Kobe Bean Bryant. One of Basketballs biggest names since he skipped college and decided to enter the National Basketball Association in 1996 as the 13th over all draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets but traded quickly for Vlade Divac.

The Lakers won 53 games behind Head Coach Del Harris and Point Forward legend Magic Johnson and finished fourth in the conference with a first round playoff elimination dealt by the hands of the Houston Rockets. Enter Kobe Bryant.

In the 1996-97 season, the team had the best season start in franchise history at 11-0 and in the final two months of the season won 22 of their 25 games to finish 61-21 and second to Seattle. After new coaches and a new stadium, the Lakers started the season on a high note winning 31-5 in their first 36 games. Behind the efforts of both Shaquille O’neille and Kobe Bryant, the team advanced to the finals where they won the series 4-2 over an intimidating Indiana Pacers.

The Lakers struggled with internal problems and team chemistry for the following few years but found themselves in the NBA finals again in 2004 only to lose to the Detroit Pistons in five games.

Amid incredulous scrutiny from the league and much of the basketball community, Bryant scored a career high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors and made NBA history forever, often having the game cited as an even bigger feat than Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in 1962. Chamberlain was fed the ball by his teammates to score, whereas Bryant set up for his own shots and took most of them from beyond the arc.

In that same month, Bryant became the first player in the NBA since 1964 to score 45+ in at least four consecutive games. By the end of the 2005-06 season, Bryant had set the franchise record for most 40 point games in a season as well as most points scored in a season at 2,832.

By the end of the season, it was also reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from 8 to 24. During the same 2006-07 season, Bryant was selected to his 9th all-star game appearance where he claimed 31 points to earn his second all star game MVP award.

In 2007, Bryant presented the Lakers franchise with an ultimatum, if Jerry West, front office man for the Lakers, left the team, so too would Bryant. That same season, Bryant became the youngest player to reach 20,000 points in a career at only 29 years old.

During the 2008-09 season, Bryant led the Lakers to a franchise best start 17-2 and gained a spot on the all-star team roster for the 11th consecutive season as a starter.

In the 2009-10 season, Bryant struggled with injuries in his hands but opted to keep playing and delay medical procedure until after the Olympic games that folllowed the season. After a solid run in the first few rounds of the playoffs, the Lakers found themselves in their third consecutive NBA finals in a rematch against previous champion Boston Celtics, a series the Lakers would win in seven games.

In November of 2012, Bryant finally passed Magic Johnson for career leader in steals, previously held at 1,724.

Bryant struggled with injuries in the folowing years and sought treatment across the globe by going to Germany for special therapeutic techniques.

Bryant played his last game against the Utah Jazz, scoring 60 points, the most of any player in the 2016 season. He scored the game winning shot and the Lakers sent him off with a 101-96 victory.

Good bye to the legend, you will always live in the hearts and souls of basketball fans everywhere.