When Kobe Bryant retires, he'll do so as one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history and a fierce competitor whose will to win was as great as anyone we've seen.

His recent decision to fly to Germany for experimental treatment on his ailing knee is just a reminder of how far he will go to extend his career and maximize every bit of his potential.

He's also been one of the most polarizing NBA players during his career, as he's inspired fiercely loyal fans and extremely passionate critics who'll debate to the end how good he truly is.

No matter what folks say, Kobe will be the subject of heated discussion long after he hangs up his sneakers.

These are my picks for the 10 most controversial moments of Bryant's career. I've left out the 2008 NBA Finals Game 6 loss to Boston, as well as the 2011 playoffs sweep to the Dallas Mavericks, because quite frankly, there's no controversy regarding his play in those moments despite what some may think.

Besides, when you see the list, you'll see why those two didn't make it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Commercial

Before last season, Kobe appeared in a commercial for Call of Duty: Black Ops along with Jimmy Kimmel and other fans of the game.

It was clearly a harmless promotion that showed the aspects of the new game, but predictably, some folks targeted Bryant for promoting violence and trivializing war.

It’s a lame argument because:

1) The anger should have been directed at Activision, the makers of the game.

2) It ignores the fact that the Call of Duty series has become one of the fastest- and biggest-selling games in history.

Black Ops alone has become the biggest-selling game in history in only seven months, something that would’ve happened with or without Bryant’s involvement in the commercial.

Nevertheless, it was a controversy, but one that drastically pales in comparison to other firestarters in Bryant’s career.

Whether or not you support violent video games, being mad at somebody for promoting it instead of the manufacturers and the culture in general is shortsighted.

1998 All-Star Game

Looking back on Kobe’s first All-Star Game, it was a great moment in NBA history.

It was the passing of the torch to Bryant—who started despite coming off the bench for the Lakers—then-rookie Tim Duncan and first-time starter Kevin Garnett. Lakers fans also remember it for having four players in the game (Kobe, Shaquille O'Neal, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel) and all four scoring in double figures.

The mild controversy here was Bryant taking the second-most shots and attempting to go toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan in what we thought would be his final All-Star game.

He waved off screens from Karl Malone and appeared to more interested in taking out Jordan than being a star-struck rookie deferring to his teammates.

If anything, it was the first indication that Bryant would fall victim to shooting binges at the expense of the team and try to lead before his time.

Turkish Airlines Commercial

During last season, Bryant made headlines for appearing in a commercial for Turkish Airlines. The commercial itself was humorous (Bryant switching jobs with a gourmet chef that gives him grief for missing a game-winning shot).

The backlash wasn’t.

Members of the Armenian community in Los Angeles cried foul, as they took issue with Bryant supporting anything related to Turkey. It’s a feud that dates back a century to what Armenians and other human rights organizations have dubbed a three-year genocide at the hands of the Turkish government.

Turkey refused to acknowledge it as such, and it has inspired uproar from Armenians and others around the world.

It was even more controversial given that Bryant’s teammate, Lamar Odom, is married to Khloe Kardashian, who is Armenian.

Despite the uproar, not much happened, and the controversy was mostly forgotten by the time the team reached the postseason.

Game 7, First Round of the 2006 Playoffs

One of the most heartbreaking losses in recent team memory, the Lakers put the finishing touches on blowing a 3-1 series lead by losing 121-90 to the Phoenix Suns.

It was infamous for Bryant’s “taking the ball and going home” moment of only taking three shots in the second half. It led to accusations of him quitting on the team and not being able to handle the adversity of losing.

Perhaps no game did more to hurt Bryant’s reputation or solidify how Lakers fans felt about him in the aftermath of being on his own.

Even now, some folks still try to cite it as proof of Bryant’s inability to lead, a claim that’s long since been disproved.

April 11, 2004 vs. Sacramento

A late regular season game with a fierce rival would probably be forgotten by most Lakers fans. The only problem? It was infamous for Bryant only taking one shot in the first half.

Prior to the game, Bryant was criticized by Phil Jackson for scoring and shooting too much to the detriment of the team. Bryant responded by appearing hesitant to shoot and afraid to drive to the basket.

It was mystifying not just to fans but his teammates as well, as Gary Payton famously asked, “Are you going to play today or what?”

