I had no reason to be a Lakers fan. I’m not from Los Angeles, I’m not even from California. But watching Kobe play basketball was so damn fun. He put out an addicting product because every single night he not only wanted to win, he wanted to be the best player on the floor, and he usually was. He wanted to dominate on offense and shut down the opponent on defense, I loved it. He was an athletic freak, and had moves I’d never seen before. He put together an all time great highlight reel, and watching it will never feel the same.
I’ll never forget the three-peat, the battles with Boston in 2008 and 2010, his last game, and all the other memories he gave us. I watched his final game in my apartment with my friends. I would never have missed it. I’ll never forget thinking “damn he might get 40” and then of course he did. I’ll never forget thinking “holy crap he’s going to get 50” and sure enough he did. I’ll never forget thinking “my god he got 60.” I knew that his last game wouldn’t be just an average game, it wasn’t his style, but I never dreamed we’d get a 60 burger from him. He looked awesome, it was hard to believe that was it. It was all over.
Part of me always thought we might see just a little bit more from him. Maybe a Marshawn Lynch style comeback to help the Lakers for a playoff run, or maybe a season in the BIG3 to show that he can still ball. I don’t think that would have been his style though. Once he was finished on the court he dove head first into a whole new life that seemed to fit him perfectly. He had completely moved on from playing in the NBA, even though I don’t think many of us had moved on from his playing days. I probably wouldn’t have until he was like 60, but it was great to see him succeed in his next adventure. I don’t think I’ve ever cheered for an Oscar win, and all of a sudden I was excited for an Animated Short.
It’s crazy how much Kobe had been going around on social media lately, just to be taken away in an instant. From the video of him and his daughter court side, to him hugging LeBron court side, the video of him talking about WNBA players in the NAB, and then LeBron sharing his memories with Kobe before the game where he would pass Bryant on the all time scoring list. Kobe seemed to be all over lately, making this even harder to fathom. It had to be false.
I cannot believe that we will never get a Hall of Fame speech from him. That’s a huge loss to the people it would have inspired across the globe. He would have had a powerful message that could resonate with everyone.
Earlier I went to shoot a Sparkling ICE bottle (judge me) into my recycling from my couch (not that impressive of a shot). I pulled up out of muscle memory, but hesitated, and then shot it without saying “Kobe!” like I usually would. I’ll never hesitate and be silent while shooting inanimate objects again.
Rest easy Kobe. Rest easy Gianna. Rest easy John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli. Rest easy to the currently unnamed other who passed in the accident.
May the Mamba stories never stop coming.
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