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Michael Jordan is my favorite baller. I followed him & his Chicago Bulls during his rise to stardom, emerging as the undisputed best basketball player of his time. He altered the game & was at the forefront of the cultural wave the sport would create. The long shorts & short socks, the crazy athleticism, the artistry that flowed through his game, the swagger, the drive, the passion… he is undeniably one of my heroes & a global icon.
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So when I first saw an 18-year-old kid walk onto the court for the Los Angeles Lakers sporting long shorts & short socks with a familiar swagger, I was not impressed by the copycat. As I watched Kobe Bryant evolve each season thereafter, I also witnessed his game come to resemble Michael’s more & more. I didn’t like that either. I rooted against Kobe & his team in every game I watched. I was a hater & perfectly content in the role because I didn’t believe he was as great as the player he so blatantly replicated & aspired to surpass.
But he was.
It took until the end of his career for me to appreciate Kobe. When I finally clued in to how deep his love for the game was, we were still watching him dominate players with way less mileage on their bodies than he had. That’s when I came to comprehend what “we stand on the shoulders of giants” really meant. Kobe relentlessly watched & studied & practiced the work of the greats before him. Then, when he assimilated those skills, he was free to create his own brilliance from there. After he tore his Achilles tendon (an injury I know intimately through the same game), I didn’t think he’d return the same. But there he was a year later with that quick first step, dunking on whomever made the mistake of getting under the rim during his attack. By his 18th season, he had my appreciation as an athlete & as a human being. Perhaps because I realized he was wise enough to know that patterning yourself after the greats is how one may become great.
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When he retired, he took that passion & drive to new places. Doubling down as a father & husband, an investment firm, an Oscar-winning animated film, creating books & acting as an inspirational voice for others in all walks of life on how to strive for their dreams. All this in just over three years! Everything the man committed to he aimed to be exceptional at. & he could do so because he worked at things from a place of love & purpose.
I’ve been a Kobe fan for a few short years now. I should have been sooner. Like so many, I can say that he’s influenced me. Through the medium of basketball, Kobe Bryant’s passion reached us, made us feel awe & captured our imaginations, our sense of the possibilities. That’s what makes a person charismatic. Iconic.
I’d like to thank him for being one of those great inspirations who’s shown me how to strive for more, how to follow your gut & the importance of committing to the work required in achieving your dream. I believe that’s the second biggest objective of life: being true to who you are… right after just being a good person.
The news of Kobe Brant’s death Sunday afternoon was like a slow-burn for me. Such early exits seem to set in slower, with greater shock & maybe even go deeper. I think that’s because you can still recall so vividly the prime version of the deceased & because you’re left to contemplate the potential they could have reached, knowing we’ll never see its fruition.
Prayers to the Bryant family & also to the families of those who died with Kobe: his daughter Gianna, John, Keri & Alyssa Altobelli, Cristina Mauser, Payton & Sarah Chester & Ara Zobayan.
Rest in glory, Black Mamba.