Overreaction, but when you put Kobe's time and place in the league you can see why people inside the NBA revere him so much.

Kobe had the unenviable task of being the next star after Jordan left the league. I am sure there were a lot of owners and people around the league wondering what would happen to the popularity of the NBA after Jordan retired. But Kobe was that bridge for for almost a decade until Lebron came into the league.

In a lot of ways, Kobe kind of carried the league that was short on superstars and big personalities in a league driven by stars. Other stars were guys like Duncan and Ray Allen. Great players, but they weren't guys you would sit down to watch to see what they might do. They weren't guys either that drove headlines. Was he perfect? Obviously not. But for anyone who watched the league from the late 90's through '08, Kobe was the NBA.