He was accused of tanking the game by the media, and to be fair, it was a team-wide checkout, as Shaquille O'Neal was in early foul trouble, and the team lost badly by double digits. 

It’s still one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever seen. It was as if Bryant was making a statement about his game, but you still couldn’t believe he’d have the gall to do it in the middle of a game during a push for playoff position.

Game 4, 2004 NBA Finals

2004 was a season of controversy in Lakerland. It started with Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal trading barbs in training camp, so it fittingly ended with the two embroiled in another moment in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers were down 2-1 to the Pistons in Detroit but had a chance to even the series behind the hot hand of O’Neal, who finished with 36 points and 20 rebounds in one of his last dominant playoff performances.

The only problem? Bryant’s desire to lead the team to victory and forcing up shot after shot despite being defended well by Tayshaun Prince.

The lasting image in my mind is Bryant driving past a hot O’Neal and forcing up another off-balance jumper.

At the height of the Shaq-Kobe feud, Bryant fell victim to his own ego instead of doing what was right for the team.

He finished the game 8-of-25 with 20 points but only two assists, as the Lakers lost 88-80 and eventually fell to the Pistons in five games.

Summer of 2004

It was bad enough that the Lakers had to lose in the NBA Finals in an upset to the Detroit Pistons, ending one of the most volatile seasons in team history. But the aftermath was just as bad. 

At the time, many Lakers fans blamed Bryant for forcing Shaquille O’Neal to demand a trade, the impending departure of Derek Fisher and the end of the dynasty.

It was a turning point in Bryant’s career because it was the first time he was seen as a villain by the hometown faithful, and as much as 2003 was his fall from grace, the bottom dropped out in 2004, when he lost most of the fanbase.

I fell in line with most Lakers fans because I was a fan of Shaq and felt that most of the reason he wanted to leave was his unhappiness with Bryant.

The media and team told the story that it was Bryant’s fault, and it took years before he escaped the stain of breaking up a dynasty (and facts told us otherwise).

The Gay Slur

The most recent controversy involving Bryant happened on April 12, 2011, when he used a gay slur toward a referee while sitting on the bench.

It cost him $100,000 and created a new standard of zero tolerance for being caught using offensive language at any point or place during the game.

Bryant apologized for the slur after GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign denounced him, and he and the Lakers made a public service announcement against using the slur in any context.

It was a hateful thing to say, and hopefully it will inspire fans of all ages to reconsider using that word in private conversations. It also inspired the NBA to participate in a public campaign against homophobic slurs.

Summer of 2007

The summer started with Bryant’s public request to be traded anywhere, even Pluto. After two consecutive seasons of losing in the first round, his frustration was at an all-time high, and he told Stephen A. Smith that he’d play on Pluto to avoid rebuilding with the team.

He then backtracked from those statements later in the day, telling Dan Patrick that he wanted to retire a Laker and hoped the team could work something out.

He repeated those sentiments later on local radio but then told the LA Times that evening that he still wanted to be traded and appeared resigned that he’d remain in limbo with a team going nowhere.

If that wasn’t bad enough, he considered playing for the Clippers. It not only made Lakers fans question Kobe’s heart, but it did even less to garner any sympathy.

But it gets worse.

That same summer, a video surfaced of Bryant angrily voicing his frustrations about the team backing out of a trade to send Andrew Bynum to the Nets for Jason Kidd. While many fans probably shared his anger, it was shocking to see Kobe be so honest about his disgust for a teammate.

All of this was controversial as Bryant publicly showed his indecisiveness with the Lakers, as fans were no doubt split on either hoping he stayed or wishing him to go and end the speculation.

Fortunately, he stayed with the team, and as the next three years showed, he made the right call.

Eagle, Colorado

The most controversial moment of Bryant’s career is a no-brainer. It was his fateful summer trip to Eagle, Colorado to prep for a knee surgery that led to being accused of sexual assault and publicly apologizing to his wife for infidelity.

It’s one of the darkest days in recent Lakers history and remains the most polarizing moment for basketball fans, who continue to debate what really happened.

But the fallout was clear—lost endorsements and a blow to his image that took five years and an MVP to recover from, not to mention overshadowing the arrival of Karl Malone and Gary Payton as free agents.

I even hate bringing this up because it’s a reminder of how tumultuous that 2003-04 season was. But it remains a moment that is just as a big a turning point as anything on the court.