A snake strikes quick and its stings are painful. Its bites are not meant to injure; they are meant to kill. A snake wound will be scarred on its prey forever. Snakes are avoidable, and many people will never have an encounter with one; but whenever we are in an area where we know snakes are present, paranoia sets in. When Kobe Bryant stormed into the NBA, he made his presence notorious. He was a cut-throat player obsessed with winning; it wasn’t long before players and coaches around the league sought to avoid the “Black Mamba."
There are many words one can use to describe Kobe Bryant and his astounding career in the National Basketball Association: ruthless, willing, leader, legend and, most importantly, winner. Kobe Bryant’s will to win is something that has not been seen ever since Michael Jordan, the greatest to ever play the game of basketball, stepped on the hardwood.
From a young age, the skinny, Afro-haired kid from Lower Marion high school knew he was destined for great accomplishments; in a brief amount of time the world knew it as well. A perfectionist with a great appetite for winning and an obsession for improvement, he was different than anything we have ever seen in professional sports.
This same obsession cost Kobe Bryant some friends. Many of his colleagues, sometimes his own teammates, did not like him. For Kobe Bryant, however, “being liked” was never on his to-do list; being respected and being a winner were what mattered. Many people wanted to see Kobe fail or come up short; they rarely received the outcome they sought.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I was never a Laker fan, but I appreciated the greatness of Kobe. He was my Michael Jordan. It is difficult to understand the domestic significance of Kobe Bryant if you are not from Los Angeles. Most people will not understand that he was ours; he belongs to our city. He is what Jordan was to Chicago, what Lebron James is to Cleveland, what Lionel Messi is to Argentina. Kobe Bryant made us cry tears of joy and tears of gloom; he broke our hearts with losses but arranged the pieces back together with victory. Whenever he was hurt, he managed to carry the weight of not only a team but a whole city on his shoulders.
Late last year, in November, Kobe announced he would retire at the conclusion of the season. Flash forward to April 13, 2016: “Mamba Day,” as Nike declared, but more notably, the last game of Kobe Bryant’s career. In nothing short of a Hollywood-ending for a Hollywood-esque career, in the Staples Center, the house that he built, the Black Mamba exploded for 60 points, including the game-winning shot with less than a minute left in the game. It was like watching the same movie twice, three times... it’s hard to keep count.
Numerous times did Kobe make the Staples Center erupt with ecstasy; it was only fitting that it occurred one last time. One final time Kobe stood at center court and thanked the fans; one final time confetti showered down on the area. It was beautiful, almost alleviating, like rain after a long drought. It was game 82 of a grueling and exhausting season that couldn’t end soon enough for the Lakers and their fans. However, Kobe’s last marvelous moment acted as the deodorant for an otherwise brutal season.
Twenty years later, here we are. We have literally grown up with Kobe Bryant. When he hurt, a whole city did. When he was a champ, a whole city felt like champions. A part of Los Angeles will be retiring with Kobe as well. Whether admirers or critics, the world followed Kobe ever since he was a teenager. The world saw him thrive in his prime, and witnessed him decline in the past years. Nonetheless, he managed to shatter all the agonizing memories with one final miraculous game. Kobe Bryant is leaving the NBA as dramatically as he stormed into it.
