Kobe Bryant (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
The 2016-2017 NBA regular season kicked off last week minus the presence of some familiar faces including reliable Hall of Famers Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.
The latter, who has been a cultural icon not only for the city of Los Angeles but globally, as well, has continually been missed by fans who are still not used to seeing a Lakers team without number 24 on the floor.
Despite the adoration, Bryant has remained content with his decision to call it quits and claimed that he does not miss the NBA grind at all.
“Not even a little bit,” Bryant said when asked by ESPN if he longs to be back competing on the hard wood.
“It’s strange to think a couple years ago, to be in this emotional space would be unfathomable. But I mean not even a smidge, which I’m very thankful for, because it’s made my transition seamless and I can really just watch and just enjoy the games,” the five-time NBA champion added.
With plenty of time to catch some of the games, the one-time league MVP also had high praise for some of the individual performances he’s seen during the first week of the season.
“Players have been playing phenomenally well, which is rare. Normally at the start of the season you kind of have to work yourself into a rhythm. This year they just came out of the gates smoking. That’s rare,” he said.
Bryant’s admiration perhaps pertains to a bunch of superstars whose gotten into hot starts as of late, including the San Antonio Spurs do-it-all forward Kahwi Lenoard and the Portland Trailblazers’ spit-fire point guard Damian Lillard, who’s already igniting MVP talks.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook also had two triple-doubles in the first three games of a season, while his former teammate Kevin Durant seems to be already acclimated with the Golden State Warriors.
The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis is also averaging an impressive 37 points per outing, despite his team going winless in four games. Khristian Ibarrola