Kobe Bryant: Lessons in Resiliency

“ You can know [God] all you want, but until you got to pick up that cross that you can't carry, and He picks it up for you and carries you and the cross .. then you know.”              -Kobe Bryant on Quite Frankly, January 30, 2006   When ranking the best players to have ever played the game, the following names usually come up and together form the top tier: Jordan, Magic, Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Bird, Oscar, and West. Duncan and Bryant are current players, still building their resumes, who may ultimately find themselves in the same category, and some more forgiving lists include Shaq, Malone, Petitt, Hakeem, and Baylor. The majority consensus is that Jordan is in a class all by himself, with the rest forming a secondary subgroup below him.   Jordan was the perfect storm of domination and charisma with the immaculate and symmetrical body of work: an early career of absolute superiority followed by two ... (link)