Kobe Bryant, the fading star

That night the 1996 draft tension could be cut into the meeting room of the Lakers . Jerry West , a history of the franchise now work manager, breathing relieved in each round passed without any team he chose to that lanky kid he dreamed since I saw him in action with just 17 ​​years in a private test. The Lakers had hatched a plan to seize him, Kobe Bryant showed signs, but whose youth backed down to most franchises. The way to take him to Los Angeles was to convince the Hornets, who selected him in the 13th and transferred to the Lakers for Vlade Divac . An operation at that time few imagined that would change forever the history of the NBA.

Kobe Bryant this morning which played his last game as professionally has been the great protagonist of the last two decades in the NBA. A special player, unable to never settle and continuous learning. Twenty years leading the Lakers, who he led the ring five times, and chasing the shadow of Michael Jordan. the legend of the Bulls was his model and his obsession. The player who aspired to emulate. The largest in history, whose six rings have long stayed away from Bryant.

The decline of the Lakers in recent years also engulfed Kobe. Unable to overcome the departure of Pau and leading a failed reconstruction, Bryant announced earlier this season his farewell after two years of continuous injuries.

Gone were the happy years with Phil Jackson, the coach who best understood his play and that made ​​him champion five times in two different stages. In the first, just three years after arriving in the league, he had as squire to Shaquille O'Neal , with whom he formed an almost invincible couple that led the Lakers to achieve three championships in a row (2000-2002). If its hegemony lasted was the clash of egos, perhaps the biggest problem of Kobe, which cost him assimilate the power forward role rob him in those final.

The emergence of Pau Gasol
Progress Bryant O'Neal left as the undisputed leader of the Lakers, but

Pau Gasol - The emotional farewell letter to Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant played this morning the last game of his brilliant career. One of the best players in NBA history to put an end to his career after twenty years in the elite , of which six and a half shared with Pau Gasol, lograndos two rings. Those feats in the Lakers carved a great friendship between the two and now, hours of goodbye, Pau wanted to pay tribute to Kobe with a letter full of feelings and emotions.

LETTER INTEGRA PAU

"On my first day with the Lakers, I met the team at the Ritz in Washington DC and 1:30 am someone knocked on my door. That's how I discovered that Kobe does not sleep much. I sat on the bed, I think, and he sat at the table next to the television. He welcomed me to the team and told me it was time. It was time to win. He felt that I could take it to the top again and wanted to make sure I knew it. "This is our chance," he said. For me that meeting was very meaningful.

Much of the triangle offense is based on reading and understand each other. I understand the game. He was very meticulous with it. And I think he appreciated it . It was fresh air. Our relationship conceded from the start. We both knew we needed each other to succeed.

There are many games in the NBA, this causes it easy to get carried away. He kept us all at bay. In training he challenged people. He spoke ill of others. This does not hold everyone. Some players can not with this, but I did not care. It was his way of motivating us and push us to us to give more. It is easy to accommodate. He made ​​sure that no one did.

After losing the sixth game against the Celtics in late 2008, we did not talk much about it. It was time to digest what had happened and why we had fallen short and let the fire began to burn up inside. We arrived the next season with a different, more aggressive and more determined attitude, with a stronger focus. I think that was the reason we won the next two titles.