MambaAndMe

I was born in Chicago, IL in the summer of 1988. My grandmother loved basketball, and loved her Chicago Bulls. She passed that love on to me. I fell in love with basketball and the Bulls. Watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls as a kid was magical. They seemed like super heroes that could never be beaten. I wanted to be just like them. I became obsessed with the sport. I begged my dad to put a hoop up above the garage door. He finally did for my birthday one year. I would play basketball every single day. For Christmas, I even received an indoor basketball shooting arcade. I was basically playing 24/7 at that point. I started to collect basketball cards. I would memorize every players information. What school they went to, what year they were drafted, what teams they’ve played on. I remembered almost every players information from their basketball card. As a kid, I loved the sport so much that I just started to like a lot of players. Whether they played for the Bulls or not. So many names I can remember. Dennis Rodman, John Stockton, Grant Hill, Hakeem Olajuwon, Rex Chapman, Penny Hardaway, Nick Van Exel. They were some of my favorites besides MJ. Later on, Kobe came into the league. Everyone was talking about him. The hot new thing. I instantly wanted to dislike him because he was getting hyped up so much, so early. He also seemed to have a cocky attitude and think he was better than everyone. He was so good, he was a villain. He was looking good against some of the best players. But I didn’t like him, and I wanted him to fail. But you know what? Kobe didn’t fail. And all he did was prove me wrong. Kobe convinced me all on his own. He slowly but surely won me over. I was a basketball fan, at the end of the day. How could I not fall in love with Kobe’s play? To me, he looked almost like Michael Jordan 2.0 and I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe another player could possibly be just as good as Michael. Kobe honestly just proved me wrong. I became a huge fan of Kobe Bryant and really respected him. I loved watching him play. To me, he kept basketball fun and interesting to watch for years to come. Since Kobe has retired, I haven’t found the game nearly as enjoyable as I used to. There’s no one quite like Kobe or Michael. They both had that Mamba Mentality. LeBron is an amazing player, one of the greatest ever, surely. But he wasn’t cut from the same Mamba cloth that Kobe and Michael were. The game has changed since Kobe left, and I haven’t enjoyed it as much. With Kobe’s retirement, I barely would watch anymore.

Kobe’s death has really hit me right in the gut. He meant a lot to me since I was a kid, until I grew into a man. He was one of my idols. To lose him so tragically like this is so upsetting, for a million reasons. Life and basketball won’t be the same. Not for a long, long time. RIP Kobe. And thank you for everything.