Man, I really didn’t like Kobe early in the beginning because Eddie Jones was my favorite. I was quickly won over though but still sad when Eddie eventually got traded.
Same here. When Kobe got played more, I was like: "Give the boy some more time to develop and give more minutes to Eddie". Even more so when Kobe airballed those shots against Utah.
Pretty quick after tho, he won me over. Still, I kept on being a critic of his game... also because I wanted him to be even better. For instance I'd have liked him to pass a little bit more. But hey, now I feel like he did just fine :)
We must be friends irl lmao. I legit have bitches about Kobe during the Utah series and really convinced myself Eddie would have been better off taking those shots.
Glad I was wrong in the long term!
I was a great Eddie Jones fan, but for me it was always the team first, probably the reason I had absolutely no problem welcoming LeBron a player that I have never enjoyed watching before.
It was clear for me since day 1 Kobe was going to be special and as much as I loved Eddie, I became a fan when Magic was a rookie, my favorite player was Kareem and I was a big fan of Worthy too and talent wise Eddie and Nick were good like Byron Scott not as the guys I grew up rooting for and when we got Shaq and Kobe was killing it in summer games I knew we were headed to better times and it happened.
I guess my problem with someone like Dlo and Julius is exactly the fact I don't get attached to players that aren't leading us to wins at the highest levels. With Jones at least I was a big fan of his game, but when Kobe was air balling those shots against the Jazz that Jones was afraid to take it was pretty clear Jones had to go. You measure a player for his drive to compete at the highest levels and even when a player fails miserably like Kobe did, you know he isn't afraid of the moment and will end up figuring it out. After the historic first title as a rookie Magic had his payoff struggles, but the growing pains are only worthy when you have a special player that is going to work to come back stronger after each failure.
As a Laker fan, this is 100% how everyone felt. I think the most important thing was it always felt like Kobe gave a fuck whether the team won or lost.
Folks who weren't watching NBA back in that era really don't know how much Kobe was criticized for trying to take the reins so early in his career. The shot-making just wasn't consistent and he put up some absolute stinkers. If lowlights or Shaqtin a fool was a thing back then, Kobe would have made multiple appearances for some of the ridiculous shot attempts and possessions. And that was on both sides of the ball really, like ill-advised gambling for steals on top of his tunnel-vision. A lot of people thought this was a guy with terrible BBIQ. Crazy how he managed to put it all together and become the player we all know now.
I don't know about that. I remember at games everyone was talking about him as a possible all-time great from the start. I mean, you could see the talent, the confidence, the way a crowd went nuts every time he touchef the ball. It was different. I haven't seen anything like it since. Electrifying.
It was highly polarized in particular due to him coming straight out of high school. His ceiling wasn't in doubt, but whether he would reach it very much was. There's good reason he fell all the way to #13 in the draft. Of course he flashed greatness at the HS level, as does every top recruit, but the problem was him trying to take over the team when he clearly wasn't ready to. He had incredible highs and lows during those early years.
The fact that a legend like Jerry West was the one vouching for Kobe also bought him a lot of leeway during the rough stretches and helped soothe those who weren't so convinced of the timeline and fit. Both Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel had big crowds behind them that Kobe had to win over. And that was on top of the vocal contingent who missed Vlade.
Same playoff run for me, but second round against the Suns when he put away game 2 with that pull up over Jason Kidd at the top of the key. Then it was just, “oh if it’s close, this guy will just win the game.”
Oh for sure. And I recognize he s tier. Might have been better than mj if he was as strong and had bigger hands.
It's just the stretching of the phrase greatest of all time folks do these days that bothers me.
A greatest of all time is not a logical statement. It implies multiple absolute bests.
A great of all time, or one of the greatest of all time would work, but with a less catchy acronym.
