Recently, NBA legend Kobe Bryant made an emotional announcement via a letter to basketball on his twitter account:
“You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream and I’ll always love you for it. But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”
After five titles, an MVP award, seventeen All Star appearances, and two gold medals, the Mamba has undoubtedly made his mark on the basketball world, and the game won’t be the same without him. With these achievements came some amazing moments, such as his unbelievable 81 point game against the Raptors back in 2006, or his countless game-winning shots that almost became routine. If a game was on the line, fans knew the ball would be in the hands of Kobe Bryant.
Players around the league expressed their respect for Kobe, many younger players grew up watching him play. Rockets All-Star James Harden said he would “rush home from school just to see him (Kobe) play.” Lebron James said he wore an afro in high school because he wanted to be just like Kobe. Many refer to him as “the closest thing to Michael Jordan.” While Steph Curry has had an impressive start to the season in averaging thirty two points per game in his first twenty games, it is still three points short of Kobe’s thirty five ppg season. Only Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, and Michael Jordan have averaged more in a single season.
A future first-ballot Hall of Famer and arguably one of the greatest to ever play the game, the Black Mamba will never be forgotten.