Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant: A Story of Eternity

MAMBA DOWN: THE UNTIMELY EVENT

On Sunday, January 26th 2020, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash along with his thirteen-year old daughter Gianna, and seven other people. 

I was at church when I got the news. 

My sister delivered the message to me with a “sad” emoji and two simple words: “Kobe died.”

I immediately googled those words and found out that his pilot had difficulty navigating through some fog, and fatally crashed into a mountain. 

While at church, a paradoxical mix of emptiness AND heaviness entered my spirit. I knew that this was going to be a rough week, and that it was going to take a while for me to get over this tragic event. 

Just how long? I didn’t know.

Celebrities die all the time, but for some reason, I could not shake this one quite yet. There are layers to what the death of Kobe Bryant meant to me. I did not like Kobe when he first came on the scene. I was a “hater” because I thought he was trying too hard to be like Michael Jordan. It was not only until AFTER he retired that I gave him the respect that he deserved. Five years later, not only was Kobe gone, but his daughter, and the rest of the people that were in that helicopter. 

The world changed that day. 

Something about every detail of that event (and what happened the day before) added an extra eeriness.

At 7:39 PM on the eve of Kobe’s death, he tweeted, "Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother." With 33,655 points, LeBron James just passed Kobe's 33,643, becoming the third-highest scorer in NBA history, following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.  

The next morning, Kobe died.

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HELICOPTER DAD

Kobe started taking helicopters to avoid Los Angeles traffic.

After retirement, he still wanted to keep his daily routine of waking up at 4 am, working out at 5 am, and taking his daughters to school in the morning.

He was on his way to his daughter’s basketball practice, but both never made it.

When that helicopter crashed into that mountain, a mountain of grief and anguish fell upon the basketball community, the entire city of Los Angeles, and sports fans worldwide.

In Taguig, Philippines, a mural was painted, days after the tragedy.

The endearing pictures of Kobe and his daughter hugging and kissing each other spiraled throughout the internet, adding more heart-wrenching tugs to our already-burdened heart-strings.   

Throughout the whole week, videos of Kobe surfaced throughout the internet, clips of interviews he had done, ideas of future projects he had in store for his post-retirement life.

His professional basketball career had ended five years prior, but a whole new life of endeavors was lined up for him, the biggest one embracing the role of full-time dad.

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MJ THE BASKETBALL GOD

Growing up, Michael Jordan was my hero. Actually, he was MORE than my hero, he was my God.

He defied gravity. 

Not only was he the ultimate competitor, but he embodied excellence and perfection, and he did it with style.

Not only did he WOW the NBA, he transformed urban culture, put NIKE on the map with his own JORDAN brand. 

To this day, children, teenagers, and former children are STILL wearing the shoes that Jordan wore thirty years ago.

His physical talents continue to amaze us from our mobile devices. The convenience, ease and accessibility to watch old videos of him play any time we would like, as MANY times as we would like, gives us constant entertainment and inspiration at the tips of our fingers.

As humans, we are DRAWN to the superhuman.

The highest-grossing movies of all time are superhero movies. 

In a world where day-to-day life can be boring, drab, and mundane, we want something in life that EXCITES us, something that brings us LIFE, something that ignites our PASSION.

Michael Jordan did that for me as a young man, when nothing else in life for me seemed that exciting.

I was eleven years old when MJ won his first championship, and I never missed watching a playoff game since.

I was there when he won his first three-peat.

I was there when he retired (the first time).

I was there when his father was murdered, when he won his fourth championship against Seattle, collapsing to the ground in the locker room.

I was there during his “wilderness” period, walking away from the game of basketball and choosing to play professional baseball instead. 

I was there when he came back to the game he loved, wearing number 45 instead of 23.

I was there when he was sick, battling through the flu to win Game 5 against Utah in the Finals, collapsing in the arms of right-hand teammate Scottie Pippen, walking him off the court.

I was there for his second three-peat.

I was there watching his final Bulls game, shooting-arm extended, for the last picturesque image of a man who mastered his craft.

