Dear Kobe

Dear Kobe,

It was just last week that I was in a conversation about inspiration and you instantly came to mind. It was just a few years ago that I took a solo trip to Staples Center to witness the greatest farewell game basketball has ever seen. It was just a few years before that when I was a kid in the park, alone on the basketball court with the sun on the horizon, dribbling a ball to a mental shot clock and an imaginary crowd, practicing your signature fadeaway. “3..2…1….and the crowd cheers as Bryant sinks the game winner” I would whisper to myself. It wasn’t until years later that I realized just the amount of impact you would have on me.

I would stay up late to watch you compete, never wanting to route for anyone else. Sure, Shaq and Fisher and Gasol all had their personas, but there was something mesmerizing about you. The way you moved, almost like a dance around the court that no one could learn. Your own choreography to the beat of Basketball’s rhythm. And then there was the toughness. Free throws on torn achilles, popping in dislocated fingers, arriving at the gym 4 hours before the Olympic national team. The more I saw, the more you became my source of inspiration. But, most importantly, behind all of that was a man who was courageous enough to ask questions. To admit what he doesn’t know. To constantly be in search of excellence through the eyes of curiosity. It was a lesson I learned from you, and one that I will take with me in everything that I do. 

I was shy as a kid, but you gave me the courage to speak up. You showed me it’s ok to not know all the answers. You taught me that things aren’t always going to be easy, but you don’t want them to be easy. You showed me that the best kind of achievements are the ones that we earn. You were a master of the game, but you would be the first person to say you had more to learn. I embraced this mentality, and began to understand what inspiration meant. I began to understand the importance of inquisition, and the power of hard work. The power of passion. You showed me what it meant to truly be a student of life.

It’s incredible how you can feel so close to someone so far. I’ve never felt so emotionally impacted by the loss of someone I’ve never met. But that’s what you did. With diligence and persistence, you permeated the lives of fans and observers across the world by speaking a universal language of passion. You gave people the confidence to pursue indelibly. 

Thank you. Thank you for asking the hard questions. Thank you for your relentless drive. Thank you for having the courage to choreograph your own dance. Thank you for everything you did for the game and for the world around it. Thank you for giving a shy kid the confidence to speak up. Moving forward from here is never going to be the same. You may not be here, but I will always carry the inspiration you’ve given me through hard work and tenacious inquisition. 

Your light will always shine bright, like the sun on the horizon as the clock winds down. 3..2..1..swish.

Love,

MJ