What Kobe Bryant Means To Me
- Apr 13, 2016
- 2 min read
Kobe Bean Bryant taught me many things as I watched him trash every single NBA team over the past 20 years. One thing in particular is to be yourself. Some people say Kobe is too cocky, arrogant, or too unapologetic. To me, these are not insults, they are compliments. If someone can see that you believe in yourself so much to the point where they have to slander you for it, you're living right. That’s what Kobe taught me about myself. All I ever wanted to be was confident, full of myself...all of that, unapologetically… and then be able to back it up. That’s the making of a Legend. Kobe Bryant is a legend.
Most people say Michael Jordan is the best player of all time; that’s a given. Old heads in the barbershop can never keep his dick out their mouth, talking about Michael Jordan this, Michael Jordan that. They grew up watching him play so it makes sense, but I was born in ’97 so the most I've seen Jordan play is on YouTube. I grew up watching a more colorful player. A player with personality, a person who I can look up to even when he’s off the court. I’m proud to say I lived my childhood years watching the Black Mamba play. So coming from a different generation, of course I would say Kobe Bryant is the best to ever step foot on an NBA court. When my kids get to become basketball fans they will probably tell me Steph Curry's son or LeBron James Jr. or some other random is the best player of all time… I'll most certainly become the person I hated and tell them how much I love Kobe.
June 17, 2010: the day Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Celtics to become repeat champions. A very memorable moment for me, to watch Kobe Bryant win his 5th ring in an intense Game 7. Also, the moment I realized Kobe Bryant is a fucking icon. Kobe ran the world at that time, being so polarizing. You were either talking about how much you loved him, or you were crying about how much you hated him. I was definitely apart of the former. I’ve read countless stories of Kobe’s work ethic, how long he stays at practice, the late nights waking up to go train, how dedicated he is to his craft; that means the world to me. Whenever I feel lazy I try to think to myself, "what would Kobe do?" The response: he would put in some work. Kobe set such a high standard for himself; I can tell he was passionate about winning at everything and he did for the most part. Even if it didn’t go his way, he never made excuses.
Seeing Kobe Bryant hang up his sneakers after such an illustrious career is a sad thing. But all good things come to an end. Thank you for the memories, the sneakers, the countless highlight reels that have entertained me. Thank you for drilling every team in the NBA at one point or another so I can talk shit to their fans about it; I will never forget it.
Also, check out one of the greatest commercials of all time featuring Kobe and another legendary entertainer:
Comments