Kobe & Jordan's Retirement

              

     On November 29^th 2015, Kobe Bryant announced his retirement from the NBA. He did it through social media, and he did it through a poem:

Dear Basketball,

From the moment

I started rolling my dad’s tube socks

And shooting imaginary

Game-winning shots

In the Great Western Forum

I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all —

From my mind & body

To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy

Deeply in love with you

I never saw the end of the tunnel.

I only saw myself

Running out of one.

And so I ran.

I ran up and down every court

After every loose ball for you.

You asked for my hustle

I gave you my heart

Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt

Not because challenge called me

But because YOU called me.

I did everything for YOU

Because that’s what you do

When someone makes you feel as

Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream

And I’ll always love you for it.

But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can take the pounding

My mind can handle the grind

But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

And that’s OK.

I’m ready to let you go.

I want you to know now

So we both can savor every moment we have left together.

The good and the bad.

We have given each other

All that we have. 

And we both know, no matter what I do next

I’ll always be that kid

With the rolled up socks

Garbage can in the corner

:05 seconds on the clock

Ball in my hands.

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Love you always,

Kobe

   

     Love him or hate him, Kobe Bryant will always be mentioned in the same sentence with Michael Jordan, simply because he has been the splitting image of His Airness ever since Jordan stepped off the scene with the Chicago Bulls in 1999 (He would later return to play for the Washington Wizards in 2001, but I don’t think many people cared to see him play beyond his prime).

     When Jordan retired in 1999, all I could see was the slow-motion movements of his final shot, the game-winner against Utah. Bob Costas said something like, “here is the greatest player to ever play the game. If this is the last image we will ever get to see, oh what an image it is.” Third Eye Blind’s “How’s It Gonna Be” was playing in the background, and a great sadness fell upon me. “No more Jordan,” is all I could think about. I couldn’t believe it.

     I grew up watching Michael Jordan play, and, like millions of people around the world, was mesmerized by his athleticism. No one had ever seen a man stay in the air for that long, contort his body, change direction in mid-flight, scoring at will. It was incredible. I was ten years old when Jordan won his first championship in 1991, and I never missed a playoff game since. I couldn’t wait to see his next move, his next attack, the next annihilation of his opponent. Gatorade got it right with their commercial, “Be Like Mike,” with the lyrics: “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. If I could be like Mike.” That was my mantra. That was my prayer. I didn’t just want to be like Michael Jordan. I wanted to be Michael Jordan.      

     Kobe Bryant entered the scene in 1996 with Jordan preparing to deliver his second three-peat championship barrage. Coming straight out of high school at eighteen years old, Kobe’s skill level was already high, and his style of play was very much Jordan-esque. People didn’t know what to make of this kid. Some people loved him right off the bat. Others, including myself, just kind of brushed him off with a smug, “we’ll see. He plays like Jordan, but can he really be ‘the next Michael Jordan?’” I honestly thought that no one could ever come close to what Michael Jordan accomplished on and off the basketball court. I was wrong. With twenty years in the league, Kobe has already passed up Jordan’s record of 32,292 points with his own 32,844 total points, along with five rings under his belt, two Finals MVP awards, seventeen All-Star appearances, along with many other awards and titles. Michael Jordan will always be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time), but Kobe Bryant has earned every ounce of respect to be great in his own right.

     With the announcement of Kobe’s retirement, I can’t help but bring back the memories of Jordan’s retirement in 1999. With Jordan retiring that January, and me graduating high school five months later,1999 was a poignant year. It was the end of one era and the beginning of the next. I could no longer revolve my life around Jordan’s next game, or Jordan’s next championship. It was over. It was done. I didn’t realize how much of my life was dedicated to watching Michael Jordan play. He was a basketball god to me. And I worshiped him.

     “Kobe’s cursed just as much as I am,” were the words uttered from Jordan’s mouth, responding to Bryant’s retirement. Kobe and Jordan would give anything to keep playing the game that they love, and we as fans would give anything to watch these two greats battle it out in a never-ending war between 23 and 24. Alas, that could never be. As great as these two men are, no amount of human greatness can compete against Mother Nature and Father Time. In the end, time always wins. The shot clock always runs out.