how was kobe able to create such a distinct name for himself and his own career image (mamba, kobe, 24, black mamba etc) at a time where I would suspect for the media and fans to call him the second coming of jordan or baby jordan since they had such similar play styles or was he just that good that he couldnt be compared to anyone and had to get his own nickname?
Kobe was the high school kid along with Garnett so they had a lot of appeal from that “wonder kid” type angle. Also, this thread makes me feel old.
No one called him the second coming of MJ. Kobe studied the game and modeled his play style after the GOAT among others. Anyone who plays basketball wants to be in the same conversation as MJ and Kobe worked hard to get into the GOAT conversation. Just because he mimicked MJ’s style doesn’t mean he was dubbed the second coming of MJ or baby MJ. He became Kobe, the black Mamba because of drive and determination to be the best player he could be.