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I know this seems like the wrong time to talk about Kobe Bryant, with all the talk about Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose. However, this season Kobe Bryant has endured a nearly magical transformation from the selfish, rude self he was last year.

When Kobe was drafted by the Hornets, they thought he was going to be good, but because of his insistence of only playing for the Lakers, he was traded for Vlade Divac. With the Lakers, in his first 2 years, he played as a decent back up shooting guard but was an instant fan favorite, becoming the youngest All-Star starter in his second year, despite not being allowed to start on his team.

Even though Bryant had been playing well, he had shown discomfort under playing the current Lakers style and was unable to compliment Shaquille O'Neal. However, when they hired 6 time NBA champion Phil Jackson as their coach, his fortunes began to change. He upped his averages of 19 points per game, 4 assist and 5 rebounds per game to 22 points per game, 5 assists and 6 rebounds per game. That year, teamed up with Shaq and Phil Jackson, the Lakers won the championship for the first time since the Magic Johnson era. The next year, Kobe upped his scoring up to 28.5 points per game, and averaged 40 minutes per game for the first time in his career. However, he had misses 16 games because of injury that season and his injury problem continued to the next year. However, Led by Shaq in his MVP year, they still won the 1999-2000 championship. In 2000-01, his scoring dropped to 25 points per game and he missed 14 games with injury. However, the Lakers won their third championship in a row because Bryant was ready to continue playing second fiddle to Shaq. The next season proved to be Bryant's best yet, with a career high 30 points per game along with 5.5 assists and rebound per game along with a career high 2.2 steals per game. However, that season they got eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, missing the finals for the first time since Jerry West retired.

The next year, the Lakers had arguably the most talented team ever. They had Kobe and Shaq along with Karl Malone and Gary Payton, 2 future hall of famers. Because of this, Kobe's scoring average dropped to 24, but the team did much better and made the finals thanks to Kobe's unselfish play. However, the Detroit Pistons surprised everyone by defeating the Lakers 4 games to 1, largely because of Kobe's poor shot selection in the finals, unlike his unselfish play during the season and most of the playoffs.

Alot of Kobe's fan support had went down during these final years with Shaq as he was accused of assaulting a woman in Colorado, and then ratting Shaq out, starting a feud between the two. This resulted in O'Neal being traded to Miami for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and a few draft picks. Due to the trade, the next year proved a shaky one and Bryant was closely inspected because of everything that happened in the previous years. Despite the fact Shaq wasn't there, Kobe averaged a career high 6 assists that season, and won his first scoring title with an average of 28 points per game. Also, during this season, he greatly improved his 3 point shot and hit 131/387 3 pointers that season. However, despite all this, the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Because of this, Phil Jackson quit and wrote a book describing Kobe as uncoachable, making him further scrutinised.

The next year proved to be the finest of Kobe's career in terms of scoring, but he got more criticism for being selfish. Phil Jackson rejoined the team, and Kobe averaged 36 points per game that season, a career high, and won the scoring title for the second time. He scored 81 points in a game against the raptors, which is the second highest points in a game behind Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100. He also posted 50 or more points in 4 consecutive games, tying Wilt Chamberlain. With Phil Jackson and the improved play of the rest of the team, including Kwame Brown the Lakers made the playoffs, and even though they had a 3-1 lead over the Suns, they eventually broke down and lost.

The next year, Kobe captured his third straight scoring title while averaging 31 points, but the Lakers could not survive in the playoffs and once again lost to the Suns. During the offseason Bryant made the infamous parking lot video dissing Andrew Bynum and demanding to be traded. Despite offers from the Bulls, the Lakers kept him. Andrew Bynum seemed to thrive from the critcism and was having a breakthrough year until his injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year. When the Lakers got Pau Gasol for a bunch of weak players, the Lakers became the best in the west and Kobe had stopped complaining a long time ago. He won his first MVP award in 07-08 and was complimented for trusting his teammates and playing team basketball. He led his team to the finals for the first time since Shaq was there, but they broke down and lost 4-2 largely because of Bryant's shot selection and he accepted the blame.

Kobe has evolved alot since his rookie year, and is now one of the best players in the NBA and developed a team game.