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Kobe Bryant died in heaven, where he used to forge dreams of others. If its existence was inaugurated among the baskets of his father, it was extinguished on the way to a training of his eldest daughter, star project, fatally also died as the rest of the helicopter occupants. That "tap, tap, tap" of the canister of the ball that enchanted him since he was a baby, basketball in the beginning and in the end , the cursed circle, from Joe to Gianna Bryant, of the type that perhaps loved him more deeply than anyone, recognized obsession.

He woke up in the NBA like a cyclone, under suspicion for his boldness, with a hunger (and an ego) so excessive that it cost him the antipathy of so many and the suspicion of veterans. He left her with the hunger intact, although now turned into pure praise, earned respect, 'the sixth ring'. Kobe led the post-Jordan generation , a dangerous transit for the League, connecting it with the LeBron phenomenon, three intertwined idols. "Without hoops I would not have understood human nature, nor would I have known how to lead. Basketball took me everywhere. Now it is I who takes the game everywhere," closed his book "Mamba Mentality." That will be his legacy, even absent now.

His infinite career was under the permanent magnifying glass for two decades. Eight moments, like his first issue on the back , to try to synthesize the legend, that will never do justice to such an immense and unique journey.

one-. Predestined

That boy with a strange name, different, had to become strong in a foreign country where football was commanding. Predestined, following the wanderings in Italy of his father's banishment, Joe 'Jellybean' Bryant , who could not succeed in the NBA. The first of the affronts to settle. The story tells that one day, during a game, he hurt his knee and his only and desperate concern was that it would prevent him from being an NBA star. I was 12 years old.

Soon he returned to Philadelphia. He was already entertaining watching videos, a hero manual, "working tirelessly adding elements" to his game. In Ardmore, at the Lower Merion Institute, the myth was forged with its initiatory number behind it, 33, headline since its freshman year, although it lost 20 of the 24 matches played. In the next three seasons he won 77 of 90. It was in junior when the outbreak came (he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists), just as Kevin Garnett ventured for the first time to make the leap to the NBA without going through the University. Something lit up in Kobe's head, who would imitate him a year later.

2.- Debut

Then nobody so young had played in the NBA ... With 18 years and several injuries that hindered his beginnings, Kobe, brutal scorer, debuted on November 3 at the Lakers - he was chosen by Charlotte and transferred by Vlade Divac - with zero points in your service sheet. Only in three games of that season he exceeded 20, the way of thorns for the rookie rookie. But he didn't hesitate to demand Del Harris more plays for him. "The first time I reached the basket, they beat me. The defense thought I had control. The next play I returned and caused a lack of attack just to send them a message." On December 17 of that 1996, he was measured for the first time face to face with Jordan, at the command of the Bulls champions: 30 Air points, five the rookie.

In the math contest he demanded focus and won it. "When you make a mate, you make the adversary know your mentality. You let him know that you are there to humiliate him," he said. In its second season, another early milestone: the youngest headline in the history of the All Star.

3.- Phil Jackson and the first ring

"Phil thought I was impossible, he thought he questioned his authority and his plans. I thought he didn't listen." There were also ups and downs with the Zen Master, of course, but everything changed with his union and with that first volcanic ring, clash of egos with Shaquille O'Neal. That seventh game of the Finals against the Blazers, that eternal 'alley oop' that inaugurated a dynasty that would end in 2005 in the final lost against the Pistons, a 'three peat' later. "In an effort to avoid the complacency of our partners, Shaq and I, aware of the tension around us, we increased it."

4.- Violation

Kobe had, of course, his own demons. And also murky episodes, such as the complaint of rape of a hotel worker in Eagle, Colorado, in 2003. An indelible macula, shameful even for his resolution: he finally apologized and his lawyers reached an out-of-court settlement for $ 25 million. To avoid jail. His public image collapsed, although he saved his marriage to Vanessa, together since he was 20 years old. Some time later, he left one of those phrases that made him different. " I thought we both agreed; now I understand that she did not want that to happen and that she does not see him as I do. After months of listening to her lawyer and her testimony, I understand how it has affected her," he said.

5.- 81 points

It was only a game, but if you have to define the genius, there is that night before the Raptors, with José Manuel Calderón as a suffering opponent. All the breadth of his repertoire, carved based on self-torture, extreme training, early risers, the obcecation for detail (those 400 shots in each training, among many routines), on that January 22, 2006 in Toronto Only the iconic 100 points of Wilt Chamberlain above that unforgettable feat. Like so many things, it was a "dream I had as a child."

6.- Olympic golds

The Olympic redemption of the USA Team came with Kobe as captain, as an extension of everything instilled by Mike Krzyzewski . "Everything he did was aimed at increasing our admiration and love for the US. You could feel it in the way it made us play, in the intensity it showed." The 2006 World Cup had been lost due to injury, but the affront felt her own. In the first final against Spain, erratic at the beginning, it was fundamental with two consecutive triples when the team threatened with surprise. Also unforgettable in London, the honors with whom he was already his "brother" Pau Gasol after another end to remember.

7.- The rings with Pau

With Pau there was more than complicity, "a deep connection . " A mutual admiration beyond the gestures to the gallery. Because they won, because they were a reciprocal blessing. They spoke Spanish with each other regularly. Personal and sports connection on a journey with two rings, but also with the two MVP of the finals for the first time for Kobe. "Among all the partners, without a doubt, Pau has been my favorite."

8.- Injuries, the final ordeal

Kobe, always on the edge of the impossible, survived the physical mishaps for years. Gary Vitti and Judy Seto were his guardian angels in the Lakers. In the second game of the End of 2000 he injured his ankle, although he managed to return in time for the ring. In 2009, a break in the index finger of his right hand made him change his way of throwing a basket forever. He adapted with 1,000 shots per day and the middle finger taking center stage in mechanics.

But the worst, perhaps the point of no return, was the Achilles break in April 2013. He was 35 years old. It took seven months to return, although briefly. At six matches, the external tibial platea of ​​the left knee was broken. And finally, in 2015, he had to be operated on his shoulder. An ordeal that wanted to sweeten his farewell season, a well-deserved and prolonged tribute on each NBA court until the last of his days as a professional (60 points). Up to that point and end, his extreme demand, with the rest of his teammates and himself. The permanent sweat on his unpopulated front: because heroes are not immortal, but legends are forever.

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