Growing Up as Kobe Bryant - NBA's Most Valuable Player

by Bodog Sportsbook | May 7 2008

Ten-time All-Star, seven-time all-NBA defensive team selection, nine-time all-NBA selection, two-time scoring champion, three-time NBA champion... and finally, MVP. During the excitement of betting on this year’s NBA playoffs, something significant happened. It’s taken Kobe Bryant 12 years to finally be acknowledged for something that fans have known for years... he’s the best player in the NBA.


The Long Road

Kobe was a spindly high school phenom from Lower Merion High School when he was the 13th pick in the 1996 draft by the then-Charlotte Hornets. Almost immediately young Kobe made the first in a series of moves that would come to define him, to the great disappointment of opposing defenses. He got his way. Kobe decided he didn’t want to play in Charlotte and engineered a trade to the team he wanted. The Los Angeles Lakers.

After he and Shaquille O’Neal steamrolled over opponents to win three straight NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the Lakers looked poised to win a fourth championship in a row in 2003 with the additions of soon-to-be Hall of Famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Kobe, however, would spend the season defending himself in the media and in the courtroom as he flew back and forth to Colorado facing allegations of sexual assault. The charges would eventually go away, as would the Lakers’ hopes of a championship, when the old-timer mercenaries ran out of gas and fell to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals. The sting of that season would blow up the roster and set back the organization from the NBA’s elite.

Under severe media scrutiny for very public feuds with Shaq and Phil Jackson, and being blamed for their exits out of L.A., Kobe opted out of his contract and tested the free agency waters. After briefly flirting with the redheaded stepchild of professional L.A. teams, the Clippers, Kobe stayed at home signing a gigantic $107 million contract keeping him in purple and gold. The Lakers were officially Kobe’s team.

Redemption

After missing the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, there was a return of a familiar face for the 2005-06 season as Phil Jackson came out of “retirement” to the Lakers bench. Then on Jan. 22, 2006, something special happened. The kind of thing that legends are made of… Kobe lit the Toronto Raptors up and scored 81 points. The most points scored in a game since Wilt Chamberlain’s immortal 100. Kobe had become the best player on the planet. Finally, a successor to Michael Jordan had been found.

Kobe even pulled a marketing ploy worthy of his Airness: He switched his jersey number from 8 to 24. Kobe’s jersey immediately would have outsold bottled water during a drought. Even with his personal success, Kobe craved the type of respect that is reserved for the most dominant players in league history. Frustrated at not having a supporting cast, Kobe fired shots at the front office’s inability to bring in the pieces required to make a run at the title. While on a radio show, Kobe showed his frustration by demanding a trade.

Luckily for Lakers fans, he quickly changed his tune. Kobe stayed with the Lakers this season and became the youngest player ever to reach 20,000 points in NBA history. He continued to help his teammates become involved and took over the game only when it was needed. His new approach led him to two things: the No. 1 seed in the extremely competitive Western Conference and finally being named the league’s Most Valuable Player. It’s been a long 12 years for Kobe. Twelve years of growing up personally, surviving his celebrity and absolutely owning the competition.

The Real Challenge Begins...

Now Kobe races to join an elite group of NBA legends, the players who've won both the MVP and an NBA championship in the same season. In the last 30 years, only eight players have accomplished this feat. One guy did it four times, some kid named Michael Jordan, so he might have been an OK player. That means that only about a third of the time does an MVP go on to win the ultimate prize. Of course, three of those 11 times were recorded by Lakers. Bet on the rest of Kobe’s MVP season and all the NBA playoff odds at the Bodog Sportsbook.