In honor of Kobe "Bean" Bryant

Everything is still surreal. I am still in shock! Kobe Bean Bryant, 41 years of age, too young and still have a lot of things to accomplish, died on a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant on the morning of January 26, 2020. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Kobe had already left us. Though I am not that big of a fan of Kobe, but I truly respected and admired the man who he came to be, and the career that he had in the NBA. At first, I didn't really like Kobe. For me he was a showboat and often times I sided with Shaquille O' Neal in their feud. This could probably be rooted by the fact that I was a huge Michael Jordan fan, and I was that kind of fan who will always protect his legacy and standing in the NBA as the Greatest Of All Time. I don't know why I'm so affected by his death. I followed Jordan mostly during his second three peat championship run as I was too young to understand basketball in his first three peat championship run. But I was a witness to Kobe's NBA Journey. Kobe, made me insecure of Jordan's accomplishments. He was someone who was a pale imitation of Jordan. Here was a young kid who became a three time champion, riding and eventually overcoming the coattails of Shaq, pushing Shaq away and trying to take ownership of the team that Shaq was carrying to multiple championships. When Kobe was embroiled in that "controversial" sexual assault case, I began to further despise the kid. I laughed when his Lakers team languished in the standing and kept on losing. I said then, this Kid will probably be stucked with three championships and forever be attached to the greatness of Shaq who again delivered Miami's first Championship. That consecutive unsuccessful seasons probably lit something in Kobe. And the Black Mamba was born.

For me, to achieve greatness, one must experience great failure. Jordan's multiple playoff losses to the Detroit Pistons was what made his legend grew. The obstacle that he had to overcome to achieve greatness, the Pistons provided it. Those losses made him work harder. And when his hard work paid off, he became invincible. That Invincibility gave him Six championships in eight years. I probably misunderstood Kobe's move to push Shaq away from the Lakers. But as the Kid matured, and as he began to explain the " Mamba Mentality", I began to understood what it meant to be Kobe Bryant. Kobe, could've chosen to rode on the coattails of Shaq and probably won 3 more championships to equal Jordan. But for him, this was the comfort zone that he needed to break. Mamba Mentality is about going out of your "comfort" zone and challenge yourself. He needed to break away from Shaq, either Shaq leaves, or he leaves, he made Dr. Jerry Buss (Lakers owner) choose between them. He wanted that challenge, he embraced that challenge. Mamba Mentality is about pushing yourself to the limits. When he went solo and tried to will the Lakers to another championship, he pushed himself to the breaking point. Pushed his teammates to the breaking point. And the hard work eventually paid off when he won another two championships with the right team behind him. I rooted for Kobe to get those championships because after the fall (and multiple unsuccessful seasons), he began to truly deserve it. When he tore his achilles heel, he defiantly strode to the free throw line and shoot his free throws, perhaps as his personal answer that this injury will not reduce him to being carried off the court. With the Mamba Mentality, he was too proud to be defeated. And even down to the very last game of his NBA career, he went with guns ablazing, scoring 60 points and willed his Lakers team to win a meaningless game (they were already out of the playoffs contention). This was Kobe in a nutshell. Defiant down to the very end, a killer who will take down every challenge along his way.

Most superstars leave the game broke, grasping for the life that comes after basketball, but not Kobe. In fact, his academy award winning animated short Dear Basketball is one achievement that no other athlete has probably done. This plus a multitude of Business ventures that would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars proves that Kobe is not a one trick pony. Mamba Mentality was not limited to the Basketball court. Mamba Mentality has become a way of life for Kobe. And this is something that his fans should remember about Kobe more than anything. In the same way that the philosophy of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is being espoused by his students and his fans, I believe Mamba Mentality is one that is worth most preserving in the whole breadth of Kobe's legacy to his multitudes of fans. If one considers himself a Kobe fan, then I guess the only way to honor Kobe is by embracing his Mamba Mentality. I hope his wife Vanessa could preserve this, if not one of his fans could make Mamba Mentality a movement, a way of life for the generations to come. Kobe can be larger than life itself, and he can even conquer Death itself if we can help realize the Mamba Mentality as a movement even more than basketball. 

I grieve of the man now not because of his Basketball prowess. I grieve of the man now because this man is now a Father. A Father who has totally devoted his retirement to his family. The relentless Kobe that we saw on the basketball court, is the same relentless Kobe that we saw around his family. Jordan maybe a basketball god, but Kobe beats him as a family man. I find it such a waste that for Kobe, family life began after his retirement. For the whole of his career, he had devoted his life to Basketball, calling it his Muse, not wasting a single second to achieve and give to the sport that he loves so much. He knows that he couldn't go on forever on the court, and his retirement has bought him precious time to be with his family, to be a dotting hands on Dad to his kids. He gave his most precious time to his family, even exclaiming in one of his interviews that he couldn't even watch Lakers game nowadays because he was too busy catching up with precious family time that he sacrificed for the most of his career. In fact he devotes his time to Gigi, the daughter that he was with on that fateful helicopter ride. His daughter that seems to be following the footsteps of his dad. Oh he was so proud of Gigi. And I could not imagine the scenario and the feeling Kobe had on that fateful day. I just couldn't. 

If in Basketball parlance Jordan was the Basketball god, Kobe was us, plain mortal beings who pushed himself to the limits to achieve the higher plane above other mortals, short of being a god, but ultimately up there but very relatable. Kobe wasn't gifted the NBA. He had to work for it. Thru Mamba Mentality he was able achieve his wildest dreams in his NBA career. I still mourn today for the loss of a great man. Hopefully despite not being a superfan of his, I could honor him by adopting the Mamba Mentality. Rest in Peace Kobe, Mamba Out!