Kobe Bryant has been the unmoving eye of the NBA hurricane for 19 seasons—its stubborn, static center orbited violently by a maelstrom of change.
There are lots of ways to illustrate how much the NBA has evolved during Bryant's two-decade tenure. Player turnover, trends in style of play, rule changes that morphed the game into something different entirely—all of these highlight Bryant as a solitary figure from another era.
Another option: simply looking at the names of the league's elite in Bryant's rookie year.
The All-Stars during the 1996-97 season all hail from a bygone era. In fact, a handful—Tim Hardaway, Glen Rice and John Stockton—have since seen their sons on NBA rosters.
Kevin Garnett was an All-Star in 1997 as a sophomore, and he's the only player from that game who remains active today. He's also the only active player from a draft class before Bryant's; nobody else from Kobe's legendary 1996-97 class is still playing.
Here's a broader snapshot of what the NBA looked like when Bryant first joined it—compared to what it looked like last year:
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Grant Hughes
How the NBA Has Changed Around Kobe Bryant—And How Kobe Hasn’t
August 19th, 2015 by Grant Hughes Leave a reply »
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