An objective basketball observer knows that Kobe Bryant’s “Prime” was spent unfortunately with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown.
It is a bit surprising that Kobe who is fiercely defiant about everything would say something like this.
“In my prime, I couldn’t do the things Dominique could do.”
People confuse “physical prime” and “mental prime”. You are only at your physical peak as an athlete for a short period of time, from that point on it is mentally what sets your apart from your peers.
What does this list of names have in common?
- Allen Iverson
- Marcus Camby
- Ray Allen
- Stephon Marbury
- Antoine Walker
- Erick Dampier
- Steve Nash
- Jermaine O’Neal
- Ben Wallace
Those are some of the most notable players from the 1996 NBA Draft. Beyond Ray Allen and Steve Nash almost everyone from that draft was either a bust, bench player, way past their prime now or completely out of the league.
Bryant 15 years in the league and more post season games under his belt them all of them is still averaging 25, 5 and 5.
People say that Bryant lost a step, but if you dig a little deeper what he is still doing after a decade and half is truly amazing.
To still be playing at such a high level, lets you know while physically he is breaking down, but mentally he is showing why he is one of the greatest to ever play the game.
