Late The Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was constantly compared to The Chicago Bulls The great Michael Jordan made his debut during his 20-year career. When he retired in 2016, many thought he was the last of a dying breed who had just left the game for good.
Many players, past and present, lined up to pay tribute to Bryant, especially since his tragic death in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Dominique Wilkins, one of the great basketball stars of the 1980s and early 1990s who faced Jordan on numerous occasions, recalled a time when he eulogized Bryant toward the end of his career.
“I love Kobe,” Wilkins said. “Kobe is old school with a new school twist. I remember when he was leaving his last game Atlantaand I went into the locker room after the game. I said, ‘Man, I loved the way you played, you never made excuses, you played hurt. You’re the last of our kind. When you go, the last of our kind goes with you.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Man, that really means a lot coming from you because a lot of legends have told me that.’ I said, ‘That’s true, man. I mean, you really played with a bad Achilles tendon, which nobody would do.’ He’s the closest I have to Michael.”
Bryant was not only one of the top five to ten basketball players of all time, nor one of the greatest champions in the history of any sport. He also had an indomitable will to win, which drove him to insist on playing despite injuries that would have sidelined many other players.
The memory of him hitting two free throws in the deciding moment of a key late-season game in the 2012-13 campaign despite a torn Achilles tendon remains etched in the minds of many. The Lakers They really needed to win that game to make the playoffs, and because Bryant literally gave them every ounce he had, they made the playoffs that year.
Bryant’s willingness and desire to play while injured or even hurt was just one of the many admirable qualities he possessed that forever endeared him to a huge legion of fans and transformed him into an icon.
This article was originally published on LeBron Wire: The Great Compliment Dominique Wilkins Once Paid to Kobe Bryant