Stars Chicago Bulls’ SG Zach LaVine has praised: Kobe Bryant
It felt like the entire NBA spoke out when the tragic passing of the Los Angeles Lakers Hall-of-Fame shooting guard Kobe Bryant happened so abruptly back in January 2020. Little did we know all that was coming our way prior to Jan. 26, 2020, throughout the entirety of that calendar year.
Yet, despite this tragic passing of an NBA legend in Kobe at way too young of an age, it was nice to see the basketball community all rally in remembrance in the months following his death.
One of those players that spoke out in how Kobe influenced his game was LaVine. In various interviews since Kobe’s passing more than 15 months ago, LaVine has mentioned that the Lakers all-time great was essentially his biggest influence in basketball growing up.
It’s clear that Kobe might’ve had the biggest impact on how LaVine formed his game compared to any other Hall-of-Famer. Kobe was the face of the NBA for a good portion of the time when LaVine was growing up (2000s and early 2010s). And given that LaVine grew up playing, and still plays guard, it makes a lot of sense that he would try to model his game after Kobe.
There are parts of LaVine’s game that are similar to that of Kobe. The athleticism, tough-shot making, and creating abilities are there in the game of both Kobe and LaVine. More than anything, it looks like the tough-shot making confidence is something that LaVine could’ve learned from Kobe growing up.