Sports announcer Bob Costas, narrating Jordan’s last game with the Bulls, said something so powerful that it caused me to take my eyes off the “things below,” and caused me to look at “things above.” 

“If this is that last image we see of this man,” said Costas, “what an image it is. All the accolades have been exhausted… let him not be an EXCEPTION to what a human being can do, but let him be an EXAMPLE.”

Wow.

Michael Jordan is not an exceptional human being; he is an EXAMPLE of what a human being can do.

It was 1999, and I was a senior in high school, graduating to my next phase in life.

I had spent the past eight years of my life as a cog in Michael Jordan’s machine, a world he built that marketed his shoes, his image, and his career.

Now that his career had ended (with the Bulls), what was next?

If it were up to him, he would still be playing the game he loved to this day, at fifty-six.

If it were up to him, he would never age.

If it were up to him, he would be young forever, leaping from the free-throw line, hanging in the air, tongue out, cradling the ball like a baby he’d rock to sleep.

If only it WERE up to him.

Growing up, he was my God.

But there comes a time where the reality of life disrupts our childhood dreams and fantasies.

There comes a time where we realize that the tooth fairy isn’t real, that the Easter bunny is fake, and that there is a good reason why you would see mommy kissing Santa Claus.

The truth is, Michael Jordan is NOT God. 

As good as he was, he couldn’t hang in the air forever. 

It was then when my myopic view of the world started to expand.

I was nineteen years old, and I started to ask myself, “what’s the use of pouring all my energy into something that won’t last? Michael Jordan was the best to ever do it, but even HE can’t outlive time. What’s the purpose of even doing my best in this life, if we all just die anyway?”

It was then when I stopped watching basketball, and started asking a bigger question: 

“What can I do that will last FOREVER?”

It was then when I started asking questions about God.

~~~~
THE SECOND COMING OF JORDAN

Kobe Bryant entered the league in 1996, at eighteen years old.

I didn’t like him.

I remember watching him thinking, “who does this kid think he is? Fade-way jumpers, driving to the rim with his tongue out, licking his lips in interviews. Those were traits reserved for one man, and one man only: Michael Jordan, the Greatest Of All Time.”

He moved with style and grace, but he was cocky and still wet behind the ears. 

He was good, but was he “The Next Jordan?” Can ANYONE even BE “The Next Jordan?”

I doubted it.

Twenty years later, I stand corrected.

Granted, Jordan has six rings compared to Kobe’s five, but there’s something about Kobe Bryant that just won me over. It started when he retired in 2015, then escalated upon his untimely death five years later.

Growing up, Gatorade released a catchy jingle with lyrics that went: 

“Sometimes I dream, that he is me. You’ve got to see that’s how I dream to be. I dream I move, I dream I groove, like Mike. I wanna be like Mike.”  

Everyone wanted to be like Mike, but fate seemed to grant that wish only to one specific person: Kobe Bean Bryant.

Granted, he did not quite reach EVERY accolade that MJ accomplished, but he had been the closest to do so ever since Jordan retired for the third and final time in 2003.

It has been said that “imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” If that is the case, then His Airness must have been extremely flattered every time he saw Kobe play.

There are some videos circulating the internet that show JUST HOW CLOSELY Kobe Bryant’s game mirrored MJ’s. The striking resemblances are UNCANNY.  

I never thought that I would ever see "another Michael Jordan" in my lifetime.

Thanks to Kobe Bryant, I was able to see that level of greatness on the basketball court TWICE in my lifetime.

~~~~

THE YEAR 2003

In 2003, Michael Jordan retired for his third and final time, LeBron James entered the league, and Kobe Bryant was accused of rape.

As great as a person can be, we are all sinners. We all have something (or numerous things) that keep us from being less than perfect. 

For Kobe, it was his infidelity. 

Unfortunately, individuals having unconsentual sex is not a new thing. What HAS been new is the number of #metoo stories populating to the surface escalating more frequently.

This event added more reason for me not to like him. 

He lost endorsements from many brands (and regained some of them, several years later), as well as the respect of many people, worldwide.

