One of the many reasons why I don’t want this season to end is because it marks the end of a legendary player’s career.  After this season, Kobe Bryant will retire from the game of basketball.  He has truly been one of the greatest to ever play the game.  From the day that he was drafted to the charlotte hornets in 1996 and traded to the Lakers as a rookie, we could all tell that he was going to be something great to watch.  Kobe entered the draft right out of high school.  This is something that not even Michael Jordan did.  In high school, Kobe was the top ranked player in the country.  And when he retires at the end of this season, it will set a record for most seasons played with a single team (20).  In 1997 Kobe took home the slam dunk contest trophy.  By that point everyone in the world knew that this kid was something special.  By his second season, Kobe was named to the all-star team.  Being an All-star in the world’s best basketball league is an accomplishment but Kobe did it in his second NBA season ever.  One of the major factors that led to Kobe’s success is have Shaquille O’Neal in the paint.  Together Shaq and Kobe won three consecutive titles for the Lakers in 2000, 01’, and 02’.  Perhaps the only blemish that people can put on Kobe’s style of play is that he might not have passed enough.  But when you are one of the NBA’s greatest to ever play the game, it’s okay to shoot the ball more often.  Perhaps the only reason that people may not like Kobe is because he was accused of sexual assault in 2003, but the charges were dropped.  Following a loss in the finals, the Lakers traded Shaq to the Heat making Kobe the rock of the Lakers.  He then became the scoring leader for the next two seasons and it was then that he scored a career high of 81 points in a single game.  This is second on the all-time list behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.  He won two more championships back to back in 20019 and 10.  This marked his fifth championship.  Kobe is one of the greatest to ever play the game he is a 17 time all-star, 15 time all-NBA team, 12 time member of the NBA All-defensive team, he has led the league in scoring twice, he is ranked third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list for both regular season and post season, and he won five NBA championships.  He is compared with Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the best player ever.  It will truly be a sad day when Kobe retires.  This will be like when baseball lost Jeter.  Such an iconic player will be sorely missed after this season.