After the departure of O’Neal a very interesting thing happened to Bryant, he had to start over. He had tasted the success of championships and had been to the top of the mountain, but he was now nothing more than a spectacular player on an average team. Looking back now it is easy to see that the worst years, by team record, in Bryant’s career were the final missing pieces in what has become a legendary puzzle. Bryant learned, painfully and brutally, just how hard it is to cement a legacy and become a legend. Sure Sportscenter and YouTube loved his scoring binges, culminating in a breathtaking 81 point explosion in January of 2006, but the team was struggling and the pressure continued to bury Bryant.
According to the fans and the media this is exactly what Bryant wanted, his own team to manipulate and lead, and Bryant was coming up short. The pressure continued to mount, continued to pile onto Bryant’s already loaded shoulders. The doubt crept in even more as the ghost of Shaquille O’Neal loomed larger with every loss and every Bryant shortcoming. However, like he had done in the past, in every previous instance where he was told he could not, Bryant came out and proved that he could, and more importantly, that he would.
February 1st, 2008. A normal Thursday night turned into a Friday that would change the future of the Lakers, and give Bryant a chance to reach the summit once more. The Lakers traded for Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol in wake of a devastating injury to young center Andrew Bynum, and they never looked back. Soaring to the top seed in the Western Conferece, the Lakers were once again a powerhouse, and at the center of this finely tuned machine was a familiar character in a new role.
Bryant was the man on a championship caliber team, and he proved it. Running away with the NBA Most Valuable Player award in 2007-2008, the first, and so far only one of his career, Bryant took a team that began the season in turmoil and pushed them deep into the playoffs. However even then, when it seemed Bryant’s redemption was finally upon him, it disappeared.
The Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in six games, with the most pivotal moment of the series being a 24 point Lakers collapse at the end of Game 4 that ultimately sealed their fate. The critics were out again to prove Bryant couldn’t do it. He wasn’t tough enough, he wasn’t strong enough mentally, and he just couldn’t do it on his own. While many people felt Bryant was finished there was one man who knew he wasn’t, who knew that Bryant would never stop fighting for his legacy, and that man was the only one who truly mattered. That man was Kobe Bryant.