Dear Kobe
An open letter to the greatest basketball player I’ve known
Originally published: April 21, 2016
Dear Kobe,
From the moment
You stepped onto the hardwood for LA
And caused Alvin to sing you praise
For 27 points
In your Laker debut game
We knew one thing was true:
We could not possibly love you.
There was hate that spread across the league -
From the wills you broke
& hope you destroyed.
As a seventeen-year-old boy
Driven to be the best
You beat the greatest and pounded your chest.
There was a fire
We had never seen.
And so we watched.
We watched every single battle
Watched you pour out your soul for us.
We asked for your hustle
You gave us your heart
Because it came with so much more.
You played through pain and anguish
Not because you wanted to
But ’cause WE needed it.
You did everything for US
But the love never came
And that motivated you
To transcend our game
We saw an amazing man live out his dream
And you forever changed this game.
But we all knew this day was going to come to pass.
The end of the tunnel is here at last.
Our game will move on somehow
We’ll find someone new to cheer
But in our hearts we can’t bear to say goodbye.
It will be hard.
You will always be revered.
We want YOU to know now
That we have cherished every last moment of your storied career.
The good and the bad.
You have blessed us with greatness
Time and again.
And we all know, no matter what you do next
You’ll always have that spot
Right there at the top
The greatest Laker there was
The guy we loved to hate
Who let us witness
Him make history.
Thanks for the ride.
In honor of one of the greatest players to ever grace the hardwood, this letter draws it’s inspiration from “Dear Basketball” by Kobe Bryant for the Players’ Tribune. “Dear Basketball” was Bryant’s official announcment of his retirement from the NBA. The full letter can be found here.