Sometimes, Kobe says, he can't believe it himself -- how, as an 8-year-old in Italy, he committed the accomplishments of NBA greats to memory. And how at night he'd play Michael Jackson's Thriller over and over, reciting the lyrics as if they were his own. "And then, at 18 years old, Michael Jackson becomes my mentor," Kobe says. "And right after that, Michael Jordan tells me, 'If you need anything, just call.' I mean, seriously? It's a dream you simply cannot f--- up."
There will always be the haters -- those who argue that for as great as Kobe's career was, it should have been greater, those who contend that by communing only with his own Mount Rushmore, Kobe engaged in a form of self-sabotage. To them, he was an isolated superstar, unloved by many of his teammates, resented by Jordan acolytes, spurned by fans of Shaq.
Kobe Bryant begs to differ.
"I was never alone," he says. "I had the game."
