Kobe Bryant Moving Up the All-Time Scoring List

Kobe Bryant is arguably the greatest player of his generation. Throughout his 14-year career, he has collected five NBA Finals rings, two NBA Finals MVP awards, a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics, two scoring titles, 13 All-Star Game appearances, three All-Star MVP awards, one NBA MVP award and has been selected to 12 All-NBA Teams and 10 All-NBA Defensive Teams.

Kobe has received a lot of criticism throughout his career.  He was either the young hotshot as a rookie who thought he could do it all, or he was the sidekick who couldn't succeed without Shaq. Then he became the gunner who didn't trust his teammates. What can you say about him now?

Since Shaquille O'Neal's departure from Los Angeles after the 2004 season, where the Lakers fell short to the Detroit Pistons, Kobe was looked at as the great talent who couldn't lead his team to the NBA Finals without Shaq.

Kobe eventually made his way back to the biggest stage of NBA basketball, the NBA Finals. Bryant has led his team to the Finals the past three seasons, consisting of one loss to the Boston Celtics in 2008, a victory against the Orlando Magic in 2009 and becoming a back-to-back champion yet again in 2010 against the Celtics.

One of the biggest criticisms of Bryant was his "gunner" personality on the court. Kobe put that side of him to rest when participated in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Kobe committed to being the teams defensive stopper and scoring when needed. In the gold medal round against Spain, when the Redeem Team needed a big shot, Kobe Bryant came through with a clutch four-point play.

With the Lakers recent struggles, many people are beginning to once again criticize the man who proclaims himself the Black Mamba. However, Kobe's doing the only thing he knows to do when his team is struggling, and that is take the reins and try to will them to a win.

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