Kobe's influence in China has indeed gone beyond basketball itself and has become a part of pop culture. I think there are three main reasons for this huge influence: strength, timing, and cultural labeling.

First of all, strength, this strength is not only the accumulation of honor and the level of efficiency data. In terms of honor, Kobe's honor is similar to Duncan's, but his influence is not the same; When it comes to stats, Kobe Bryant is at the lower level of superstars in most efficiency statistics. But when fans watch the game, they can't actually see these things.

The accumulation of honors is just the courage of the year, the level of data is just hindsight, what really impresses the fans is the elegant and agile dribbling and shooting that they really see on TV, the atmospheric free and easy dunk, and the unstoppable, desperate singles. This happens to be Kobe's best area.

Singles the savior, fights alone, and controls the entire game in his own hands. What could be more impressive than this for the fans and players? Many players are good at running tactics, using simple techniques to efficiently cut points, grab boards, organize attacks, and quietly fill the data column. Of course, these players are also very good, and they have made a huge contribution to the team, but what fans remember after turning off the TV is the single hitter who made the final decision at the critical moment, forced the hit against the bag, and made the opposing coach shake his head helplessly. And Kobe Bryant happens to be the best outside singles player in the league in the first decade of the 21st century.

I remember watching the NBA in high school, and I forgot which commentator said a sentence: Many fans, whether they win or lose, just like to watch Kobe, Iverson, and Carter play. At that time, there was little hope of these people winning the championship, but there were still a large number of fans. At that time, there was no habit of listing data on the Internet to stand on the team with black secrets of honor, and most fans watched the game, to put it bluntly, it still depends on who is awesome. Although these people have poor records and low efficiency, intuitively, they are too awesome. If it were changed to today's network environment, it is estimated that these people will be listed with various high-level data and record rankings, and the situation is not much better than this year's Wei Shao.

This brings us to the second key factor of Kobe Bryant's feelings: timing. Kobe Bryant's rise to the ranks of superstars was around 2000, and he gradually faded out of the first line of vision from 2013. For almost the entire first decade of the 21st century, Kobe Bryant was a top NBA superstar. And in this decade, Kobe Bryant has maintained highlights in different dimensions, winning the championship from 2000 to 2002, starting to lead the team alone in 2004 and playing amazing statistics, returning to the championship in 2008, and winning the championship in '09 and '10. Looking at the superstars of his era, only Duncan can keep it so long and always be in the center of the stage. And Duncan's style of play and low-key style are difficult to get such a high level of attention from Kobe.

Kobe Bryant's more than ten years in the NBA coincided with the NBA's expansion of the market in China and the skyrocketing number of fans. Yao Ming's landing in 2002 made the NBA's attention in China explode, and these audiences who came to see Yao Ming to see the NBA happened to see Kobe's extremely ornamental performance. Many Komi started from watching Yao Ming, from treating Kobe as an opponent and being convinced by Kobe Bryant little by little, and finally became Komi. Coincidentally, Yao Ming's NBA career was relatively short due to various reasons. After Yao Ming retired, many Yao Ming's fans were shunted to Kobe Bryant.

Another example of a person who has gained a lot of popularity in China due to the "Yao Ming Benefit" is Maddie. When Maddie was at his most popular, he and Kobe Bryant had the feeling of being in the same way. It's a pity that Maddie's record and career continuity are far from being comparable to Kobe, so by the 08 Beijing Olympics, Kobe Bryant received more cheers and attention in the star-studded American team than everyone else combined.

Among the stars of Kobe's contemporaries, stars who have impressed Chinese fans like him (Iverson, Carter, Maddie, Yao Ming) cannot achieve such a lasting highlight as Kobe; Stars with the same long-lasting highlights as Kobe Bryant (Duncan, Nowitzki, Garnett) can't do as much attention as Kobe. Therefore, the former has become Bai Yueguang in the memories of a few sentimental fans, and the latter has become an old-timer praised by everyone and respected but put on hold. Only Kobe Bryant can attract fans for a long time, continuously and strongly, and eventually become an idol superstar known to little girls who don't watch basketball and square dance aunts.

The last point is Kobe's influence as a cultural label. Kobe Bryant himself is a player with a different personality. He is not as shrewd and sleek as James O'Neal, nor is he as low-key and humble as Maddie Duncan and Yao Ming. Kobe Bryant has always maintained the second grade like an adolescent teenager. He was a maverick, rarely defended himself, and rarely obeyed the commands of others. He is stubborn, stubborn and paranoid, competitive and unsociable. We all know that such a character in real life will cause a lot of trouble for himself, and Kobe Bryant also paid the price because of his character.

But what young man doesn't want to live like Kobe?

Faced with the pressures of life, we suppress our hobbies and cater to the demands of our elders; We strive to improve our "emotional intelligence", from an upright hot-blooded teenager to a hypocrisy, left and right, and exquisite. We put on a smiling face that doesn't belong to us, do things we don't like, and please people we don't like. We gradually become the way we hate, and the little boy inside tells us that this is not right, that I am not happy, and that little boy gradually dies until we see Kobe.

Kobe, with his talent and hard work, has been fighting the adult world with a juvenile spirit, in the simplest and most direct way. He went straight to the NBA without the eyes of others; Regardless of the eyes of his parents, marry the girl he likes; Take over the game regardless of the gaze of your teammates; taking over the team despite the gaze of the eldest brother O'Neal; Regardless of the accusations and criticisms of society, you can kill all sides when you come back from the court; Ignoring the pickiness of the experts, he took over the game with a wanton shot. People laughed at him for being alone, laughing at him for being the first iron in history, laughing at him for not being able to control his lower body, and laughing at him for having no friends, but he never cared, and insisted on doing what he believed to be, just like a weak-crowned boy who wanted to slaughter a dragon called society, with bruises all over his body in front of him, and cold eyes and ridicule behind him, until finally this guy actually killed the dragon. Bryant won five championships in the end, and the whole league from players to fans unanimously admired and respected, and retired in perfect posture. Kobe Bryant is shown as a childhood Kobe in his retirement animation, as well as in his social networking site avatar, I think this is Kobe's proudest show-off: After so much, I still haven't become a disgusting adult, I'm still the little boy in my heart, what about you?

He worked hard to train his skills, because ball skills were the only weapon he had against the adult world and kept his young boy's original intention. Who wouldn't want to do whatever they want on their own? Kobe Bryant set the most perfect example for young people, and it is precisely his character flaws that give hope to the young generation who are eager to express themselves and desire freedom: it turns out that we don't need to look at other people's faces, we don't need to please others, and we don't need to distort ourselves to meet the requirements of society. As long as I work hard like Kobe Bryant to tap every inch of my talent and sharpen myself like masochism, this society will not abuse us, and we will eventually defeat us. As long as we are determined enough, as long as we are cruel enough to ourselves, we don't have to kneel down for others, we can live standing.

So, how can Zijin's No. 24 not become a banner that inspires young Chinese people? Being able to promote such a youth idol in China is also a huge contribution to China on the road of NBA internationalization.