The Black Mamba says goodbye

Kobe Bryant played his last NBA game two days ago, putting an end to a 20-year career that places him in the legends league of NBA History.

Thanks for everything Kobe.

In a previous post where I addressed the NBA top players of all time, I ranked Kobe at 10th and that was as high as I could place him, considering the 9 fellas that are ranked higher than him are, well... better.

To me, Kobe was a great individual player who succeeded through a combination of hard work, dedication, discipline, ethics, commitment to the game, and several other positive qualities. His first five years with the Lakers he averaged 7.6, 15.4, 19.9, 22.5 and 28.5 PPG, which reflect that while he may have started a bit low-profile, he kept getting better and improving with each passing season. He won his first NBA Championship in 1999-00, in a team in which he was second fiddle to Shaquille O'Neal's prime and dominance of the paint. The partnership followed suit with two more rings in 00-01 and 01-02, until tensions between Shaq and Kobe dismantled the team after a traumatic 4-1 loss against the Detroit Pistons in the 03-04 finals. After teaming up with Spaniard center Pau Gasol, Kobe -now in the role as team leader- returned to the glory podium winning back to back rings in 08-09 and 09-10. As for our country, Kobe was part of the USA teams that won two gold medals (2008 and 2012) and the 2007 FIBA Championship.

Some of Kobe's career highlights also include:

• 33,464 points (3rd all time, after Kareem's 38,387 and Karl Malone's 36,928)
• 2xNBA Finals MVP (09 and 10)
• 18x All-Star 
• 2008 season MVP
• 11x NBA First Team, 2 times Second Team and 2 times Third Team
• 9x NBA First Defensive Team, 3 times Second Team
• 25,0 PPG career average (12th of all time)
• 25.64 PPG Playoff average (12th of all time)
• 1,944 steals (14th of all time)

Say what you will about the Black Mamba, but Kobe retires demonstrating that he was one of the greatest players of all time.

Once again, thank you Kobe.