We have been talking a lot about Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers lately.
That is because August 23 would have been Bryant’s 44th birthday and August 24 is known as Mamba Day.
All in all, this has all amounted to a wonderful, thoughtful celebration of Bryant, his career, his life, and his place in the history of the NBA.
When it comes to the Lakers, few players can rival Bryant.
Lakers franchise records:
Games — Kobe
Minutes — Kobe
Wins — Kobe
Points — Kobe
Field Goals — Kobe
Threes — Kobe
Free Throws — KobeDo all those stats for the playoffs and they’re all Kobe too. pic.twitter.com/36Gx9Py6GV
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 24, 2022
He remains the franchise leader for games played, minutes, wins, points, field goals, three-pointers, and free throws.
Oh, and another thing: he holds all those records for the playoffs too.
With all of that said, how can anyone say Bryant isn’t the best Laker ever and one of the greatest players in the history of the league?
Lakers Legend
It’s now gotten to the point where most everyone – regardless of their love or hate of Bryant – can agree that few people have been like him.
Even during his career and lifetime, people knew that Bryant was one of the greatest to ever suit up and take to the basketball court.
But following his passing, there has been a lot more attention paid to him and the career he had.
People also remark about Bryant’s shortcomings (he was often a prickly player, didn’t always work well with others, relied on himself and only himself far too often) but when it comes to how he played, the good definitely outweighed the bad.
While most of these records will eventually be surpassed by others, Bryant’s place in Lakers – and NBA – history will never be tarnished or overcome by others.
There simply hasn’t ever been a Laker like the Black Mamba.
NEXT: The NBA Shares A Special Kobe Bryant Video On His Day