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After the departure of O'Neal a very interesting thing happened to Bryant, he had to start over. He had tasted the success of championships and had been to the top of the mountain, but he was now nothing more than a spectacular player on an average team. Looking back now it is easy to see that the worst years, by team record, in Bryant's career were the final missing pieces in what has become a legendary puzzle. Bryant learned, painfully and brutally, just how hard it is to cement a legacy and become a legend. Sure Sportscenter and YouTube loved his scoring binges, culminating in a breathtaking 81 point explosion in January of 2006, but the team was struggling and the pressure continued to bury Bryant. According to the fans and the media this is exactly what Bryant wanted, his own team to manipulate and lead, and Bryant was coming up short. The pressure continued to mount, continued to pile onto Bryant's already loaded shoulders. The doubt crept in even more as the ghost of Shaquille O'Neal loomed larger with every loss and every Bryant shortcoming. However, like he had done in the past, in every previous instance where he was told he could not, Bryant came out and proved that he could, and more importantly, that he would.
They will have an open spot on the bench. He always gets the crowd and bench mob going.
He and Mateen Cleeves brought out the best in each other in those Lakers/Kings series in the early 00s. Each guy out-chestbumping, out-towel waving, and out-highfiving the other. They took it to a whole new level back then that we haven't seen since.
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