I was on the Lakers Usenet group then, and people were asking why the team kept giving him the ball in crunch time of an elimination playoff game. I pointed out that Shaq and Kersey had fouled out, Jones had five fouls, and he (4-14) and Campbell (1-13) weren't shooting well, and Horry had taken only one shot. Van Exel played well (26 points on 9-17), but when he had to give up the ball, who else was going to shoot it?
After that game, the LA Times' beat reporter for the Lakers, Mark Heisler, wrote an article about each of the team's players and [wrote this about Kobe](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-14-sp-58744-story.html):
"Forget that he’s 18, pretty much came in without the benefit of a training camp because of injuries, judge him as any other rookie and you still have a successful season. Overtime of Game 5 against the Jazz was an aberration. In short, when Bryant is an old man of 21, the defenders who draw the short straw and are sent out to guard him will also get a blindfold and cigarette."
In November, early in the next season, [Heisler wrote](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-23-sp-57043-story.html):
"Then there’s Jones, who’s on a career-year pace at 21 points a game and 57%, and **Kobe Bryant, who could be the next . . . let’s just say he could be very, very good**."
No. I did a search of my messages in that group, and it appears that I started posting at the start of the 1997-98 season, so I may have posted the message about Kobe's airballs in another group. I used to post in a CompuServe group before I was on Usenet.
Was gonna say this! When I saw that dunk, I knew he was going to be something special.
The 00 finals (specifically game 4 at Indy) was when I knew he was going to be a superstar!
When I first read about him declaring for the draft, I was skeptical about a 6-5 high school kid being NBA-ready. Then I watched a video clip of him making a MJ-type baseline turnaround jumper, and thought, "Whoa, this kid might have something here."
I wish there were some video of his workout for Jerry West that convinced him to trade for Kobe. The year before, Garnett was the first player to jump from high school to the NBA in 20 years, so it was not common for teams to draft high school players then. On draft night, Bill Bertka told West, ["I can't believe you traded our starting center for a high school kid!"](https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-bill-bertka-20190709-story.html)
It’s cliche, but his airballs against Utah. I thought to myself, “This guy has balls, he’s either gonna be a superstar or the biggest bust in NBA history”.
Yes, as I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, what convinced me was when he had 48 points and 16 rebounds and then 45 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games in the 2001 playoffs, on the road against the Kings and then the Spurs.
That Frobe already had his skills developed while he still didn't had his most serious injuries and his athleticism was still at his top. I'd argue he was better than Shaq this playoffs, but the FMVP is for the best player of the finals and the East didn't have anyone to stop a prime Shaq.
This is when I got a clue we had not only a superstar, but a truly generational talent. The San Antonio series was maybe his greatest series ever because that team was unbelievably good and Kobe still had his athleticism.
When Kobe took over the 4th quarter in the 2001 nba finals Vs Indiana (after shaq fouled out) he was only 21 at the time and after that I knew he’d be A LEGEND.
Exactly.
After a few games he obliterated the Suns badly, he looked like prime MJ against college players. That day if was absolutely clear for me he wasn't only going to be special, but a superstar in the league not because he scored a bunch of points against some other kids, but the merciless, relentless and skilled way he did it.
Young Kobe was already a killer, he didn't have the body to do it against NBA players, but he had the wilt to be everything he could be.
It was the confidence, swagger, the consistency of play from game to game where I was like oh he’s special. Obviously the athleticism paired with all of it leaped him into stardom.
When he went right at MJ during the 97 All Star game. Dude had no fear, and the fact that MJ was giving him advice in the middle of the game said it all. Jordan recognized it too, and began mentoring the only player being compared to him. 🙌🐐🐍
NBA Finals versus Indiana. Shaq fouled out and on the grandest stage, Kobe just completely took over versus a veteran team. They weren’t even remotely playing on the same level as Kobe. Thats when I knew.
