From 8 To 24 To…

I am not a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers.  For the 2003-2004 season, I was.  That was the one and only season where Karl Malone played for the Lakers, which ultimately proved to be his final season in the league and also his last shot at winning an NBA Championship.  In the end, it just wasn’t in the cards for Malone and that year’s iteration of the Los Angeles Lakers.  But this post isn’t about Karl Malone, his final season in the NBA, nor how that 2003-2004 Lakers team will go down as one of the best teams NOT to win an NBA Championship.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, who was one of Malone’s teammates during that 2003-2004 season.

There really aren’t many words that can be said that likely haven’t already been said about Bryant’s untimely death or even the events and circumstances that contributed it.  Still, I pen this entry.

I found out about his death while eating breakfast at a local eatery that morning, just before noon.  That particular eatery was nowhere near Los Angeles or the crash site, though as is the case in today’s day and age; news, be it good or bad, travels very fast.  I, like perhaps most of the world, found about the tragedy nearly two hours after it happened.  Disbelief had to have been the most prevalent thought that had consumed me at the time.  At the time, I had even wondered if such news had been some kind of hoax, something fabricated for the hell of it, something that might circulate around the internet and maybe social media for a brief time and then normalcy would ensue and we’d learn that Kobe Bryant was not dead.  But no, in the end, that sad reality started to set in.  Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers’ great and soon-to-be Hall of Famer, had been killed in a helicopter crash in the community of Calabasas.  He was gone, seemingly in the blink of eye.  He, as did the other eight people aboard that helicopter, all lost their lives that fateful morning.  Killed on impact as that helicopter slammed into the side of a mountain.  Blunt force trauma would be their presumed causes of death.

Strangely enough, I was not a big Kobe Bryant fan even prior to his death.  Obviously, being that I followed the NBA, I knew who he was and what his legacy had been.  There was no way in hell this man was not going to be in the Hall of Fame.  Not even death was going to prevent him his entry into the Hall of Fame, to which he was posthumously granted enshrinement the following year in 2021.  As I have mentioned in previous entries, I spend a lot of my time on YouTube, watching all kinds of stuff.  Some weeks ago, I suddenly found myself watching videos about Kobe Bryant.  I guess the algorithm decided that I needed to hear about his teachings and wisdom and with that, I found myself becoming somewhat intrigued about his work ethic, how he played and practiced, and how he did what he needed to do without a care as to what anyone else thought about him or his routine.  And with that, I became a fan.  I have always tried to live similarly.  Maintain a solid work ethic.  Do what I need to do with all the passion and dedication I can muster.  Not give a damn as to what other people might think about me, what I do, or even how I do it.  Yes, Kobe, I can relate.

Time goes on.  Life goes on.  Sadly, the NBA goes on, but that’s another story for another entry.  I don’t watch the NBA in its current iteration, which is a far cry from when Bryant was playing.  It’s a very hard watch today.  The game has changed, and not necessarily for the better.

For as long as there are basketball fans, especially of the era during which Bryant played, who remember this man, there is no way in hell Bryant or his legacy cease to exist.

And know this.  My professional basketball allegiance still lies with the Utah Jazz, as bad as they have been these last few seasons.  Don’t think I haven’t forgotten how in Kobe Bryant’s final game in that Lakers uniform, or any NBA uniform for that matter, he torched the Jazz for 60 points en route to a 101-96 Lakers’ victory.  Should I have expected anything less and against my Jazz too?

The memories will always be there, but I know that I’m not the only one who remains convinced that Kobe Bryant left us way too soon.  I can’t be the only one.

Rest in peace, Mamba.

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