Sweep

Bryant played more in his second season, doubling his scoring average and finishing as the runner-up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award. By the 1998–1999 season, he’d emerged as one of the NBA’s premier guards, but the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Bryant’s impact on his team’s future dominance, though, would soon become clear. “The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win,” he insisted, and Bryant wasn’t going to let anything deter him from becoming one of the league’s greats.