Kobe's Gone. Everything Hurts.
“Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all, and I stood tall
And did it my way.” - Frank Sinatra - My Way
This is hard.
Due of a lot of life commitments, I hadn’t written a Dispatches in long in nearly two months. What can I say, life shit happens. And when life shit happens, the written word flutters out of my grasp because I’m focused on so many other things. But when Kobe Bean Bryant dies tragically on a Sunday afternoon, I had to write. The memories are flooding and rather than be angry at the world (again), I’d rather release it here.
It took me searching for the musical quote for my lede to figure this out, but Kobe Bryant embodied My Way by Sinatra. Think about it, whether it was his (failed) rap career or choosing to kick it solo post Shaq (until Pau). Kobe did things his way. He grew on his terms, whether it was going to Hakeem Olajuwon to refine his footwork and work more on the block or winning an Academy Award for a short film on basketball, things were done according to Kobe. Not anyone else.
Kobe wasn’t perfect and highlighting only the good stuff would be painting a picture that’s grossly incomplete. Colorado existed, he riffed and beefed with multiple teammates and had shown to himself to be equivalent of that OCD co-worker that everyone knows and loathes.
The coolest thing happened as he got older though, he (appeared) to learn and grow as a person. He became a great advocate for the women’s game (whether or not he deserved that accolade is up to you to decide). The World not getting to see what Kobe Bryant was going to grow into might be the cruelest cut in all of this.
So, I’m choosing to tell some stories. Maybe you’ll like them. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you were there and these spark some positive emotion in dark times.
The First Story:
First things first, if you were fortunate to be in the building for Kobe’s final game in Charlotte, this sendoff to Kobe from Michael was perfect. In only a way that Michael could do.
HOWEVER
What I’ll never forget was what happened AFTER that video message from Jordan. The familiar keys of Jay-Z’s Dynasty Intro hit. And Big Pat, the Hornets PA announcer delivered one of the greatest intro’s for a visiting player ever. The video doesn’t even capture how absolutely electrifying the arena was that night.
Seeing the influence that Kobe CLEARLY had on a guy like Kemba Walker made it all worth it that night as the Hornets won 108 - 98.
Speaking of influence, as someone who’s covered the league for a it. You take for granted the influence a guy like Kobe Bryant has. I know I compared him to Sinatra earlier, but he might be more like James Brown. As in the baseline mentality of so many NBA players are rooted in the “Mamba Mentality” that it became the league standard if you wanted to be an elite player.
Second Story
December 29, 2006
The night Kobe poured in 58 in a Double Overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. I was lucky enough to be in the building as a fan. Watching Kobe in person THAT night was special. It didn’t matter who was in front of Kobe, he was getting buckets.
Just a couple observations from that night that I didn’t realize until I looked at the box score.
Bobcats fans from that era were so tied up in Raymond Felton NOT being Chris Paul that we probably didn’t realize how good we had it until Kemba came along.
Filed under “why I’ll never trust plus-minus as a stat”, Matt Carroll led the Bobcats in plus-minus that night, which made sense as he pumped in 27 off the bench. But guess who was second that night — Jake Voskhul. Plus-Minus is never to be trusted man.
The more I think about the gunner Kobe era, the more I wish we’d appreciated it for what it was. And be we, I mostly mean me. It makes me wonder what else I missed out on due to stupid groupthink.
Random Kobe Thoughts:
First things first, I thought the NBA playing games on Sunday was a massive mistake. This isn’t the NFL where emotions can be hidden behind a mask, the NBA is in the business of promoting stars. It’s an extremely bad look for your product when your stars are that emotionally distraught. Especially when in the last few years, the NBA has willingly accepted the label of being the “woke” league. You can’t accept that label without the blowback that comes from decisions like this. As I’ve stated on Twitter, if this was Peyton Manning and the NFL had to make a decision, do you really think they’re not cancelling games?
Secondly, I’ve already touched on it but Kobe and Colorado is a touchy subject for all involved. One I’ve (intentionally) stayed silent on because I’ve chosen to listen to women on this subject and shut up for the most part. That said I’m about to contradict ALL of that and say, Kobe’s done more good than bad for this world, to say the man’s earned at least 24 hours grace to dissect his very complicated legacy is more than fair.
An addendum to the “legacy” discussion, complete legacies are always complicated and full of shades of gray. Anything tilted one way or the other is likely full of shit and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Lastly, there are likely going to be a lot of ties to the Charlotte Hornets and the “blunder” that is trading Kobe Bryant. If any story includes this lovely little ditty, I need you guys to do me a favor and ignore it. The myth of the Charlotte Hornets not wanting Kobe Bryant is just that — a myth. I know the Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell has reported this often, but in case you needed a reminder : Kobe. Bryant. Did. Not. Want. To. Play. Here. There’s been enough on the record reporting of this story. The trade was agreed upon before the Hornets even drafted him. Tell a friend and let’s kill this false narrative one person at a time.
Song of the Day
Say what you want about how Lost ended, the soundtrack was full of songs that made great “sad” music. For Kobe, this song felt appropriate. Especially since it’s been on repeat as I’ve been writing this at damn near 2 AM. And good luck trying not to cry, I’ve failed multiple times.