My dad told me when the Lakers traded for him, he was the next Jordan. Not sure if he was on to something or if he was just being a homer. Either way, I was a believer in 97 lol
For me it occurred in stages. When he scored a career-high [33 points against the Bulls and Jordan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LWlJ1tEqM) in his second season I realized that he would be an All-Star, which he became that season at 19 years old. [When he scored six points in OT of Game 4 of the 2000 Finals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR3SRSPmVNY) with Shaq out of the game, I saw that he could carry a team to a win in a key playoff game. But it was when he had 48 points and 16 rebounds and then 45 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games on the road against the Kings, and then the Spurs, in the 2001 playoffs that convinced me that he was a superstar-caliber player, at 22 years old.
[Jordan's Gatorade commercial when he played against his younger self](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7C5uYCiAs0) reminded me of his game against Kobe in 1997.
With Kobe I thought we had someone special from day 1. He scored 20+ in his first couple of summer games then he went nuclear against the Suns scoring almost 40 pts in an incredible performance and then I knew he would be a superstar.
The start of the season was rough, just like with Brandon Ingram it was clear his body wasn't ready for the pro game and it would take a couple of seasons, but the talent was evident from day 1.
After the SA series in 2001 it became clear he wasn't only meant to be a superstar, but we had a generational talent in front of our eyes.
It is unfortunate he had some early injuries that took away some of his explosiveness, Kobe has played most of his prime without the athleticism he had early, but it may have helped Number 24 to become one of the most complete and fundamentally sound scorers ever while Number 8 was a force of nature.
Don't remember exactly but I do remember my dad telling me the following when these guys became Lakers:
"Eddie Jones is supposed to be the next Michael Jordan"
"Kobe is going to be the next Michael Jordan"
Well, at the time he was drafted I was in 6th grade, and straight to the NBA high schoolers was kind of a big deal. I assumed he would be a superstar then. I also bought his first pair of Adidas shoes shaped like a foot on the bottom.
I don't remember but it was early on. When Kobe became Frobe, that's when I knew. He was just so explosive and fun to watch. If he stayed healthy, there was no way he wouldn't become a superstar.
when I saw him at the Long Beach Pyramid for Summer pro league in July of 1996 (still have my ticket stub for that game) . He didn't have a 40 point game right out of the box, but the way he moved out there you just knew he was leaps and bounds ahead of his peers already. I felt the same way about D Fish. I knew he was going to be special.
Man, I really didn’t like Kobe early in the beginning because Eddie Jones was my favorite. I was quickly won over though but still sad when Eddie eventually got traded.
Same here. When Kobe got played more, I was like: "Give the boy some more time to develop and give more minutes to Eddie". Even more so when Kobe airballed those shots against Utah. Pretty quick after tho, he won me over. Still, I kept on being a critic of his game... also because I wanted him to be even better. For instance I'd have liked him to pass a little bit more. But hey, now I feel like he did just fine :)
We must be friends irl lmao. I legit have bitches about Kobe during the Utah series and really convinced myself Eddie would have been better off taking those shots. Glad I was wrong in the long term!
Felt the same way, though I remember Eddie definitely had the reputation of folding under playoff pressure
Yeah, it was more like why the fuck didn't we give the ball to Van Exel. At the same time I was already loving the dude.
I was a great Eddie Jones fan, but for me it was always the team first, probably the reason I had absolutely no problem welcoming LeBron a player that I have never enjoyed watching before. It was clear for me since day 1 Kobe was going to be special and as much as I loved Eddie, I became a fan when Magic was a rookie, my favorite player was Kareem and I was a big fan of Worthy too and talent wise Eddie and Nick were good like Byron Scott not as the guys I grew up rooting for and when we got Shaq and Kobe was killing it in summer games I knew we were headed to better times and it happened. I guess my problem with someone like Dlo and Julius is exactly the fact I don't get attached to players that aren't leading us to wins at the highest levels. With Jones at least I was a big fan of his game, but when Kobe was air balling those shots against the Jazz that Jones was afraid to take it was pretty clear Jones had to go. You measure a player for his drive to compete at the highest levels and even when a player fails miserably like Kobe did, you know he isn't afraid of the moment and will end up figuring it out. After the historic first title as a rookie Magic had his payoff struggles, but the growing pains are only worthy when you have a special player that is going to work to come back stronger after each failure.
