First of all, Rest In Peace, Kobe Bryant. The news of your passing hit me hard. I was home watching CNN and the “Breaking News” came on: “NBA Star Kobe Bryant Reportedly Dead in Chopper Crash”
I went numb. I started shaking. I suffered a running tummy and had to excuse myself to the bathroom for some good minutes. I went with my phone and checked out some news sites. Too tough it was.
Kobe… You made me fall in love with Basketball, and The Lakers became my team since 2000. I was only 13. I knew of Michael Jordan but I didn’t feel him. I knew he was a GREAT at that time but somehow my head was turned over by a certain KOBE BRYANT.
Around that time, the most prominent NBA jerseys in Uganda were Jordan’s Chicago Bulls #23 and Shaquille O’Neal’s Lakers #34. Away from NBA, there were many 2Pac Shakur “All Eyez On Me” T-Shirts plus a few Arsenal DREAMCAST/JVC/SEGA and Manchester United’s SHARP and later, Vodafone, plus Liverpool’s Carlsberg.
But the NBA jersey/vests that caught my eye were “BRYANT 8” yellow and purple. That’s before you switched to #24.
As time went on, I got to know you more because Papa used to bring so many NBA magazines and tapes from the USA, where he was working and studying. I fell in love with you and the purple and yellow jersey. I became an NBA addict of sorts. Lakers became my team. I stayed out late to watch games, especially Lakers.
At one moment, I wanted to get a Bryant jersey/vest. But I am not so much into armless clothes because I have small arms. The only NBA vest/jersey I’ve ever owned is New Orleans Hornets Chris Paul (CP3). But that’s a story for another day.
Around my friends, I became some point of reference in regard to NBA news. It made me feel proud. That was all because of you. I love(d) you so much. When your body started giving way, it got tough for me to watch Lakers without you. Because you were the driver of that team. Not Pau Gasol. Not Andrew Bynum. Not Metta World-Peace. Not Derek Fisher. But YOU.
Around 2006, there’s a tape where you talked to ME. Yes. YOU TALKED TO ME. The interviewer wanted to know how you sailed through the tough years of your beef with Shaq. Your answer gave me strength to always fight for myself.
You looked into the camera and said: “Never allow nobody to look down on you. If they say you can’t do it, show them that you can do it. It doesn’t matter if you are young, short, small or big. Always believe in yourself and keep working hard.”
That line has helped me a lot. I live by it. I don’t let nobody fool around with me. What I lack in size and height, I have in heart.
You see, Shaq wanted to show that you were nothing; maybe because he was older and bigger than you. he felt uneasy being pushed. You pushed the big man really hard. You made him uncomfortable. You never tolerated his a**.
You refused to lie down for him. In the end, you won the battle. He said you couldn’t win rings without him? But when he got traded, you won TWO without him. And the joke was on him. You won five in total. He won four.
In that aforementioned clip, you TOLD ME never to let nobody step on my toe and go. Be it at work, training ground.
I remember your last game like it happened yesterday. You taught the Utah Jazz some ‘ball lesson. You looked young. Energized. Pumped. Unfortunately, that was the last game I ever saw you play. And the sign-out was a tough one.
You said: Mamba Out. Indeed, the Black Mamba had hissed out one more time. And it had injected a lot of venom into the bodies of those Utah guys. It’s no wonder that when you retired from basketball, I also left. I stopped supporting and following. Sounds funny but that’s the truth.
It’s a shame I don’t even know the full Lakers roster at the moment. The other day I got to hear from friends that Dwight Howard is back at Staples.
You truly lived up to the “Mamba Mentality”. You were a fierce competitor. You didn’t let nothing and no one slow you down. And you were never shy of expressing your feelings.
I grew up in the generation of great names like Tim Duncan, Ron Artest (Metta World-Peace), Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Jamal Crawford, Manu Ginobili, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, and many others.
These were “hard” names. They gave you a run for your money. But you still prevailed. I loved the way you brought out the best in your teammates. The likes of Andrew Bynum. Pau Gasol. Sasha Vucajic. Trevor Ariza. This was more like a weak team but you grinded them into a championship ring in 2008. That’s how good you were.
You were a real Black Mamba. Black Mamba is the most poisonous snake in the world. It strikes very fast, multiple times. That’s what you used to be good at. You stung. You bit. You injected lots of venom into your opponents.
The Black Mamba is the fastest moving land snake, and you were that. When a Mamba gets cornered or threatened, it can put up a fearsome display of defense and aggression. You did exactly that.
A Mamba can stand up around one-third of its body from the ground. I have countless memories of you flying. When it corners its prey, the Black Mamba delivers multiple strikes, injecting large amounts of toxic venom with each strike, often landing bites on the body or head. You did all that.
What more can I say?
Rest In Peace, Kobe.
#MambaOut
#Mambamentality
OMG, marvelous… RIP KB8/24