Needless to say, I was not a fan. And it remained that way…. until 2015.

~~~~

MAMBA MENTALITY

Everyone knows that Kobe Bryant was the hardest worker in the gym.

Interviews from teammates saying that when they would arrive early in the morning, Kobe was already there, drenched in sweat, because he had already been practicing two hours before. 

As a spectator, it’s easy to dismiss an athlete like Kobe Bryant as just pure, athletic talent.

What’s NOT easy is to take a closer look to understand that although he was given a physical body perfectly suited for a professional basketball career, THE MINDSET he chose to develop was purely his choice.

This mindset is the biggest reason why Kobe had won my respect over the years. 

Two years ago, I bought his book, MAMBA MENTALITY. 

It was in those pages that I saw just how CEREBRAL he was in his approach to the game of basketball.

He didn’t just study his opponents; he studied the referees and THEIR handbook as well!

He wasn’t just a basketball player, he was a student of the craft.

If we look at the game of basketball as a metaphor to how we view life, the practical take-away's we can use from observing the life of Kobe Bryant are:

• Don’t just play the game of life, play to WIN.
• DREAM about the game, but put in the WORK to take you there (“you realize that the dream IS the work”)
• Whatever your craft is, study your environment, study your opponent, and study yourself.
• Other people might be taller than you or smarter than you, but ultimately YOU have the control to choose just how hard you are willing to work. 
• Go into life knowing that whether you score 6 points or 60 points, your Father loves you no matter what.

Phil Jackson had the privilege to coach both Michael Jordan in the '90s and Kobe Bryant in the '00s. He went on record to say, “Michael’s gonna hate me for saying this, but Kobe worked WAY harder than Michael.” At first, I was shocked when I heard this. However, upon giving it another thought, it did make sense. Kobe had a lot more to prove than Michael. 

He did not quite get there, but he DID achieve other things that transcended basketball which made me respect Kobe as a person than Jordan as a basketball player (NOT including rape).

• He granted more than 200 Make-A-Wish requests. 
• His Oscar for "Dear Basketball."
• "The Punies" - his podcast for kids, inspired by the childhood movie favorite "The Sandlot."
• "The Wizenards" and "Epoca" - two children's books he co-wrote with other authors.

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DEAR BASKETBALL

When Kobe announced his retirement through social media, he did it through a poem.

Here was a man in love with what he did for the past twenty years.

He dreamed about it since he was six years old, put in the work to enter the league at eighteen, gave HIS ALL for twenty years and walked away with five rings.

When I was thirty years old, I started a blog entitled, “15,000 Days.”

The essence of the blog was about just how short life really is, and to not waste time doing things other than pursuing what you love, because we only have about 15,000 days to do it, if we are lucky.

At 41 years old, Kobe LIVED those 15,000 days.

No one knows why he had to go so soon, or why he dad to die that way, or why his daughter had to go with him, or why the (nine) others had to go too.

All we know is that he lived a life worthy of emulating (for the most part), not just as a master of his craft, but as a flawed human being who focused on giving his best on the court, and to the next generation.

At 7 am on the morning of his death, Kobe and Gianna went to church. After church, they were flying to basketball practice. THEY had plans to see their team, but God had plans to see them in person.

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant both helped me get a glimpse of eternity.

Jordan's mortality helped me want want to seek God for the first time.

Kobe's transformation from infidelity to being a "Girl Dad" won my respect, after years of disrespect.

Both men inspired me to be the best I can be.

I am flawed, I am a sinner saved by grace. Some people like me, some people don't.

I want to live like Jesus, the way that Kobe played like Michael.

This is the work that will last forever.

Kobe, thank you for showing me greatness can be seen TWICE in a lifetime. Your “Mamba Mentality” is now my new work ethic.

Gigi, your life has not been in vain.

To the crew that was with Kobe until the end: may my life draw inspiration from you as much as it did from Kobe. 

Here’s to the next 15,000 days.

May the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ dwell within each and every one of us.

From now until eternity.

Amen.