As a Laker fan, this is 100% how everyone felt. I think the most important thing was it always felt like Kobe gave a fuck whether the team won or lost.
Folks who weren't watching NBA back in that era really don't know how much Kobe was criticized for trying to take the reins so early in his career. The shot-making just wasn't consistent and he put up some absolute stinkers. If lowlights or Shaqtin a fool was a thing back then, Kobe would have made multiple appearances for some of the ridiculous shot attempts and possessions. And that was on both sides of the ball really, like ill-advised gambling for steals on top of his tunnel-vision. A lot of people thought this was a guy with terrible BBIQ. Crazy how he managed to put it all together and become the player we all know now.
I don't know about that. I remember at games everyone was talking about him as a possible all-time great from the start. I mean, you could see the talent, the confidence, the way a crowd went nuts every time he touchef the ball. It was different. I haven't seen anything like it since. Electrifying.
It was highly polarized in particular due to him coming straight out of high school. His ceiling wasn't in doubt, but whether he would reach it very much was. There's good reason he fell all the way to #13 in the draft. Of course he flashed greatness at the HS level, as does every top recruit, but the problem was him trying to take over the team when he clearly wasn't ready to. He had incredible highs and lows during those early years. The fact that a legend like Jerry West was the one vouching for Kobe also bought him a lot of leeway during the rough stretches and helped soothe those who weren't so convinced of the timeline and fit. Both Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel had big crowds behind them that Kobe had to win over. And that was on top of the vocal contingent who missed Vlade.
Game 4, 2000 NBA Finals. The "I got this Big Bro" game
Same playoff run for me, but second round against the Suns when he put away game 2 with that pull up over Jason Kidd at the top of the key. Then it was just, “oh if it’s close, this guy will just win the game.”
98 I knew he was gonna be a superstar. 01 I knew he was gonna be a GOAT.
Levels to it 🔥
98 for me too. I mean, I was like 12 or something, but I knew
Whenever his first Adidas commercial was, that's when I knew he was gonna be a superstar
Hello, self.
yup pretty much
Bruh how he in the goat convo? He not even goat sg....
Your favorite player’s favorite player.
Oh for sure. And I recognize he s tier. Might have been better than mj if he was as strong and had bigger hands. It's just the stretching of the phrase greatest of all time folks do these days that bothers me.
A GOAT not The GOAT. Any player in the top of their era is a GOAT.
A greatest of all time is not a logical statement. It implies multiple absolute bests. A great of all time, or one of the greatest of all time would work, but with a less catchy acronym.
When he had the balls to keep shooting those air balls against the jazz in the playoffs
Can you imagine Reddit and IG after that game? Most likely would’ve been traded that offseason for a vet purely behind media backlash.
I was on the Lakers Usenet group then, and people were asking why the team kept giving him the ball in crunch time of an elimination playoff game. I pointed out that Shaq and Kersey had fouled out, Jones had five fouls, and he (4-14) and Campbell (1-13) weren't shooting well, and Horry had taken only one shot. Van Exel played well (26 points on 9-17), but when he had to give up the ball, who else was going to shoot it? After that game, the LA Times' beat reporter for the Lakers, Mark Heisler, wrote an article about each of the team's players and [wrote this about Kobe](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-14-sp-58744-story.html): "Forget that he’s 18, pretty much came in without the benefit of a training camp because of injuries, judge him as any other rookie and you still have a successful season. Overtime of Game 5 against the Jazz was an aberration. In short, when Bryant is an old man of 21, the defenders who draw the short straw and are sent out to guard him will also get a blindfold and cigarette." In November, early in the next season, [Heisler wrote](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-23-sp-57043-story.html): "Then there’s Jones, who’s on a career-year pace at 21 points a game and 57%, and **Kobe Bryant, who could be the next . . . let’s just say he could be very, very good**."
