Now I’m a Kobe Fan

It's a shame that it took me until Kobe Bryant's last game to become a fan. It's not that I ever liked or disliked Kobe one way or the other. He just came into the league at the wrong time for me.

I grew up a Michael Jordan fan. After all, I was nine years old when Air Jordan came to be.  It was impossible not to be a Jordan fan. When Kobe came into the league, it was a little different. He was younger than me, entered right out of high school, and played for a West Coast team whose games were on late at night.  It's hard as a senior in college to become a huge fan of a high school aged kid.

As a sports fan, I watched a number of Lakers games over the years. I always had a lot of respect for Kobe and the way he played the game. As I got older and had kids of my own, they too did not become Kobe fans as his time had largely passed and they are growing up amidst the Steph Curry phenomenon. But, last night all of that changed.

Kobe reminded me of everything I love about sports.  He brought emotion, he overcame the struggles of a shaky start, he found strength even when his legs were tiring, and he willed his team to victory when it looked like all hope was gone. Oh yeah, he also scored 60 points (that's right, 60!) while doing it, including 17 in a row when the game was on the line.

He did it with hard work, perseverance, and flair. In short, he delivered the type of performance that everyone thought had long passed him by and that he was not even conceivably capable of producing. Shaquille O'Neal, one of his former teammates and one of dozens of celebrities in attendance, may have summed it up best in typical Shaq fashion when he said, "I challenged him to get 50 and the Mother****er got 60."

Indeed, he did. And in the process, I no longer was someone who just respected the way Kobe played the game.  He dazzled us while the whole world was watching him do something so much more than they had expected. Everyone was hoping for a show. What they got was a legendary performance of epic proportions. That is what defines greatness. And he did it in his finale. He did it when he was supposed to have nothing left. He went out on top like no one else in sports ever has.

So, now, count me as a Kobe fan. I only wish I had been one sooner.

 

It's a shame that it took me until Kobe Bryant's last game to become a fan. It's not that I ever liked or disliked Kobe one way or the other. He just came into the league at the wrong time for me.