On the Court With... Kobe Bryant (11 page)

At the same time, Bryant had never played with so much control. His speed, quickness, and ballhandling skills were perfectly
suited for the constant motion required by the triangle. It freed him on the outside for jump shots, for drives to the basket,
and, significantly, to make crowd-pleasing passes not seen on the Lakers since Magic Johnson had been a star. For the
first time, Bryant began to be recognized not just for his scoring ability, but for his ability to create shots for other
players.

Yet the offense still allowed him an outlet for his creative urges. He’d often find himself wide open with a clear path to
the lane, the perfect situation to throw down one of his spectacular jams. Basketball had become fun again.

Before the season was a month old, it was obvious that the Lakers would be the team to beat for the NBA championship. The
controversy and frustrations of theprevious season melted away. O’Neal and Bryant developed a healthy respect for one another
and even became friends. On one occasion, when Bryant got involved in a scuffle with New York Knick Chris Childs and elbowed
him in the face, O’Neal was outspoken in his defense, saying, “Everyone knows Kobe’s a clean-cut kid. He was protecting himself.”

It was “Showtime” in Los Angeles again. The Lakers romped to the Pacific Division title with the league’s best record, 67-15.
O’Neal was named to the All-NBA first team, and Kobe Bryant made the second team, as well as the All-Defensive first team.

The team’s performance earned them home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They put it to
good use as they surged to the Finals, beating the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and Portland Trailblazers in succession
to earn the right to play the Indiana Pacers for the NBA championship.

The Pacers were tough, experienced, and talented. Under their coach, former NBA great Larry Bird, they had been knocking on
the door of the NBA championship for several seasons, only to fall just short. Led by guard Reggie Miller, they were a rugged
defensive team known for their clutch shooting and never-say-die attitude. Although the Lakers were favored to win, some thought
the Pacers might just pull off an upset. Bird had announced he would retire after the season, and the Pacers wanted to send
their coach out a winner.

But the Lakers sent a message in game one. Working the triangle to perfection, they fed the ball to Shaq over and over again
and he came up big, scoring 43 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. “When he gets in that kind of groove,” said Bryant, “you’ve
got to get the ball to him.” The Lakers won, 104-87.

In game two, L.A. got off to another quick start, playing great team basketball. Bryant didn’t attempt his first shot, a seventeen-foot
jumper, until there were only three minutes left in the first quarter. He
went up high as the Pacers’ Jalen Rose jumped up to try to block his shot.

Bryant was too quick and got his shot off clean. But as it soared through the hoop for two points, he came back down to earth
and his right foot landed on Rose’s foot. Bryant’s foot turned grotesquely and he fell hard, a wince on his face. He got back
up and tried to shake off the injury, but left the game a few moments later with a badly sprained ankle.

Fortunately, Glen Rice took up the scoring slack and Brian Shaw stepped in for Bryant and led L.A. to a 111-104 victory. But
with Bryant’s status for game three unclear, Rice spoke for everyone after the game when he said, “When you lose a key player,
one of the things you have to do is come together collectively. We may well be short again. Guys have to step up again.”

Bryant was crushed by the injury and did everything he could to prepare for game three, but was unable to play. Without him,
the Lakers lost, 100-91. Suddenly, the Pacers seemed poised to take control of the series.

Few people expected Bryant to play in game four. He tried the ankle in practice but found it was still too sore. Many observers
expected him to miss the
remainder of the Finals.

An hour before game four, Bryant was still receiving treatment from team doctors. Although there was little danger he would
hurt his foot more by playing on it, he was still in significant pain.

But when Bryant took the court before the game, his adrenaline started pumping and the ankle, heavily taped, began to feel
better. He told Jackson he could play, and the coach put him in the starting lineup. The Lakers knew they couldn’t let the
Pacers tie the series.

The two teams played each other even, neither giving in. When Shaq missed a short jump hook at the buzzer, the game was tied,
104-104; it was going to overtime.

Bryant’s ankle hadn’t been much of a factor thus far. He’d played well, but during time-outs could be seen noticeably limping.
Now he had to play extra time.

Just a few minutes into overtime, the Lakers received a severe blow. Battling for a rebound, O’Neal was called for his sixth
foul and had to leave the game.

Lakers fans groaned. O’Neal had been playing a great game and his loss gave the Pacers a huge advantage.

But as O’Neal trudged to the bench, Kobe Bryant
approached him, winked, and whispered something. As Bryant said later, “This is the game you dream about as you’re growing
up. You lose yourself in the moment. You’re consumed by the game.”

Coach Jackson sensed the time for L.A. to win was now. He later said, “I broke down our offense and went to an open-floor
game for Kobe.”

Indiana immediately went on the attack. Their center, Rik Smits, hit a jump hook to draw the Pacers to within one of L.A.,
112-111. Then Bryant got the ball.

He never thought about his late misses in the playoffs in the past. He drove down the court, stopped, stutter-stepped, and
faked a drive. Then, as the defense reacted, he stepped back to give himself some room and calmly took a jump shot.

Swish!
Nothing but net! The Lakers led, 114-111.

But Smits responded with another jump hook. Once again, the Lakers gave the ball to Bryant.