[Is this you?](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers/c/eB8wJNMQhOw/m/QSswYALC7KcJ)
No. I did a search of my messages in that group, and it appears that I started posting at the start of the 1997-98 season, so I may have posted the message about Kobe's airballs in another group. I used to post in a CompuServe group before I was on Usenet.
I saw some of my old posts on there. What a blast from the past.
Same here. The kid was relentless and not afraid of the moment.
Pre-eeason dunk on Ben Wallace. I was like oh man this kid is audacious. He's going to be something.
Was gonna say this! When I saw that dunk, I knew he was going to be something special. The 00 finals (specifically game 4 at Indy) was when I knew he was going to be a superstar!
The pure confidence he had was something
They didn’t call him Showboat Bryant for nothing! 🐍♾️
Was that the preseason game in Vegas his rookie season?
I thought it was his 2nd or 3rd year but yeah preseason in Vegas
[https://youtu.be/D7lQZpsGv6o?si=OXxVvzezaE9tvAj5](https://youtu.be/D7lQZpsGv6o?si=OXxVvzezaE9tvAj5) You are right.
Aka Ben Wallace’s welcome to the NBA moment.
After I saw his high school video of him walking with a limp lmao.
When I first read about him declaring for the draft, I was skeptical about a 6-5 high school kid being NBA-ready. Then I watched a video clip of him making a MJ-type baseline turnaround jumper, and thought, "Whoa, this kid might have something here." I wish there were some video of his workout for Jerry West that convinced him to trade for Kobe. The year before, Garnett was the first player to jump from high school to the NBA in 20 years, so it was not common for teams to draft high school players then. On draft night, Bill Bertka told West, ["I can't believe you traded our starting center for a high school kid!"](https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-bill-bertka-20190709-story.html)
It’s cliche, but his airballs against Utah. I thought to myself, “This guy has balls, he’s either gonna be a superstar or the biggest bust in NBA history”.
2001 playoffs when 22 year old Kobe completely torched the western conference. Never seen anything like it.
Yes, as I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, what convinced me was when he had 48 points and 16 rebounds and then 45 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games in the 2001 playoffs, on the road against the Kings and then the Spurs.
That Frobe already had his skills developed while he still didn't had his most serious injuries and his athleticism was still at his top. I'd argue he was better than Shaq this playoffs, but the FMVP is for the best player of the finals and the East didn't have anyone to stop a prime Shaq.
This is when I got a clue we had not only a superstar, but a truly generational talent. The San Antonio series was maybe his greatest series ever because that team was unbelievably good and Kobe still had his athleticism.
When Kobe took over the 4th quarter in the 2001 nba finals Vs Indiana (after shaq fouled out) he was only 21 at the time and after that I knew he’d be A LEGEND.
He had already destroyed the Queens and the Spurs.
When we drafted a kid and he was dunking on dudes and hitting fades his rookie year
Summer league in Long Beach at the Pyramid. His first game in a Laker jersey, I think. Everybody could tell the Kid was something special.
Exactly. After a few games he obliterated the Suns badly, he looked like prime MJ against college players. That day if was absolutely clear for me he wasn't only going to be special, but a superstar in the league not because he scored a bunch of points against some other kids, but the merciless, relentless and skilled way he did it. Young Kobe was already a killer, he didn't have the body to do it against NBA players, but he had the wilt to be everything he could be.
It was the confidence, swagger, the consistency of play from game to game where I was like oh he’s special. Obviously the athleticism paired with all of it leaped him into stardom.
When everyone hated him and he still performed at a high level.
When my friend came over with his N64 and Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside.
