Was it ever going to end any other way? A thrilling last hurrah from the man affectionately known as the ‘Black Mamba’.
His supporters will hail his 20 years of dominance, five championships and an incredible 60-point display in the final game against Utah willing his Lakers across the line one final time.
His detractors will point to his perceived selfish attitude in making the season all about Kobe, the depth of despair he leaves the franchise in and the record 50 field goal attempts in his final outing proving once and for all it was always Kobe first, team second.
It was a career which divided basketball fans everywhere.
Like him or loathe him the departure of Kobe Bryant leaves a gaping hole which cannot be filled anytime soon in tinseltown’s best supported team. But it also brings to a close one of the longest running retirements in professional sports and completes a year where the Lakers ‘treaded water’ waiting for Kobe to depart.
Now they can finally start the rebuild without his enormous contract and shadow weighing them down.
The difficulty is however that finishing with the second worst record in the NBA isn’t going to appeal to many players and some clear planning needs to be put in place by the front office. This team needs to be built from the ground up rather than a Dwight Howard ‘band aid’ fix we saw a few seasons ago.
But there is a silver lining here.
Many of the substandard rotation players the Lakers have saddled themselves with in 2015-16 will be free agents and likely be shown the door. Brandon Bass, Tarik Black, Ryan Kelly, Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace could all exit clearing up both cap space and bench roles. Nick Young also appears to have played his last game in gold and purple.
Los Angeles also have a great nucleus of young talent in which to build around. D’Angelo Russell while still immature and raw can handle the ball and his shooting has improved as the season progressed.
Julius Randle matured into a regular double/double contributor while Jordan Clarkson may be the pick of the bunch and, despite being a restricted free agent, will see any offer from another team matched by the Lakers.
Throw into this mix the potential number two pick, at this stage likely to be another brilliant forward in Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram and suddenly this is a team almost certain to win more than they did in 2015-16.
Without Kobe’s massive salary and a likely mass exodus of players the Lakers can also make a serious play during free agency.
Whether they will or not however remains to be seen. Once a popular destination for players the likelihood of a losing season saw the Lakers miss out on the likes of Greg Monroe and LaMarcus Aldridge last summer and they may once again struggle to land a big fish.
But it may be in their best interest to bypass a play for the likes of Kevin Durant, obtain a couple of solid players (DeMar DeRozan and Harrison Barnes spring to mind) and build rather than buy a team.
In my opinion this will be the Lakers lowest ebb and rivals better enjoy it while it lasts. Adding just a couple of good players along with a new top two selection to go with three future stars of the league and the Lakers finally have the building blocks and the clear air following Kobe’s retirement to start to create a new chapter in their remarkable history.
While Kobe will be sorely missed by all who support the purple and gold, his retirement finally gives the franchise a chance to return to winning ways.
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