Kobe Bryant's basketball career is over. The Los Angeles Lakers legend went out in way only he can by entertaining his avid fans at the Staples Center with a 60-point explosion back in April of 2016 in a win over the Utah Jazz.
Now Bryant has begun a new career while also reflecting on his past when asked to do so at events. Kobe recently had a joint interview with rapper Kendrick Lamar with Complex News and talked about the difference between wearing No. 8 in the first half of his career and No. 24 to finish it.
“It's crystal clear for me,” Bryant said. “It's almost two different people in a sense. You know, having a certain mentality coming into the league where you're literally headhunting everyone, because it's your time to establish yourself and say, ‘I belong here.' As a result, everybody must go.
“Then when you hit a certain maturity level, which is where 24, it becomes less about yourself domination, it becomes how can I help others grow? How can I lead a group of guys to get to a certain level as a group? And that's a really big distinction.”
During the first half of his NBA career with the Lakers, Bryant was viewed as somewhat of a cocky, arrogant and extremely confident young man that was out to prove himself as the second coming of Michael Jordan. Bryant dominated the competition while earning the distinction as one of the elite players in the league and perhaps the next face of the league.
Kobe went on to win three straight NBA titles alongside fellow superstar Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles before things fell apart. The team eventually traded O'Neal and began to build around the younger Bryant and that's when he really started to come into his own while building his legacy as one of the best competitors and scorers the NBA had ever seen.
In 2006, following a season filled with incredible scoring performances including 81 points in a game and 62 points through three quarters, Bryant chose to change his number to 24 and became determined to get the Lakers back to contender status. He was able to do a couple years later with the arrival of Pau Gasol as he led the team to three straight NBA Finals appearances and back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010.