The Pacers must not have believed his earlier basket, because they gave Bryant some room to shoot again. Once more he stutter-stepped,
faked, stepped back, and…

Swish!
Nothing but net again. Lakers 116, Pacers
113. “I just relaxed like I was in my backyard,” Bryant said later.

The Pacers then answered with two free throws by Miller. But as the Pacer defense blanketed Bryant, Brian Shaw put back a
miss by Rice to make the score 118-115. Then Smits hit two free throws to bring the Pacers back to within one at 118-117.

The Lakers had the ball with 28 seconds left. They tried to work down the clock. Forced to act before the 24-second clock
ran out, Brian Shaw put up a shot.

It bounced off the rim.

Out of nowhere, Bryant flashed in, grabbed the rebound, and put it back to give the Lakers a 120-117 lead. The Pacers managed
to sink a free throw in the final seconds, but Bryant and the Lakers came out on top, 120-118.

After the game, everyone wanted to talk about Kobe Bryant. “Kobe smelled it at the end of the game,” said Coach Jackson, “and
he lifted us.”

“That was big-time tonight,” added Glen Rice. “He stepped up like a veteran. That just goes to show how much he’s matured.”
A reporter then asked Shaq what Bryant had said when he had approached him
after he’d fouled out in overtime. The big center smiled. “He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I got it.’” That he certainly did.
“That’s what a one-two punch can do for you,” he added. “When you injure your left hand, the right will step up and knock
out the opponent.”

Bryant even impressed Pacer coach Larry Bird, who had been one of the greatest clutch players in NBA history during his career
with the Boston Celtics. “It was awesome,” said Bird of Bryant’s performance. “Every shot was all net,” he said of Bryant’s
28 points on 14 of 27 shooting from the field. “We knew Kobe was going to take over. It’s just that we couldn’t stop him.”

Down three games to one, the Pacers didn’t fold, winning game five in a rout, 120-87. But in game six, the Lakers wouldn’t
be denied.

Behind O’Neal and Bryant, they won, 116-111, to capture the NBA championship.

Bryant scored 26 points in the finale, including four critical free throws in the final 13 seconds. At the final buzzer, he
and O’Neal embraced. The victory answered forever the question of whether the two stars could learn to play together.

CHAPTER TWELVE
2000-2002

Kobe Bryant had proven himself a clutch player during the 2000 NBA Championships. When Shaq was troubled with injuries at
the start of the 2000-2001 season, Kobe stepped up his play again. In November, he chalked up five consecutive games of thirty
or more points. He earned Player of the Month honors in December thanks to his averages of 32.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and
4.9 assists. A month later he had his first triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists; he added another later
in the season, as well as eight double-doubles.

Overall, the Lakers were having another good run, too. Shaq recovered and returned to the line up, and while there were times
that he and Kobe disagreed, for the most part they were in sync—and that partnership helped the team to their second consecutive
Playoffs. Los Angeles quickly dispatched the first
three teams they faced, sweeping first Portland, thenSacramento, and finally San Antonio, to reach the finals against the
Philadelphia 76ers.

The Lakers were hungry to repeat their previous year’s victory, but they were dealt a blow in the first game when they lost
to the Sixers, 107-101, in overtime. But that loss only served to whet their appetites. They took the next four games away
from Philadelphia to win their second title in two years.

“We did it again!” Bryant cried after the fourth victory sealed their championship. Then he added, “We’re going to get another
one next year. Back to back to back!”

But the possibility of a three-peat was by no means certain for the 2001-2002 Lakers. While they started the season off strong
by winning 16 of their first 17 contests, midway through the schedule they had dropped to second place behind the Sacramento
Kings. The two teams raced neck-and-neck throughout the remainder of the season and then met for a final showdown in the semifinals
of the playoffs.

The Lakers took the first game, 106 to 99; Kobe accounted for 30 of LA’s points that night. The Kings fought back to win the
next two, however, and then
the teams traded victories—unbelievably close matches won by a single point each—to put the series at Kings 3, Lakers 2. If
Sacramento won the next match, they would be going to the finals. The Lakers, on the other hand, needed two wins to advance.

They got them. In game 6, Shaq and Kobe combined for a total of 72 points to push their team ahead and tie the series. In
game 7, the Lakers powered past the Kings in an edge-of-the-seat overtime that ended with Bryant draining two from the line
to make the final score a decisive 112 to 106.

The Championship Series wasn’t quite as exciting as the semifinals. But if you were a Laker or a Laker fan, it was plenty
satisfying. Los Angeles faced the New Jersey Nets in four times and beat them in each meeting. O’Neal was the star of the
series and earned the MVP Award, but Bryant did his part by averaging 26.8 points per game and 5.3 assists. His best performance
came in the final minutes of Game 3, when he hit two vital jump shots to preserve his team’s four-point lead.

Los Angeles celebrated their home team’s three-peat with a victory parade. At the parade’s end, Kobe took a turn at the podium
in front of Staples Center.
“I told you all last year we’re going back to back to back,” he said, his happy voice echoing as confetti flew through the
air and cheers rose from the crowd of 150,000 fans. “We’ll be back next year. See you next year!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
2002-2005