Kobe Bryant was heavily criticized by his teammates in 1999: 'I'm only 20 years old'

Before becoming a legend of the sport, Kobe Bryant was criticized heavily by his teammates for his tendency not to pass the ball to his teammates. While it caught him by surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers icon nonetheless welcomed his teammates' evaluation of his game. He also politely asked for their patience.

"It did catch me off guard a little bit, people scrutinizing my game," Bryant said in 1999, per the Los Angeles Times. "That's good, I guess. That means they care about you."

"I'm only 20 years old; this is only my third year in the league. I'm still improving."

During that time, Kobe was already a bona fide starter after spending his first two seasons on the bench. As the Lakers top shooting guard, his usage rate went up the roof, meaning the ball was in his hands more. He had more opportunities to score. But for Kobe, he was still a work in progress.

"I feel I can do much better," Bryant said. "Even though I'm shooting 46 percent, I feel that I can shoot 52 percent or 50 percent. Why not? I have to keep on moving up, regardless of what everybody else is saying."

Oozing confidence

In the Philly native's view, the fact that people seemed to have their eyes locked on him every game meant that they expected something special to happen. He saw them as great evidence of his latent talent as a basketball prodigy.

"Some of the mistakes I made were pretty much honest mistakes," Bryant said. "It wasn't like mistakes only I make. I think more than anything, they're more magnified because of my potential, because of my talent; people want me to learn quickly, which I'm trying to do."

In defense of the "Mamba"

Kurt Rambis, who stepped up as the Lakers' third coach in the 1998-99 season, stood up for Kobe, noting the great improvements to his game. Rambis pointed out that people should not expect all NBA players to make the right play every time.

"Kobe's made strides all season long in terms of being able to read the situation, being more in control most of the time," Rambis said.

"But all of the players make mistakes. They all revert back to a certain way of playing. As long as they do what's best for the team, they're usually going to end up making the right decision. But you can't expect them all to be perfect all the time."

The "Mamba's" mindset worked wonders for him as he was named into the All-NBA Third Team that season. The following year, guided by the legendary Phil Jackson, Kobe won his first-ever NBA Championship. It was the beginning of what would be one heck of a basketball career.