Adekale Ande, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor
Basketball player Kobe Bryant played in his last home game in the NBA Wednesday against the Utah Jazz. Bryant is more than just a basketball player. He is a role model for the people of my generation. Bryant is the ultimate competitor and a true champion, but will the next generation even remotely understand what he did for the game of basketball?
Today’s game of basketball is different. Everyone wants to win now without putting in hours of dedication. Bryant was the first one in the gym and the last one out. There was not a harder working player on the Lakers than him. Each and every day he would find a new way to challenge himself and make himself better. When I was a kid, I wanted more than anything to be like him, and I’m pretty sure every other kid did too. There is not one game of pickup basketball in my generation where the kid who had the last shot of the game did not yell “Kobe” while trying to deliver the final shot. To this day I still do this out of instinct because that is the player I strived to be like. Bryant had that kind of impact on the game of basketball and on other athletes in other sports.
Clutch, unstoppable, example, selfish, respect, winner, obsessive, and a—hole are some of the words that came to mind to fellow Nike athletes when describing Bryant, according to a video found on Sports Illustrated. Nike has officially deemed Wednesday, April 13, Mamba Day. In honor of Bryant’s illustrious career, every Nike sponsored athlete will wear black and gold to pay respect to one of the legends in the world of sports. To earn this much respect from fellow athletes in a variety of sports is something to marvel at. You either loved him or you hated him. He is the kind of player that you booed when he came to play your favorite team and the player you awed at and clapped for when he won.
This next generation will only remember him as the washed up guy on the bench of the Lakers watching them lose time after time after time. This should not be how you remember him. We should remember the Kobe Bryant who won three NBA championships in a row with Shaquille O’Neal, the Kobe Bryant who scored 81 points against the Raptors, the Kobe Bryant who had 36 game winners, the Kobe Bryant who shot 1-for-14 from the floor, the Kobe Bryant who tore his Achilles and refused to be pulled from the floor until he knocked down two free throws, and even the injured Kobe Bryant who was on the sideline mentoring the next generation of Lakers players. These are the things that the next generation needs to remember about Bryant. They need to remember his passion and fire to be the master of his craft. They need to remember the countless hours spent in the gym to perfect his jump shot. They need to know his love for the game.
Bryant truly lived up to his moniker, “The Black Mamba.” On the court he was calm, collected and cold-blooded. You knew he meant business every time he laced up his shoes. It’s his competitiveness and hunger to be the best that makes him the envy of all his peers.
Whether you knew him as No. 8 or No. 24, his intensity and passion for the game changed the way people will look at basketball forever.