The entire career of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is an example of what can happen when extreme talent meets even harder work and determination. He came into the league at 18 years old and legends of the game like Jerry West and Chick Hearn were already predicting his greatness, and 20 years later he had somehow exceeded their expectations.
Lakers’ fans were spoiled to get to watch one of the greatest to ever play the game play and were able to vicariously live through him. It was a given that Kobe was going to be an All-Star starter year after year and always in the MVP conversation because he was the best scorer the game had seen since Michael Jordan.