- I was a junior in high school. I loved to play sports and I had a knack for art.
A friend of mine asked if I would draw someone for her.
Someone named Kobe.
He was supposed to be “baby Jordan.” The next Michael Jordan of basketball.
A rookie out of high school, to me, he may have well have been the next “Harold Miner.” (The last person they graced with the title of “Baby Jordan.”)
Who is Harold Miner?
Exactly.
There weren’t many who made it to the pros right out of high school and this kid was only a couple years older than me.
I didn’t think he would last.
Boy was I wrong.
Time went on and the name “Kobe” became more and more common in the basketball world.
It became common in the sports world.
And as the championships and accolades piled up, the name “Kobe” became common.
Period.
He was common for being UN-common.
Over his 20-year career, he sported Five championships, 15 All-Star Game appearances, four All-Star Game MVP Awards, two NBA Finals MVP Awards and a single regular-season MVP Award.
He once scored 81 points in a single game.
I remember watching the game he tore his Achilles’ tendon back in 2013. That is usually a career-ending injury.
I thought… “well, it was a good run for him.” I never thought we would see him on the court again.
Of course, Kobe first got up… hobbled over to the free throw line, and made both of his free throws with a torn Achilles Tendon.
After the game, Kobe wrote,
“This is such BS! All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I’ve done millions of times! The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the hell did this happen ?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I’m supposed to come back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that??
I have NO CLUE. Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the rocking chair and reminisce on the career that was. Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me”
Kobe used that frustration to fuel his return to basketball, a year later.
And after overcoming battles and adversity, Kobe Bryant finally retired in 2016.
In his final game, he scored 60 points to seal a Laker victory.
THATS how you end a career.
This morning, I saw the news that he had died.
I thought it was a hoax. I prayed that it was a hoax. I kept checking other news sites looking for more information.
But, it was true.
Kobe Bryant had been killed with 8 other people including his 13-year-old daughter, in a tragic helicopter crash.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
Why?
And I found myself actually emotional about it…
Why did I feel like this?
On average 150,000 to 160,000 people die around the globe every single day.
Think about that.
In the United States alone, someone dies on average every 12 seconds…
And every death is a tragedy.
Why was I so emotionally invested in this basketball player?
I hadn’t met Kobe Bryant personally. I’m not related to him, or connected with him at all.
He was famous for … what? Being the best person to put a ball through a hoop in a game?
It made me really think about what I was sad about… here’s what I figured out.
Kobe was part of my childhood. Growing up, I’d watch games with my family and there was Kobe, dropping 50 points on our poor Sonics. He was constantly destroying opponents. Kids started yelling “Kobe” when they would shoot the basketball pretending to be Bryant.
He was the inspiration for the first commissioned piece of artwork I ever created.
Kobe was the BEST at what he did. I had aspirations to be as good at something as KOBE is at basketball.
But more than that, Kobe was an inspiration for overcoming adversity.
Getting old? So what. Torn Achilles’ tendon? So what. You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to.
And I guess it’s silly to be inspired by people who play a game for a living, but I think Nelson Mandela summed it up the best.
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”
And I think, “Kobe Bryant,” did that using basketball for my generation, at least for me.
He sparked creativity and inspiration in a language a 16-year-old junior in high school could understand.
He wasn’t the “next Michael Jordan.”
He was the ONLY Kobe Bryant.