No matter how terrible the management is, the coaching staff happens to be, or the players are for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant’s Swan Song of 20 years in the NBA is completely polarizing. The man caught an alley-oop in the 2nd quarter, banged home 3’s, and the crowd went wild tonight. Down by 20. And away. Like he has done since his retirement announcement. C’mon that’s respect and he deserves it.

Kobe has been one of the most polarizing figure in the NBA throughout his career. You either really really loved him or, really really hated him. You glanced at him with a smile or a snarl, he never changed. His on and off the court demeanor/handlings have been entirely take it or leave it: smugness, cockiness, straightforwardness, relentlessness, braveness, alpha-maleness, and any other adjectiveness to describe Kobe…. Oh, “Kobeness”. Kobe was Kobe. 

Shrouded in a villainous nature by media inlight of a unfortunate situation in Colorado, the wide smiled-dapper our “generation’s (late 90’s-00’s) Michael Jordan” went from emulation to ostracized. But his heroics were shown on the court and admired. Growing up, I had a Kobe poster in my room. A friend came over and said, “Take it down! You know what he did!” The case was heard and settled (don’t want to get into all of that), so my response was “No. He made a mistake. Paid for it. As long as he holds true to his word and stays the path of correcting himself, it’s staying” –I don’t think I was that virtuous at that age, but grandiosity suits me sometimes and makes the story better. He changed his number from 8 to 24. I don’t know what the reason was for, except maybe make us do math? He was snubbed for an MVP after averaging over 30 points, and I thought to myself, ‘damn, he’s done(via the media)’. The hero has met his fate. He’s turned full heel. Boy was I wrong.

He didn’t leave LA like he wanted at the time. They made moves (PAU GASOL!!!!), won a few championships, an MVP, All-Star game nods, playing and injured, and now 3rd all time in Scoring. He is a future Hall of Famer. Revered as great of all time (G.O.A.T); a living legend. Loved for his on court game, still unliked by some.

All personal feelings aside, the man is a bonafide, certified, cutthroat on the court. He dropped 81 points in a game (can still remember the 3 over a triple team) and as of tonight, the third all time scorer with over 33,000 points in the NBA per TNT. You can’t beat that. It’s greatness, and it should be witnessed and respected. For this, I am glad most of the games are being shown on national broadcasts. This generation, and the younger ones, should be witnessing greatness. All we hear about over the recent years is how great: Steph Curry, LeBron, KD, and Westbrook are, but we are quick to forget about Kobe because of distaste for the person and how much his team sucks. He’s not same player, but he is showing flashes on any given night his body allows him to give us a show. He also loves to remind us of the amazing skill he has portrayed 20 years within the league still leaving fans on their feet.

For myself, a diehard Kobe fan, I was emotional when hearing his announcement. A boyhood basketball hero taking a walk into the sunset. I’m still hoping it’s not a MJ walk off where he ended up playing overweight and past his prime with an even crappier team he was running, but hey they made the playoffs. Anywhoo, I also knew his body was done with the injuries that can derail careers. The man tried to reattach is Achilles people, WTF?! I was worried about the reception Kobe would get on his farewell tour because he is the Anti-Hero. ‘Don’t be like Kobe, be like LBJ or KD, they’re friendly not arrogant. But damn Kobe can ball!’. Although I understand people burned LeBron’s jerseys ya dopes. I thought people would be glad to see him go with a ‘FINALLY!’ Sigh of relief. OH BOY, WAS I WRONG!

Every arena the Lakers travel to, it’s sold out. Tickets are high priced and the place has a matching height of energy. The seats are filled with hometown fans, away fans and Kobe fans/appreciators. It’s great to see people appreciate greatness despite their reservations on his demeanor. Every basket he scores is recieved with elation and/or standing ovation to show their love and admiration as if to say, “Thank you, sir for all you’ve done”. If I had a child, I would want them to see what one person’s talent can do to encite a crowd to commune together to witness something this rare that’s a positive experience. I would love to equate it with Jordan’s Swan Song, but I was too young to appreciate it. Now I wish I would have. 

These athletes are one of a kind. Their physical fears and strengths are admired by all, and sought to be replicated into a doppelgänger fashion, where you would want someone to do a double take and see if you are you or the person you are trying to be.  Kobe Bryant’s game is like that, KOBE! (Jumpers if you’re not privy). One of the greatest players ever, who’s game and approach to it should be admired and duplicated. The person on the other hand, is a subjective opinion that only one could hold to their own. However, he is a basketball role model, love him or hate him… bask in it! Because these moments don’t come by often. I do not believe we will see this type of reaction to the end of an era for any other polarizing of a player/personality across the landscape of sports as we have for Kobe Bryant: The NBA’s Last Anti-Hero. 

Photo courtesy of onlinenewsplanet.com