Kobe Finally Enjoys a Title!
O on June 15th, 2009
If Kobe Bryant seemed happier than he has ever been when winning an NBA title, it was because he was. Now no one is happier than the first time they win a championship, but for Kobe, this felt like the first time. When Kobe first won a NBA title, he was twenty-one years old and was compared with Michael Jordan almost as often as he heard his name. When Kobe won his second title, when everyone else was celebrating, Kobe cried by himself in the shower with the turmoil with his family concerning his new marriage and his teammates with his new growth. When Kobe won his third title, he was evolving, but no one wanted him to change or grow into anything more than what he already was. With three NBA titles at the age of twenty-three, Kobe wanted more while everyone else was happy with what was going on.
This was where his famous feud with Shaquille O’Neal always came into play. While Shaq thought Kobe was all into himself, Kobe thought the very same thing about Shaq, especially when Shaq would show up out of shape and use the season to play himself into shape. This led to conflict between the two superstars that also led to the split between them in the offseason of 2004, which got more attention in any sporting event that season. Shaq was traded to Miami and Kobe was left to take the total blame for the fall of the Lakers.
What never gets talked about is how the Lakers got rid of everyone and bought a whole new team to Kobe, one that did not nearly resemble the team that went to the NBA finals in 2004. Kobe had to start over with a team that not only had no shot for the championship, but a team that did not even make the playoffs. All of the blame went to Kobe, who had also just gotten over a rape trial that threaten not only his freedom, but also his marriage. Not much seemed to have gone right for Kobe, but it made him grow up, something that he had not been able to do early on in his career.
After three seasons of not making it past the first round of the playoffs, Kobe had enough and squarely put the pressure of improving the Lakers on the front office. In turn, they brought in players such as Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown, but the two biggest moves that made the Lakers championship contenders was when they bought in Derek Fisher, who came back to the Lakers after being on the first three titles with Kobe, and Pau Gasol, who brought Kobe a number-two option, something Kobe had never had before. The front office did their job and now it was up to Kobe to do his.
Since the trade for Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant has been on a roll. He won his first MVP later that season and led the Lakers to their first NBA finals appearance since 2004, but they lost to the hated Boston Celtics. During the summer, he led the national team to a gold medal victory over Spain and his new teammate Gasol. Finally, Kobe led the Lakers back to the NBA finals and this time, they won the title that had eluded him for seven years and he won the NBA finals MVP. He celebrated like it was the first time, which for him it may have been. Now there was finally a championship title that he could enjoy.
