Kobe Bryant's Rivalry Against San Antonio Spurs Comes To Fitting End

Either Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant is the best player of the last two decades. There isn’t really any debate about that if you look at the raw numbers, and the two veterans faced off for the final time on Friday night. They both have five rings currently, but Duncan still has a chance to get that elusive sixth ring with the team he has around him. Also, Timmy’s body has held up very well, and he could play another two seasons after this one without surprising anybody.

Their rivalry came to a fitting end with the San Antonio Spurs winning 119-113 at the Staples Center. Duncan recorded a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Bryant scored 25 points despite his dislocated middle right finger. That showed some real grit by the shooting guard, and here is hoping this injury doesn’t keep him from playing the last few months of the season. The Spurs had nothing but praise for Kobe after the game.

“He’s had injuries, played through stuff that nobody will ever even know about,” said head coach Gregg Popovich to ESPN.com. “He’s a warrior. He’s one of the toughest we’ve ever had.”

The Los Angeles Lakers have been dreadful as a team this season, and this is why they probably welcome the distraction of Bryant’s farewell tour.

The Lakers and Spurs were the two contenders in the Western Conference during Kobe’s heyday as a player, and there were many sleepless nights spent on both sides. Bryant’s Lakers beat the Spurs in four of the seven playoff series they met in, and he spoke eloquently about how Popovich pushed him to be better as a player.

“It’s been a beautiful relationship. It’s been like that for a long, long time,” Kobe said. “I’ve been very thankful for the knowledge that he’s shared with me over the years, especially in All-Star Games, you get a chance to sit down and talk and I’ve always been a student of the game. I’ve always sat next to him and asked him questions and he’s been amazing about giving thorough responses to me and helping me learn and progress.”

The Lakers won’t be in any playoff games this year, and so that means Bryant will never play the Spurs again. But he made a whole lot of memories against that team, and one day he will grow older and find that those battles meant just as much to his fans as they did to him. “The Black Mamba” may have said farewell to San Antonio, but he still has a lot of other cities to touch before his retirement becomes official.