Kobe Bryant has cemented himself as the face of resilience not just on NBA hardwood but outside of it as well. ‘Mamba Mentality’ is synonymous with the mindset of always pushing beyond your limits. One limit that Bryant found hard to push back against however, was his coach’s wishes during the 2000 NBA Finals.
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The amount of injuries Kobe suffered throughout his 20-year career is borderline laughable. One of his most significant in terms of timing was his ankle sprain during Game 2 of Pacers-Lakers.
Bryant would land on Jalen Rose’s foot with 3:05 left in the first quarter and after trying to shake it off and stay in the game, he would exit and not return. The Lakers did win Game 2 111-104 with Shaquille O’Neal dropping an otherworldly 40 and 24 to push the purple and gold up two games to none.
Game 3 however, would be a different story. Kobe was sidelined due to his ankle sprain, much to his chagrin. He protested this decision vehemently as Phil Jackson would recall.
“You’re not good enough. I’m not going to play you,” said Phil to Kobe. “He was mad at me because he couldn’t play in that game.”
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The Lakers ended up losing Game 3 with Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose combining for 54 points. Desperate to go up 3-1, Kobe returned. Luckily for him the time between Game 2 and Game 4 was five days which gave him enough rest to be serviceable.
‘Serviceable’ might not be the apt word here as he carried the Lakers to a win after Shaq had fouled out. He dropped 8 points on 4-5 FG shooting in the OT period to finish the game with 27 points.
The Lakers ended up winning the series in 6 games and this was Kobe’s official coming out party. He was no longer the ‘Robin’ to Shaq’s ‘Batman’ but rather the ‘Batman’ to Shaq’s ‘Superman’ going forward.
Phil always gave Kobe his props
Phil has always been impressed with Bryant. Sure, there was a time when he complained about Kobe’s attitude but when it came strictly to his ball-playing abilities, there were no qualms.
He even admitted years prior that he gave him roles that he never gave Michael Jordan, claiming Kobe is the best all-around basketball player he’s ever been around.
“Kobe’s become the floor leader of a basketball team that was kind of looking for that nature of a player. Who could not only be a scorer but also be a playmaker or consistently make big plays at critical times.”
This is high praise considering that Phil coached Scottie Pippen, one of the greatest Swiss-army knives the NBA has ever seen. Combine Kobe’s wholistic game with his intention to always push beyond what others deem possible and you have a recipe for an all-time great.
