I was thinking about Kobe last night after my post on here until I fell asleep. What memory do I most want to take with me in regards to Kobe and his life?
And the conclusion I came to was Kobe was completely his own man. He wasn’t Michael, he wasn’t Magic, and he wasn’t Tiger.
He was just Kobe.
This crazy driven brash kid who navigated the multiple stages of manhood for all to see.
The most compelling part of Kobe’s story is how he grew as a man. We all witnessed it. He wasn’t easy to play with at times. He probably should have won seven rings truth be told. There were times when Phil Jackson could only shake his head and hit the reset button. But in the end…Kobe Bryant got it.
If you look around the landscape of contemporary sport my guess is Kobe’s legacy as a man will dwarf those of Michael, Magic, Kareem, Tom Brady, LeBron, and Tiger Woods ten years from now.
Here’s why…because through the bad which happened in Colorado to the present as we mourn his death…Kobe allowed all of us to be a part of his life and share his journey.
In the end we loved what we saw even though we don’t get to see the second half of the story.
But in our hearts… I think we know how it ended.