Kobe Bryant Prepares To Say Good Bye To Basketball

Kobe Bryant finally gets to say his last good bye on his terms.

Kobe Bryant’s twentieth season with the Los Angeles Lakers is down to one game, and the end of his career is the end of an era for the Lakers and for the city of Los Angeles.

He is the last link to many great Lakers, traded for by Jerry West the same year of Magic Johnson‘s last retirement.

As a rookie, he was joined by Derek Fisher as they were both taken under the wing of current Lakers coach Byron Scott in his last year.

Every one of his championship rings were won under the tutelage of Phil Jackson who once wrote he was “uncoachable”, but reconciled to go after more rings and now sings his praises.

When Kobe began his career it was in Inglewood in the Great Western Forum. By the time it is ending he now plies his trade in the heart of downtown at the Staples Center an arena he helped raise to another level first as part of the “dynamic duo” with Shaquille O’Neal and then as a team leader in his own right.

Arguably, Figueroa Street could be called Kobe Bryant Way as he helped lead five championship parades, and will have a statue across the street from the entertainment mecca that LA Live has become in part thanks to those flocking to see Kobe play.

With Kobe Bryant I feel a certain bond, as he was probably the first athlete that I would consider to be a contemporary, and we’re practically the same age.

We’ve reached middle age together in the same city, and that’s something special. Kobe is not my idol as Magic Johnson was in my youth — instead, he’s a great competitor whose game could be awe inspiring and at the same time maddening.

By my estimate, I’ve seen Kobe play thousands of games, and I’ve seen his highest highs and his lowest lows.  The best game I ever saw him play was in person when he out-scored the Dallas Mavericks 62-61 over three quarters in 2006.

In that game, like many of Kobe’s games, I sat with my father in the 300 section and we watched in awe as he seemingly made shots from all over the court befuddling the Mavericks defense.  By the time anybody in the arena knew what happened the Mavericks had been blown out and Kobe had set a new standard for excellence.

Afterwards I told my father he could not top his performance.

I was wrong a month later when Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, second only to the great Wilt Chamberlain for points in a game.

That is the essence of the Kobe Bryant I saw, ever time he did something great he would push himself through pain, fatigue, and circumstances to top it.

Next: Chris Paul Propels Clippers To Victory

The Kobe Bryant I saw will never bee seen again.