Vanessa Bryant said Kobe Bryant would’ve loved to thank his haters at his Hall of Fame Induction, causing Michael Jordan to smile.
Kobe Bryant ended his career with nothing left to prove. During his days with Shaq at his side, his doubters claimed he couldn’t do it while being a lone superstar on the Lakers. Bryant used this as fuel to eventually hoist two consecutive Larry O’Brien trophies while have a great supporting cast around him and him indeed being, the lone, all-time great talent on the roster.
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Apart from his final, 20th season in the league, there was not a single moment of Kobe Bryant’s career where he didn’t have a faction of people ‘hating’ on him. Whether it was salty fans who were distraught at the thought of the Black Mamba taking their team down yet again, or simply trolls not willing to appreciate greatness, Kobe had doubters scattered all over the globe.
Even during the twilight of his career, Kobe Bryant made it clear that the only reason he wasn’t dominating the game at 34 years of age, just as he did when he was 24, was due to season ending injuries and nothing else. As Vanessa Bryant said, if it was up to him and not the medical, Kobe would’ve suited up regardless of the severity of the injury.
Vanessa Bryant’s incredible speech chronicling Kobe Bryant’s love for proving his doubters wrong made Michael Jordan.
Last night’s Hall of Fame inductees were headlined by Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan; a class that is perhaps the greatest to have ever existed. Vanessa Bryant took center stage last night to deliver a near perfect and equally as powerful speech, honoring her late husband’s accomplishments throughout his illustrious career.
At one point during her speech, Vanessa stopped to say that Kobe Bryant would’ve loved to thank his haters and doubters. “Kobe would thank all of you people who helped him get here, including the people that doubted him. After all, he proved you wrong.”
This not only made the crowd erupt with applause, but also made Michael Jordan crack a big grin across his face; because it’s true. The 18x All-Star would’ve absolutely loved to thank his doubters for providing him with enough fuel to take his game to the next level each and every time. He would most probably have taken it a step further and called out his doubters and haters by name too.
As usual, NBA Twitter blew up upon seeing this moment in Vanessa Bryant’s speech as they claimed he did an incredible job in capturing the essence of what a Kobe Bryant Hall of Fame Induction speech would sound like.
