As we draw closer to another National Basketball Association (NBA) season, I find myself wondering what one has to do for an encore! This is the dilemma that the “Air Apparent” himself has to be jostling with every year. He’s won four; count them, four championships with the same team. He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player during the 2007-08 seasons. He is considered by most experts to be the best player that the NBA has seen since Mr. Michael “Air” Jordan, yet somehow, he still has to prove himself year after year. This athlete is actually known as Kobe Bryant. Yes “the” Kobe Bryant that plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe never played even one quarter of collegiate level basketball, yet at the young age of 18, he entered the league as the 13^th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.

By the time he was 21 years old, Bryant had already hoisted the NBA Championship trophy, after only being in the league four years. He was a key part of a dynamic duo that paired him with another great NBA player named Shaquille O’Neal. The two players combined to win three consecutive championships for the Lakers, 2000, 2001 & 2003.  Shaquille left the Lakers following the 2003-04 season.  Bryant would quickly become the team’s most recognizable and valuable player. He has lead the league in scoring for two consecutive seasons – once scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, accounting for over 60% of his team’s points that evening! Only the great Wilt Chamberlin has scored more points in a single game, when he torched the New York Knicks for 100 points in March of 1962.

To add to his impressive resume, Bryant won a gold medal as a member of the US Men’s Basketball Team during the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China. The team was referred to as “The Redeem Team,” with slight references to the first Olympic team that featured NBA players, “The Dream Team.” Ironically, “The Redeem Team” also included Michael Jordan, who also achieved gold during the Olympic Games. Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game since his second year in the league. He won the All-Star MVP award three times. He entered the league wearing the number “8” on his jersey; however, after successfully overcoming accusations of sexual assault in 2003, he officially changed his number to “24,” one digit after the number “23” previously made famous by Michael Jordan.

He has nearly matched all key statistical performance measures achieve by Jordan and if he continues at the pace that he currently on, he may eventually exceed them.  Michael Jordan won six NBA championships before his career came to an end. At the age of 31, Kobe hasn’t lost one step. What does Kobe Bryant have to do for an encore? I say, don’t touch that dial as you may just miss history in the making!