Hoops Habit
Fansided

Daily NBA Fix: The Kobe Bryant Farewell Tour Begins

By Ben Gibson

Nov 29, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant in the first half against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant in the first half against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

On today’s Daily NBA Fix, Kobe Bryant officially announced his retirement yesterday in the Players’ Tribune, kicking off his farewell tour.

Daily NBA Fix
Daily NBA Fix /

The signs had been there before Kobe Bryant had made his announcement, and this certainly is a better way for him to go out than on two straight seasons with injury. This way we will get to see Bryant given a treatment similar to Derek Jeter and Jeff Gordon as they called it a day in their respective sports recently.

When you’ve had a career like Kobe has had, you deserve a nod as you walk out the door.

Kobe Bryant will retire as the third leading scorer in NBA history along with a list of accomplishments that puts him in the highest tier of Hall of Famers:

  • 5-time NBA champion
  • 2-time NBA Finals MVP
  • NBA Most Valuable Player
  • 17-time NBA All-Star
  • 4-time NBA All-Star Game MVP
  • 15-time All-NBA Team selection
  • First team: 11
  • Second team: 2
  • Third team: 2
  • 12-time All-Defensive Team selection:
  • First team: 9
  • Second team: 3

And the list goes on, including being the youngest player to reach several scoring milestones and, of course, his 81-point game.

I’ve certainly made plenty of fun of Kobe this season as his body can’t keep up with his will, but to deny Kobe’s place in the history in the game would be insanity. His life and career weren’t perfect; no one’s are. His ego got the best of him and times, but that also pushed him to work harder than his contemporaries, and that is one of the many reasons why he was the best of his generation.

PG Ruins Kobe and the Lakers’ Hollywood Ending

After trailing the Indiana Pacers by over 20 points at times, the Los Angeles Lakers rallied back to within two points late in the fourth quarter. The stage was set for Kobe Bryant to once again be the hero.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, a player who grew up idolizing Bryant had other plans as Paul George dropped 39 points in the game, including some clutch threes and foul shots in the final minutes to keep Los Angeles at bay and give Indiana a 107-103 victory.

Quietly, Paul George has made his way to third on the scoring leaderboard this season with 27.2 points a game, only trailing James Harden and Stephen Curry.

Dwight Tries To Destory Porzinigis

The love for Kristaps Porzingis was flowing through Madison Square Garden on Sunday as Kristaps Porzingis was on his was to a double-double, but Marcus Thorton and Dwight Howard did their best to squelch Zingsanity.

Thorton found Howard running towards the basket and though Porzingis did his best to defend, he only ended up getting posterized by Dwight.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

The play was more than just a highlight as the Houston Rockets went on to win 116-111 over the New York Knicks in overtime.