What Does Kobe Bryant Have Left to Prove to Rest of the NBA?

Long the poster boy for defiance, determination and self-scissored destiny, Kobe Bryant's to-do list shouldn't include the burden of proof. Nearly two decades of accolades—both collective and individual—should stand alone, speaking for themselves, saying all there is to say.

But Kobe Bryant is Kobe Bryant. Real or make-believe, there would always be something left for him to prove to the Los Angeles Lakers, to his peers and to the NBA at large.

Similar careers are winding down in dissimilar fashion. Tim Duncan has nothing left to prove five championships and 17 years in. Not even the harshest critics are looking for Kevin Garnett to use his 20th season as a clock-contemning renaissance. 

Like always, Bryant remains different.

With the end swiftly approaching, and with almost 18 months of atypical hardship in his rearview mirror, Bryant enters the final phase of his career on a different mission, facing a new opponent: the gap between who he once was and who he is now. 

 

Doing More (or the Same) with Less



Physical limits aren't a concept Bryant has ever accepted or acknowledged. Minutes caps have been foreign. Injuries are annoyances that can be swatted away like gnats. Weaknesses only exist if you admit to them.

Bryant is the same player who ruptured his Achilles, tried to walk it off and then sank two free throws before beginning this long, winding, uncertain road he's still on. The day he copped to being human—and was serious—would be the day basketball was played on the moon.

That day has come and gone, and the Intergalactic Basketball Association (IBA) still hasn't been formed.

Battling injury has forced Bryant to prepare for the end; preparing for the end has left him pensive and candid—a process that began prior to 2012-13 but accelerated in the wake of abrupt strife. Where Bryant onc...