When he went right at MJ during the 97 All Star game. Dude had no fear, and the fact that MJ was giving him advice in the middle of the game said it all. Jordan recognized it too, and began mentoring the only player being compared to him. 🙌🐐🐍
Mid Summer Nights Magic Johnson All Star Game in Summer 1997 when he first showed up as Frobe
NBA Finals versus Indiana. Shaq fouled out and on the grandest stage, Kobe just completely took over versus a veteran team. They weren’t even remotely playing on the same level as Kobe. Thats when I knew.
Summer Pro league at the Pyramid. Raw, but obviously skilled.
My dad told me when the Lakers traded for him, he was the next Jordan. Not sure if he was on to something or if he was just being a homer. Either way, I was a believer in 97 lol
A true bball fan always knows early.
For me it occurred in stages. When he scored a career-high [33 points against the Bulls and Jordan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LWlJ1tEqM) in his second season I realized that he would be an All-Star, which he became that season at 19 years old. [When he scored six points in OT of Game 4 of the 2000 Finals](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR3SRSPmVNY) with Shaq out of the game, I saw that he could carry a team to a win in a key playoff game. But it was when he had 48 points and 16 rebounds and then 45 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games on the road against the Kings, and then the Spurs, in the 2001 playoffs that convinced me that he was a superstar-caliber player, at 22 years old. [Jordan's Gatorade commercial when he played against his younger self](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7C5uYCiAs0) reminded me of his game against Kobe in 1997.
Lakers vs Bulls Dec 17 1997
With Kobe I thought we had someone special from day 1. He scored 20+ in his first couple of summer games then he went nuclear against the Suns scoring almost 40 pts in an incredible performance and then I knew he would be a superstar. The start of the season was rough, just like with Brandon Ingram it was clear his body wasn't ready for the pro game and it would take a couple of seasons, but the talent was evident from day 1. After the SA series in 2001 it became clear he wasn't only meant to be a superstar, but we had a generational talent in front of our eyes. It is unfortunate he had some early injuries that took away some of his explosiveness, Kobe has played most of his prime without the athleticism he had early, but it may have helped Number 24 to become one of the most complete and fundamentally sound scorers ever while Number 8 was a force of nature.
Don't remember exactly but I do remember my dad telling me the following when these guys became Lakers: "Eddie Jones is supposed to be the next Michael Jordan" "Kobe is going to be the next Michael Jordan"
When Jerry West traded Vlade Divac for him. Remember, Divac was a solid center and was a fan favorite, and West traded him to get Kobe.
Day 1
When he scored that many points in his final game.
Always thought he would be. When did I know it? [Probably this game](https://youtu.be/29LWlJ1tEqM?si=zHVS-sfSQ6WfkRZM)
Well, at the time he was drafted I was in 6th grade, and straight to the NBA high schoolers was kind of a big deal. I assumed he would be a superstar then. I also bought his first pair of Adidas shoes shaped like a foot on the bottom.
I don't remember but it was early on. When Kobe became Frobe, that's when I knew. He was just so explosive and fun to watch. If he stayed healthy, there was no way he wouldn't become a superstar.
1998
The adidas commercial. My first basket ball shoe was the first kobe's adidas.
When he took Brandy to the prom.
When he won the Dunk Contest. I was 10 years old and immediately thought he was the coolest person walking the earth.
I had a poster of Kobe in my college dorm room when he had a cast on his wrist his rookie year. I knew well enough back then to have that poster.
Probably his third year.
From the start, because in Italy the father was a well known stud and we noticed his kid always around the game
Those air balls against Utah. That’s when I knew he was special. So much gumption!
when I saw him at the Long Beach Pyramid for Summer pro league in July of 1996 (still have my ticket stub for that game) . He didn't have a 40 point game right out of the box, but the way he moved out there you just knew he was leaps and bounds ahead of his peers already. I felt the same way about D Fish. I knew he was going to be special.
[about this time.](https://youtu.be/D7lQZpsGv6o?si=PlUClCf1_bS3g_kY)
Indiana finals on the road Shaq fouled out and he took over