"Kobe Bryant: A League of His Own" Review

When Kobe Bryant: A League of His Own came across my desk, I naturally had an interest in reviewing the book. I've been watching NBA basketball since I was a little kid, and Kobe Bryant has long been the enemy of some of my favorite teams over the years. When I was a Suns fan from 2004-2012, I remember how much I wanted to see Kobe lose when he had to face Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs during those years: I remember the thrill of watching the Suns come back from a 3-1 series deficit in the 2006 playoffs and the dominating 4-1 series win in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, and I also remember the bittersweet 2010 playoffs when Kobe, Paul Gasol, and company beat my favorite Suns team of all-time 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals.

When I was a Heat fan from 2010-2014, I took great pride in watching Lebron and Wade dominate against Kobe's Laker teams in the regular season.

Having said all that, I am man enough to admit that when it comes to talent, Kobe was one of the top-10 players in the NBA when he was in his prime and at the end of his prime before the injuries caught up to him. Since I've seen Kobe play on television countless times over the years, it was with great interest that I wanted to read Kobe Bryant: A League of His Own.

As far as what the book covers, we get a look into Kobe's upbringing as a child all the way up to when he was drafted. After that, we have 1-2 page summaries of each and every season of Kobe's career that basically gave the lowdown of what the team did on the season, and what they did in the playoffs. We also have a chapter that lists all of the weightlifting exercises that Kobe does, and we have chapters containing interesting facts about Kobe as well as a chapter listing all the accolades and statistics that Kobe acquired over the course of his NBA career. Throughout the book are a number of high-quality color pictures of Kobe in action.

One of the book's positive features is that it contains all of the necessary information about Kobe that an 8-10 year-old basketball fan would want to know, which is what Kobe and his team did in each season, and a player card containing Kobe's overall stat line in each season. Aside from a couple typos, the book's grammar was clean, and it was formatted well for Kindle. One of the things I didn't like about the book is that the book is marketed in a way that makes you think that you're about to get a lot of information about what was going on with Kobe behind the scenes and in-between seasons, and I was let down by the fact that such information was not present. Personally, I would have liked more details about Kobe's behind-the-scenes relationship with Shaq back in the early 2000s, and I would have liked more information about Kobe's relationship with his teammates during the 2007-2013 time frame. Giving us access to such information would have given us a lot better idea of what Kobe was like as a person and teammate.

If you're looking for a deep, comprehensive book about the life of Kobe on and off the court that gives you an idea of what he was like as a person, then you probably will want to stay clear of this book. However, if you're an 8-10 year-old basketball fan looking to learn more about one of best players in NBA history, or you know an 8-10 year-old basketball fan who would love to read such a book, then I would recommend you show them Kobe Bryant: A League of His Own.

Final Grade:  B