NBA Notes: Kobe Bryant Entering the Hall of Fame is a Bittersweet Moment for Fans

By: Jordan Vitkauskas

With the delayed 2020 NBA Hall of Fame ceremony will finally take place this Saturday, it’s time to break down what is surely a bittersweet moment as Lakers’ legend Kobe Bryant will be inducted posthumously. Jordan Vitkauskas takes a look at Bryant’s illustrious basketball career and resume, and discusses just what it means to see the Lakers’ legend enter among the greats in Springfield, Mass.

The 2020 NBA Hall of Fame class can be found here

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“Kobe Bryant will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday.” It’s a sentence I’ve read and heard online and on television over the past few days. It’s something I have been waiting to see since I was barely old enough to remember learning about basketball. And yet, with all the noise made about one of the most star-studded classes ever (Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett headline the event), it remains just another reminder of the tragic passing of Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven others almost 16 months ago in Calabasas.

The NBA and the Bryant family have done all they can to move on positively since that day. Fans invaded the ground outside Staples Center for over a week to bring gifts and tributes, and mourn together. There was the beautiful celebration of life almost a month later that saw the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, and of course, Vanessa Bryant speak kind and loving words about the lives of Kobe and Gianna. Former Lakers’ fan-favorite Pau Gasol and Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson (along with their wife and kids) have spent countless days with the Bryant family doing fun things such as snow tubing and going to Disneyland. In short, it’s taken a village to help mend a wound that can never truly be healed.

As for Bryant’s chances of being inducted, they were sealed sometime around the 2003 range, after three titles and many All-Star and All-NBA seasons. He added on to that resume over the next few years, claiming league MVP in 2008, winning back-to-back titles in 2009-10 (along with both Finals MVP awards) and of course, maintaining a regular stay on the All-NBA and All-Defense teams until the 2012-13 season when he tore his Achilles. Overall, Bryant’s basketball resume is near the top of the all-time greats:

5x NBA Champion
33,643 career points (4th-most ever)
18x All-Star
15x All-NBA
12x All-Defense
2x Finals MVP
4x All-Star MVP
2x Scoring Champion
2x Olympic Gold Medalist
2007-08 MVP
1997 Slam Dunk Champion
All-Rookie Second Team

That list doesn’t include the 33 Player of the Week awards, overall career stats, and countless game-winning shots. On top of it all, Bryant is going in with Duncan (top-10 player ever) and Garnett (top-30 player ever); not to mention coaching greats Rudy Tomjanovich and Kim Mulkey. It’s one of the best Hall of Fame classes ever, which feels fitting for Bryant as he came into the league with one of the best draft classes ever in 1996 (Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, and Steve Nash were also in that class).

Image courtesy of SUNY / The State Times.

In reality, being voted into the Hall of Fame in any sport is an appreciation by your peers of the hard work and years of service a player or coach gives to the game he/she loves. That does not ring any more true than with Kobe, as he dedicated more hours to training and practice than perhaps anyone in league history. He spent countless hours in the gym and on the court, perfecting his craft and beginning workouts at 4 am when everyone else didn’t get in until 6 am. Bryant set the standard for how to become great. Make no mistake, he had natural God-given abilities but was not even close to the talent level of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and even guys like Tracy McGrady/Vince Carter. Everything Bryant had to grind and claw his way to mastering things on a basketball court. He only knew one speed – 100%. Altogether it was the “Mamba Mentality” that Bryant coined as a phrase in the mid-2000s, and one that has stuck with this new generation of NBA talent.

A lot has changed since January of 2020. We’ve gotten (mostly) through a global pandemic. Fans are allowed back at sporting events. We changed Presidents. The country is now in the midst of a gas shortage. But the void of not having Kobe and Gianna on this Earth remains. For die-hard fans such as myself, rarely does a day go by where the two of them do not cross my mind in some capacity. It took almost a whole year to stop crying on holidays and when special Lakers’ memories popped up on social media. Knowing that Kobe and Gigi don’t get to wake up next to their family every day is a thought that will never feel close to normal or right. I cannot imagine how Vanessa and her daughters/close family have been able to deal with that reality day to day. Their strength is more than that of any Marvel superhero.

The Bryant family at Kobe’s jersey retirement ceremony. Image courtesy of KTLA

With all of that said, Saturday evening should bring about happy memories and the subsequent standing ovations from Kobe’s peers and friends will help, if just for one night. Vanessa will speak on behalf of Bryant and is being presented by none other than Michael Jordan, who recently shared his final text messages between him and his “younger brother”. His Airness also said that he wouldn’t be nervous presenting Kobe, telling ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan “I’m not going to be nervous about showing emotions for someone I absolutely loved” in a recent interview.

I wrote this article, not with sadness, but with pride and joy that my favorite basketball player ever is finally going to the Hall of Fame. Kobe gave me a lifetime of memories, highlights, quotes, and everything a kid who loves basketball could ever ask for. I would not be as passionate about the game without him. I would not study the game as closely without him. And of course, I would not love the game as much without him. There may be a few tears shed on Saturday, but they will be out of happiness and pride that my guy, my GOAT will be elected the to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. That’s an honor that only 177 players have ever been lucky enough to have bestowed on them. I have two invites to parties from close friends Saturday. I’ve politely turned them down because there’s nowhere else I would rather be than watching that ceremony. My outfit for the night, you ask? My 2009 gold Lakers #24 jersey, athletic shorts, and of course, my Adidas purple, black and white Kobe 8’s that he wore for the ’97 dunk contest. They only come out on special occasions and I can think of none more fitting than this one.

For a few hours on Saturday evening, the NBA community will once again come together to celebrate and honor the basketball career of the late, great Kobe Bryant, as he takes his rightful place among the NBA’s elite. Surely Kobe and Gigi will be looking down and smiling upon their family and friends, having just wrapped up a 1-on-1 game of their own.