The Lakers finished the season at 45–37, good for seventh within the West. Playing without Bryant, the Lakers were swept in four video games by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Bryant acquired experimental platelet-rich plasma remedy referred to as Orthokine in Germany to deal with the pain on his left knee and ankle, and Mike Brown changed the retired Phil Jackson as coach of the Lakers in the offseason.

This cemented Bryant's reputation as a "clutch player". Bryant began enjoying basketball when he was three, and the Lakers have been his favourite staff when he was rising up. When Bryant was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue taking part in professional basketball. After two years, they moved first to Reggio Calabria, then to Pistoia and Reggio Emilia.

Bryant acknowledged he was a more focused defender when he had a challenging defensive project versus when he played off the ball against weaker gamers. His protection disrupted opponents and freed Nash from unfavorable matchups. After starting the season 1–4, coach Brown was fired. On December 18, in a 101–100 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, Bryant scored 30+ factors in his seventh consecutive recreation, the longest streak by an NBA player after turning 34 years old; it was the fourth-longest such streak in his career.

The following day, he surpassed Jerry West to turn out to be the all-time main scorer in Lakers franchise historical past. After being sidelined for 5 games from an ankle harm, Bryant made his return and made another clutch three-pointer to give the Lakers a one-point lead with four seconds remaining towards the Memphis Grizzlies. Two weeks later, he made his sixth game-winning shot of the season against the Toronto Raptors. After the Lakers misplaced the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant grew to become the cornerstone of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring through the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.

On April 13, 2011, the NBA fined Bryant $100,000 for directing a homosexual slur at referee Bennie Adams in frustration in yesterday's recreation. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the NBA's decision to fantastic Bryant, and the Human Rights Campaign stated that Bryant's language was a "disgrace" and "distasteful". Bryant stated that he was open to discussing the matter with homosexual rights teams and wanted to enchantment his fantastic. Bryant and other Lakers appeared in a Lakers public service announcement denouncing his behavior. The staff's quest for an additional three-peat was ended when they had been swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.

Or when you clubbed him or hit him, he’d make you pay. That’s ’cause Mamba would literally take your head off to win the game, man. There’s a lot of trash speaking on the court, however no one ever stated shit to Kobe.

This stored him with the Lakers until the top of the 2003–04 season. Even at an early stage of his career, sportswriters were evaluating his abilities to these of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. The playoff outcomes, nevertheless, were no better, because the Lakers have been swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. Fitting in is a challenge that I’ve never been able to master. I was a tall, skinny 13-year-old child who spoke Italian higher than English.

I can nonetheless hear his voice when I think about the exercise I had with him. He was my hero, my idol, the reason I started enjoying basketball. I know he’s watching us attempting to carry on that legacy, and I know I’m not alone. It is rare for an athlete on this fashionable era of sports to spend their whole profession with one staff. I was fortunate that I was current to doc every step of Kobe's twenty-year journey from a teenage rookie phenom to a five-time NBA champion, chief, veteran, husband and father.