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When I was 15, I remember watching this TV special called Kobe Bryant - The Interview. It aired a few months after he had announced his plans to retire and me being the growing basketball junkie I was decided to watch it after school one day. Now this was when I was playing high school ball and I was studying player’s moves religiously, guys like Ty Lawson and Kyle Lowry who I felt I could actually somewhat emulate on the court. I knew I didn’t have the physical gifts of guys like Lebron or the shooting ability of Steph, so I stayed modest in who I studied. Until I watched that special.
I remember being so enamored of everything I saw him do in that special that I would get up and mimic his post moves during the commercial breaks. I was in my living room pivoting and drop stepping on a phantom defender until the show was over. I immediately laced up my shoes and hit the driveway thinking, “Those moves are so easy, I’m gonna go shoot like Kobe, I’m gonna get my fadeaway down and learn how to play in the post and work through a double team and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot,” and all these other things.
I didn’t. I got out there and tripped over my own feet trying to match his footwork. Nearly broke my backboard with bricked fadeaways. Stumbled and travelled on any of his shots I accidentally made.
I wasn’t Kobe, but I didn’t care. All I wanted, just for a quick second, was to feel like him. You know how good it felt when one of those fadeaways actually went down? How cool I felt when I hit one in a game? That joy was special and I wasn’t the only one who felt it. Kobe is an international superstar. He absolutely instilled that drive to want to be great into countless kids across the planet.
How many kids do you think did the exact same thing I did while watching his career? How many do you think took turns practicing this double pump three with their friends? How many do you think tested their off hand post jumper? How many do you think tried to take a pass fake to the face without flinching?
Go hoop anywhere and you’ll find them, the guy who turns down a pass to the open man to jack up a contested jumper, the girl who dives to the rim fearlessly because Kobe did it for 20 years against much bigger defenders, the kid who dribbles the ball up with his jersey in his mouth because of his self-proclaimed Mamba Mentality (admittedly, this was me and I know now how ridiculous I looked.)
You won’t just find them there either. Flip on your TV any night and you see Kobe in Demar Derozan’s post game and footwork. You see him in KD’s fadeaway. You see him in Kyrie’s “give me the ball and let me go to work” attitude in the clutch. You see him in Giannis’ impact on the global game and Steph going shot for shot with anyone and Devin Booker facing defenses designed solely to stop him and Draymond’s competitive fire and Kawhi’s two-way game and Zach Lavine’s bounce and LeBron’s stoic leadership and in so so many others. Unlike us, these guys have the incredible physical talent to imitate some aspects of Kobe’s game but no one will ever be able to put it all together like he did. That’s why he’s your favorite player’s favorite player.
And of course he is. Kobe was a force. With 20 seasons on the Lakers, he spent nearly half his life in the league. Even after tearing his Achilles at 34, he walked (!) to the line, hit two free throws (!!) then rehabbed and played for another three years (!!!). Not only that, but he dropped 60 points in his final game and willed LA to a win with one last clutch jumper. For most players, that's the defining moment of your career, the one you hold above all the others and say, “this is unquestionably my greatest moment.” For Kobe, it was a Wednesday night.
Sure, 60 points in your final game is amazing but if you ask any basketball fan what the best Kobe moment is, they’ll all tell you something different. And who can blame them? How do you choose just one out of his pantheon of flashy plays and lasting moments? Ok yeah, so he scored 60 points in his last game but do you remember the time he put up 81? That was crazy but then also there was the time he had 61 in Madison Square Garden, doesn’t doing that on the game’s biggest stage amplify it a bit? Or how about the time he outscored the entire Mavs team 62-61 through three quarters and then just decided to sit out the rest of the game en route to a Lakers win?
What about the time he sucked the gravity out of the Target Center? Maybe his best moment was, “Bryant… TO SHAQ!” What about the iconic fist pump jersey pull game? How about when he administered a baptism to Dwight Howard mid-game? How about when he did it to Steve Nash? What about the time he actually passed it? What about the distance he covered on this block? What about when he did whatever this was?
Maybe his best moment even came somewhere off the court. Maybe it was when he took Brandy to prom? Or when he jumped over a car? Or when he was a puppet sharing an apartment with LeBron? What about his brief rap career? Was it his Oscar win? Was it his moments of humility he’s shown through his praise of today’s stars? Was it the time we were lucky to see of him with his growing family? Was it this moment he shared with his daughter, Gianna, who we can only assume would have gone on to shape her own unique and powerful legacy? Can you even pick one?
You can’t. All these moments combine to shape of the most unique and special people who have ever lived, a man who inspired countless people with his unmatched work ethic and determination, a fierce competitor that taught so many how to play the game the right way, one who earned all he had and was prepared to give so much back, an absolute pillar that the game will rest on forever, and a husband and father who will be dearly missed. That was Kobe Bryant. That is Kobe Bryant. Remember, heroes come and go, but legends last forever.
Rest in Peace and Power, Kobe and Gianna Bryant.