Kobe Bryant was one of the most skilled all-around basketball players of all time. Aside from being a 12x All-NBA defender, Kobe had every move and shot in his offensive arsenal. However, one under-looked aspect of the Mamba's game was his ball-handling ability. Kobe already had a devastating crossover once he came into the league as a rookie in 1997. During his early NBA years, his left-right/right-left crossover was explosive and completely shifted a defender's momentum. Additionally, he sometimes would use a between the legs dribble to set up the quick crossover dribble. Over time Kobe's crossover would get faster to create enough separation for a shot. After his Achilles injury, while he lost some quickness, this move was still effective in catching defenders off guard. The beauty in this crossover is its simplicity, as it shows there is no need to take a thousand dribbles to create separation. I've slowed down and zoomed in on numerous plays to demonstrate each move's effectiveness. I also included plays where Kobe missed or got fouled. If you want to check out the full highlights or videos from where I found the crossovers, the channels are below.
1997- NBA
1998- Pinnacle Apex, ButtZilla, Utah Jazz Fanatic
1999- NBA
2000- All-around NBA, KB24Lakers4ever, Elgin22Baylor
2001- Kobefan124, DomCarter
2002- DomCarter, Benjamin Feng, Kobefan124
2003- Fletcher Thomas, EKH111, DomCarter, Kobefan124
2004- Basketball 4 All, Off-hand
2005- Smoki2323, LamarMatic,
2006- Kobefan124, Sting3r07, CrazyVinsanity
2007- iKobeSilvan24, Kobefan124
2008- Kobefan124, losangelessportsvid
2009- losangelessportsvid, Kobefan124
2010- Alexander Ortiz, Kobefan124
2011- Curry Chou
2012- losangelessportsvid, Benka, iKobeSilvan24
2013- iKobeSilvan24
2014- Benka
2015- Ali Productions, Mark Anthony Garrett
2016- GD's Latest Highlights, iKobeSilvan24
Outro- Kobe Zoom 4 Ankle Insurance Commercial
RIP Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant 1978-2020
