SAN DIEGO — When Kobe Bryant took a trip through Europe a year ago, he wanted his daughters to experience some of the culture while there.
A quick visit to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy, was arranged. The result was a far cry from the public madhouse on the scale of Kobe in China, but the Italians and tourists there still swarmed around and trailed behind Bryant—and snapped photo upon photo of him while museum security offered minimal protection in enforcing the house rule of no photos allowed in the museum.
When it came to Michelangelo's "David," though, security firmed up: No photos allowed…except the cameras continued to click all around Bryant.
It took Kobe's wife, Vanessa, to point out the odd double standard, and the Bryants were afforded a quick pic of the statue of David.
The broader point was plain: In this day and age, Kobe has put together a body of work that qualifies him as his own work of art.
And it's still a work in progress.
Bryant made his much-anticipated return to his usual public forum Monday night in the Los Angeles Lakers' exhibition opener.
Fortunately for Lakers fans, Bryant wasn't statuesque—even if the lift on his jumper is a far cry from where it used to be.
Bryant scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting in 21 minutes of the Lakers' 98-95 victory over the Denver Nuggets. It was his first NBA game in 10 months since a knee fracture derailed his Achilles comeback, and this first step was categorized a success by all involved.
But especially by the guy who has grown very tired of health questions and answered them Monday night by being more active defensively, in accordance with new Lakers coach Byron Scott's demands, than he has in years.
"Felt fine," Bryant said. "Felt like I could do anything I wanted."
To be clear, Bryant means he felt healthy—not necessarily unstoppable.
It wasn't an easy situation with a top defender on him early in the game in Arron Afflalo, who studied Bryant as a fan growing up in L.A., studied him further as a pro tasked with defending him and studied him even more as a peer in his prime trying to play more like him.
Afflalo worked hard to prevent any pretty painting while he was on watch, but there was still no stopping the picturesque fadeaway shots that Bryant has taken to lofting with greater arc. Bryant hit a few such shots over the smaller Randy Foye, including one so lovely that everyone on the Lakers bench looked up at the scoreboard in search of a replay.
"It was great to see. He made a lot of his patented tough fadeaways," Steve Nash said.
Said Scott: "Just looked like Kobe. The way he was moving, the way he was able to do that patented fall-away."
Whereas museums have to prohibit photographs for exclusivity, art in today's marketplace can just get patented.
Michelangelo sculpted "David" in secrecy for two years, not wanting to put his unfinished product out there. Bryant was the same way with this comeback—a curtain to hide him at the gym during his offseason workouts, no cameras permitted for his late-summer scrimmaging in the Lakers practice gym.
In comparison to the drills and games over the past week in Scott's first Lakers training camp—Scott often runs the players for two hours before they even scrimmage—this exhibition game was light work.
At one point, Denver's Kenneth Faried—he of the "Manimal" nickname—while in pursuit of an offensive rebound, powered Bryant deep under his own basket to the point that Bryant wound up stooped over. Faried immediately checked on Bryant's health, same as all the reporters keep doing, to which Bryant scowled an annoyed reply to show he doesn't want opponents worried he's fragile either.
Bryant's confidence has been bolstered by his ability in practice to take his basketball IQ and make low-impact shots from his favorite spots on the court—and stay healthy doing it. Teammate Nick Young tore a ligament Thursday when his steal attempt led him to bang his thumb on Bryant's elbow, prompting Bryant to explain to Young: "My body is made of steel, that's why."
Steel, plaster or flesh and bone—Bryant's body feels fine, and the smile on his face during his exhibition unveiling reflected it.
When Bryant disagreed with the referees, he smiled about it. When he forced a bad shot, he smiled about that. When he exited the game for good after playing the entire third quarter, he smiled an awful lot.
On just about any other night of his career, this would've been an utterly forgettable preseason outing.
But this is the start of Year 19, tying John Stockton in all-time longevity with a single NBA team—ahead of Tim Duncan, Reggie Miller and Karl Malone at 18 and Dirk Nowitzki and Hakeem Olajuwon at 17.
Most of his career, Bryant has had his speed bursts and acrobatic dunks to turn to. He has been a championship favorite or contender.
He can still aspire to all those things, but there's less and less of that front-running these days. This is Bryant's time to remember that David's victory arose from cleverness, not power—and that David was sculpted so famously as a thinking man, not a fighter.
Bryant has always been a craftsman, but the modern era of Kobe as underdog is upon us, too.
For a team, franchise and fanbase in flux, Bryant must be both artist and model.
Bryant, who earlier this year patterned a version of his Nike Kobe 9 sneaker as a tribute to Michelangelo and embarked upon a documentary titled Kobe Bryant's Muse, understands.
Art, in both manufacture and appreciation, is about inspiration.
Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
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