The heartbreaking death of Kobe and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, sent shockwaves across the world. The news wasn’t real until you had confirmed it for yourself, and even then it seemed impossible.

What Kobe Bryant achieved in his basketball career also seemed impossible for many, but the Mamba proved his haters wrong many times during his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.” – said Kobe.

Exactly, Kobe was among the great ones, and even though many disliked him, one thing is sure, everyone respected him. During his two-decades-long career in LA, he was hated and doubted many times, but he always took the court and proved everyone wrong. So, here are the top 5 times he did exactly that.

Passing the torch

From day 1, Kobe Bryant was compared to Michael Jordan and many found it ridiculous, disbelieving that there will be anyone who will come even close to MJ.

Well, Kobe did just that!

Kobe and Michael faced each other 8 times in the regular season with Kobe winning five of those duels. You have probably seen the highlights from their first meeting in Chicago back in 1996 when Jordan unselfishly was giving advice to the 19-year-old Kobe, but here we are going to talk about their last meeting.

In March 2003, the Lakers hosted the Washington Wizards and the 40-year-old Michael Jordan. It was obvious that it will be their last match-up and the stars were aligned for something special. It still exceeded the expectations.

Bryant was aware of the meaning of the game and started strong scoring 42 in the first half, finishing the game with 55 points, the most by any player that season, and just one shy of his personal best in that time.

61 points in Madison Square Garden

Michael Jordan himself called MSG a basketball mecca and played some of his most memorable games in New York. Jordan’s every visit to New York was a spectacle and a real nightmare for the Knicks. His Airness held the record for most points in MSG by an opposing player, having famously dropped 55 just 10 days into the return from his first retirement. That record stood for full 15 years, but there came Kobe.

On February 2nd, 2009, Kobe Bryant scored 61 points in the Laker’s 126-117 win over the Knicks. That Monday night Kobe Bryant delivered a special performance at Madison Square Garden and he unleashed the biggest game the building has seen by then.

Bryant went 19-of-31 with an array of tough jumpers, powerful drives to the basket, and perfect foul shooting hitting all 20 free throws.

Silence in Denver

The biggest scandal in Kobe Bryant’s career was the Denver sexual assault which began in July 2003, when the news media reported that the sheriff’s office in Eagle, Colorado, had arrested professional basketball player Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee. The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room. The case was settled out of court and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, the public, and family while denying the allegations. A couple of years later Bryant publicly expressed his disappointment in his teammates who showed no support while he was going through this terrible time, but the real payoff came a few years later in the Playoff series against the Denver Nuggets.

It was Game 3 of the 2009 Western Conference Finals. With the series tied at 1, game 3 was scheduled for the Pepsi Center where the Nuggets hadn’t lost in the postseason. The home crowd was totally obnoxious towards Kobe but it seemed like he enjoyed it. Kobe scored 41 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists as the Lakers outscored the Nuggets 32-18 in the fourth quarter, en route to a 103-97 victory.

First title without Shaq

Kobe Bryant won a total of five NBA championships during his 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. The first three came early in his career winning a three-peat from 2000-2002. Being young and still questionable, Kobe was in the shadow of his teammate Shaquille O’Neal who back then was the most dominant player in the league and who got most of the credit for the Laker’s success.

The three-peat was followed by two Playoff exits with the growing feud between the two superstars. Soon after that O’Neal openly demanded a trade which eventually happened in 2004 the Lakers clearly became Kobe Bryant’s team.

The haters immediately predicted that Kobe will never win a championship without Shaq while Kobe had only one thing on his mind, and that is to prove them wrong.

Not too long after that Kobe was on top again. He led the Lakers to another championship in 2009 and he can loudly say that he did most of the job this time. The Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the Finals series with Kobe winning the MVP trophy.

The Last Game

Before he called it a career, Bryant made sure once again to remind everyone of what he is capable to do even though being 35 years old.

In his final game on April 13, 2016, he scored 60 points against the Utah Jazz, giving fans one last enduring memory of his greatness.