I was exposed to one of the sadder moments in sports history this week, and that was Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement from professional basketball. When I was growing up, Kobe was one of those professional athletes that you couldn't help but want to be like. He was a leader. He was fearless, and finally, he had heart. You can't sit down and look at me and say you never shouted "KOBE" after shooting a basketball into a hoop or a piece of paper into a trashcan. Kobe was just that guy, and it's just hard to believe that the Black Mamba is officially ready to hang up his basketball shoes.

Everyone, especially Kobe, didn't see this retirement coming. I thought he was going to pull a superman and come back healthy and ready to have another Kobe season. Sadly, this was the exact opposite of what actually happened. Kobe has talked about how he's worked just as hard or even harder than he has in the past, but his body just can't handle it any more. He says that "After a few games, my body is just dead."

Although Kobe may be struggling in this first quarter of the season with 16.9 points per game average along with a sad 22.2 percent from the 3 point range, Kobe is still arguably one of the best to ever play the game. He has won 5 NBA championships, 2 finals MVP,1 NBA MVP, and will be wrapping up his career with the third most career points in NBA history. If that alone doesn't scream first ballot hall of famer, then I don't know what does. Kobe showed us many things throughout his 20 year career, like the fact that an 18-year-old with heart and an absurd work ethic is able to compete with the best players in the NBA. Or maybe how an 81 point game is actually possible to achieve, not just in a video game, but also in real life. Recently, we got to see a vintage Kobe drop 31 points against the Wizards, including two key buckets in the last remaining minute of the fourth quarter, and boy, was it bittersweet.

Kobe moments like these must be cherished, because we're limited to a handful, for all we know. As a die hard Lakers fan, it's sad to see Kobe have to wrap his final season up with one of the worst Lakers teams I've seen in my 21 years of existence, with a whopping 3-18 record, but hopefully he will teach the team a thing or two before he steps off that court one last time. So here's my Kobe sendoff; thanks for all the excitement you provided to me and the other millions of fans you had throughout your career, and thank you for all the hard work you brought to the game. You will forever be one of my idols.