April 13th, 2016.

For those of you who are not fans of sports, this date would be just like any other. For everyone else, you will recognize this as the day Kobe Bryant stepped on the court as a professional basketball player for the final time.

Now, to set the record straight, I am not a fan of Kobe Bryant or the Los Angeles Lakers, and I'm certainly not a fan of his off-the-court extracurriculars circa 2003. However, his impact on basketball and on the lives of those who watch it is undeniable. In fact I'd be surprised if the majority of the population could name another member of the Lakers' roster from Kobe's final game, other than "that guy who's engaged to Iggy Azalea".

Bryant, however, isn't the only athlete to grab the attention of the public in basketball, and he's certainly not the only athlete across all sports who has risen into the limelight. Think about your favorite sport--your favorite team in that sport--and I'm sure there's a name of an athlete attached to that team that immediately pops into your head. Football, Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger. Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates, Andrew McCutchen. Hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby. (In case you didn't notice, I have a certain affinity for Pittsburgh sports.)

Why is this the case? Why do athletes have such an impact on us? I'd like to say that it's due to pure entertainment, but I cannot.

Athletes are handed multi-million dollar contracts to play their respected sports, not to mention the multi-million dollar endorsement deals that tag along with those contracts. A part of us are envious of their lives, are envious of those annual payoffs. We want to be in their shoes. We want to be able to walk out onto the court or the field or the diamond or the ice and make some money regardless of our performance. We want that financial security. We want what they have. So, for those 48 or 60 minutes or those nine innings or whatever it happens to be, we settle for watching, for pretending that we are out there with the world watching. We pretend that we are Aaron Rodgers, throwing a successful Hail Mary, or that we are Steph Curry, hitting the three from just inside the center-court logo, or that we are Lionel Messi, staring down the goalie just as the soccer ball hits the back of the net.

And that's just from a person's perspective, who is working exceedingly hard to receive a college degree to hopefully make enough money to be financially independent from his parents.

For a moment, forget what I just said about their paychecks. Think, instead, what they mean to children who are still in the mindset that they can overcome the odds and be the next phenom like LeBron James or Bryce Harper. I have two little cousins, ages 6 and 8. They don't watch sports like I do. They see these people--these athletes--as role models. They want to grow up and be just like them.

Therein lies what I would like to believe is the true reason why we watch. Not because we are entertained or because we want their money or their fame (although I think that both of those reasons could be part of it) but because our inner child is screaming at the TV screen, waiting for our names to be called at the draft so that we can fulfill our lifelong dream. At least I hope that it's as innocent as that.

Whatever your reason is for watching, keep watching. Keep dreaming. Keep achieving. Maybe one day you can make it, kid.

Mamba, out.