My Uncle in LA!
April 30th, 2006 is the day that I fell in love with basketball. It was Game 4 First Round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs a regular game to most people, little did I know I would be witnessing greatness that day.
The Lakers White Uniforms are tradition on Sundays at the Staple Center and growing up so was watching Kobe go to work on ABC on Sunday afternoons. It was like church, hearing Mark Jackson say “Mama there goes that Man!!” or “Hand Down Man Down” was like a pastor reciting your favorite scripture, Kobe felt like part of the family, like an uncle that lived far away. Now my “uncle that lives in LA”, Kobe is gone. Hearing the news of Kobe’s passing caught me by surprise, it felt so sudden and it just didn’t make sense.
As I tried to deal with the odd phenomenon of grieving for someone that I have never met but was such a constant presence in my childhood, I tried to look back at my favorite Kobe memories and all I could think about was Game 4 of the 2006 Playoffs Round One. That game stuck with me! Not only did Kobe win the game with 0.02 seconds left in overtime on a pull up jumper from 17 feet with both Raja Bell and Shawn Marion smothered all over him but it was his layup with 0.07 seconds left that tied the game (S/o to basketball reference for these time stamps). He also did all that with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on the floor. Even at 13 I knew you can’t trust anyone with Smush’s haircut at that time. I know Kobe has had many game winners in bigger games than this one but I just remember the determination of him chasing down the tip ball from Luke Walton by the Lakers bench and telling everyone to “get out of my way” without saying a word, getting to his spot, rising up over two defenders (it could’ve been 20 defenders it wouldn’t have mattered) and draining the go ahead bucket...Magical!
At that point I knew this was special and he was special. For years you could not tell me anything about Kobe! There was no better basketball player in my eyes, not Magic, not AI, not that dude in Charlotte with the bad denim and gambling problem and damn sure not Lebron. When the, Lebron vs Kobe debate came about in high school, it was only 4 letters for me K-O-B-E. I even remember bringing up the debate in my English class my Junior year ( S/o to Mr. Potter) I was that invested. I even held grudges against other players because of the way they treated Kobe. Looking at you Dwight! Lebron had to come back from down 3-1 and beat a 73 win Warriors team before I started giving him the respect rightfully deserves.
Kobe was just different, in every way good and bad it is still so surreal that he is gone because it feels like his life was just getting started. He was doing movies and he even won an Oscar. He was doing more interviews and was even coaching Gigi’s basketball team to championships. That just goes to show you the spirit of Kobe Bean Bryant, because of his work ethic whatever he put his mind to he excelled at. Just like draining a 17 footer on a random Sunday afternoon in April that only his “nephew that lives in Buffalo” probably remembers.
To Kobe:
Thank you, thank you for the memories, thank you for all the moments, thank you for your commitment of excellence. Thank you for having the attitude of “if you’re not going to put in the work for a championship, then get out”. Thank you for not letting people waste your time. Thank you for the consistency. Thank you for being unapologetically you even though it took us a while to realize.
To Gigi:
This hurts the most because you had so much promise and I just know that you were going to take the WNBA by storm just like your Dad did the NBA in 1996. Even though I know you and your Dad left us too soon, your legacy will inspire a lot of young women out there.
To the rest of the passengers and the pilot that perished:
My condolences go out to your families during these trying times.