He then retired from the league and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. As it stands now, Durant is thirteenth all-time in NBA scoring at 26,892 factors at 34 years old and has led the NBA in scoring on four different occasions. He’s additionally the youngest scoring champion ever after his spectacular 2009–10 campaign when he led all scorers at just 21 years old. Kobe Bryant wrote a 2017 piece for The Players Tribune entitled "Obsession is Natural".

He is the youngest participant to score 26,000 career points. He actually held lots of the "youngest" information within the NBA, but LeBron James is catching him in many categories. Jeanie Buss has positioned herself as the defining drive for this period of Laker basketball and within the course of honored the legacy of her late father.

The new NBA 2K24 won't solely function a slam dunk-worthy lineup of gamers to select from, however comes in a quantity of covers, including two with the legendary Kobe Bryant on entrance, which you will be able to acquire. We were in a battle with him, and we have been attempting to be one of the best player on the earth, just like he was. I grew up with Jordan, Jordan is my favorite participant of all time. But after I obtained within the game, Kobe Bryant was that bar for all of us and make no mistake about it we have been trying to make him proud. We by no means in all probability spoke it, stated it to the media, or said it to him, however deep down inside, that’s what we had been trying to do. And I assume he knew, as a end result of the way that we competed versus one another.

What I did adjust, though, was how I diversified my strategy from participant to participant, enterprise to business. I nonetheless challenge everybody and make them uncomfortable; I just do it in a way that is tailored to them. To be taught what would work and for who, I do homework and watch how they behave. I learn their histories and hearken to what their targets are. I learn what makes them feel safe and the place their biggest doubts lay. Once I perceive them, I may help deliver the most effective out of them by touching the proper nerve on the proper time.

Nobody is going to control my profession or my life.” He is wildly discursive, however never with out objective. At one point, I ask him how the aesthetics of basketball have changed as a outcome of rise of superior metrics, a trend that has devalued the mid-range bounce shot . This drifts into a meditation on well-liked metrics like “plus-minus,” which Bryant sees as a approach to measure shifts in momentum with out explaining why these shifts occur. He concludes by noting that “guys like Henry Abbott really are on to one thing,” which is mostly interesting as a outcome of Henry Abbott is the same guy who wrote the aforementioned ESPN article about free agents not desirous to go to Los Angeles . A jiffy earlier, I’d asked how he feels about those that assume he shoots an excessive amount of. He responded by evaluating himself to an 18th century Austrian.

In Boston on February 10, Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points within the second half as the Lakers rallied from an early 15-point deficit for a 92–86 win over the Celtics. It was the Lakers' first victory of the season against one of many league's high four teams, as they entered the sport 0–5 in previous matchups and had been outscored by a median of 11 factors. During the season, Bryant moved from twelfth to 6th place on the NBA all-time career scoring listing, passing John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, and Moses Malone.

A variety of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new number, in addition to his persevering with All-Star efficiency on the courtroom. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers had been as soon as once more eradicated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, 4–1. The 2005–06 NBA season would mark a crossroads in Bryant's basketball profession. Despite previous variations with Bryant, Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers.

But Douglas-Roberts made an impression on Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford, who went on to be the top coach in Charlotte. He also caught the attention of his momentary teammate Bryant, who appreciated Douglas-Roberts' tenacity and willpower to improve—and openly supplied secrets to success. Bryant has received the post-Shaq title he needed in '09, and now it's a 12 months later and Bryant hopes to redeem the Lakers' '08 loss to Boston within the Finals and beat the Celtics within the '10 championship series.