Kobe Bryant's Impact on the WNBA
- By Shorty
- Dec 7, 2015
- 4 min read
In shocking, yet anticipated news that swept across the sports world. Five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has announced his retirement in a letter titled Dear Basketball via The Players' Tribune. With so many accolades under his belt, it is without question that Kobe's influence has spread throughout the field of professional sports. While some might only know of his connection to other major leagues. Kobe has always kept a close relationship with the ladies of his NBA sister league. Here is how Kobe Bryant made an impact on the WNBA.
It is widely known that a great portion of the NBA fan base share a distain towards the WNBA. However, the Women's National Basketball Association has always had the backing of not only the NBA, but also it's players. Kobe is no exception when showing his support to the women who play in the league. It all began in the city he dreamed of playing for, the city of Los Angeles. During his early years in LA, he developed a friendship with one of the most recognizable female athlete's in the world by the name of Lisa Leslie.
At the tender age of 18, Kobe Bryant participated in the 1997 Slam Dunk contest with Lisa Leslie being one of the judges. Both went on to make history as Kobe became the youngest player in NBA history to win a Slam Dunk contest and Lisa as the first woman in history to judge the competition. Since then, they have went on to participate in many more All-Star weekend contest and NBA Cares events. Both have watched and admired each other's accomplishments with the Mamba winning 5 titles (2x finals MVP) and Lisa winning 2 titles with the LA Sparks (2x finals MVP). Of course they have even more trophies that would take another blog post for me to list, but it shows their competitve drive and willingness to perform at the highest level. Lisa has watched a young kid with an afro mature into a grown man right before her eyes and even revealed in her Olympic Diary that Kobe is her daughter Lauren's favorite player. These two remarkable sports figues will continue to share a bond, a bond that has landed their banners on the rafters inside of Staples Center.
Straight out of Chino, CA this long time Lakers fan grew up watching number #8's every move. Emulating every shot, step-back jumper, and demeanor, she went on to the university of Connecticut where she won 3 national championships. Nicknamed the "White Mamba" by Kobe himself, Diana Taurasi (of the Phoenix Mercury) is the female equivalant to Kobe in more ways than one. Not only in how they play but also accomplishments, Taurasi is a 3x WNBA champion, 2x MVP, and a 5x Scoring champ to name a few. When it comes to these two venomous players, the feeling is mutual as Diana is Kobe Bryant's favorite WNBA player. Last year he voted her into the WNBA All-Star game and made her dream come true when they finally met during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Before he became one of the NBA's top stars, he was a young boy traveling with his father to Italy and no one knew him better than Indiana Fever star Tamika Catchings. In a short film directed by Spike Lee titled Italian Imports Kobe and Tamika reminisce about life in Italy as children, playing basketball together and going site-seeing. Both of their father's Joe "JellyBean" Bryant and Harvey Catchings were former teammates of the Philadelphia 76ers before playing in the Italian league. After coming back to the U.S. they pursued their passion for basketball and excelled at it too. For Tamika, she won her first WNBA title in 2012 also 5x Defensive Player of the Year award. Playing with tenacity and grit on the court, its a no brainer as to why they would share the same jersey number - 24.
The Black Mamba's impact has carried into the next generation of the WNBA - enter Dallas Wings guard Skylar Diggins and Seattle Storm's Jewell Loyd. The two fomer Notre Dame standouts are more than just super fans, but have also created a business relationship with Mr. Bryant. Kobe is part owner of the BodyArmor sports drink company and signed Skylar to endorse his product. Jewell Loyd's new nickname "Gold Mamba" is apart of her endorsement with Nike. Diggins is also a partner of the Nike family who introduced a pair of Kobe 8 System shoes custom made for her.
The moment after he play in his final game and take his last shot - an era will end, but his impact on the young ladies who love the game of basketball will continue to live on. The motivation he gave to Reshanda Gray at age 13, propelled her to have a great career at the university of Cal-Berkeley and ultimately the WNBA (with the Atlanta Dream). He recently shared his words of encouragement to future WNBA star Mo'ne Davis. Last, but not least he made this blog author and avid Lakers fan proud to say she started following basketball because of him -- Thank You Kobe Bryant (from Tanisha Stewart @ShortyMamba24).
Comments