Kobe Bryant: Will a Missed Season Affect the Black Mamba’s Ending?

The NBA lockout is creeping through the year like that stench you can barely sense, but every now and then it implodes through your nostrils. Sure, the imagery is a bit devastating on that metaphor, but I am sure you understand what I mean.

With the NFL season in full swing and college football allowing any broken hearts to temporarily mend for Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, the NBA lockout is sometimes seen as the replacement news when there are not any new developments in the NFL or MLB, which has been close to zero. Still, there is something that has consistently settled on my mind since the talks of a possible labor situation in the NBA were established a while ago.

What will a shortened season to do the veterans of the league who are seen as possibly over the hill or in their last days?

Not saying that Kobe Bryant stands at the forefront of the list of men that should consider retirement in the next season. However, chipping off months of time of professional basketball playing towards the end of his career seems like it may affect the mark he leaves on the league.

Yes, it may seem as if the gun is being jumped just a tad here. Most of you think that, with five championship rings, Bryant is sitting pretty in everyone’s minds as one of the greatest players to ever grace the big stage. Not only are his statistics encompassing, but the manner in which his career skyrocketed into legendary status within just a few years is what makes Bryant such a mesmerizing figure in the history of the league.

He is one of the top 10 scorers of all time and the past, present and future leader of one of the most polarizing franchises in the country. The Los Angeles Lakers are a brand that seems solely built around Kobe Bryant at the moment, and he seems more than comfortable with that role.



However, last season’s end brought up a lot of questions. There were so many mistakes ...

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