ONE YEAR AGO…

We all have moments in our life where time stands still. Where, you remember the exact moment, the smells and the external temperatures etched it time. Those moments that when you reflect, bring bursts of emotion…whether positive or negative. These memories are ingrained in our mind and some of them can change our life’s path. For me, some of these moments are 9-11, when I said “I do” to my bride, when both of my children were born, when Michael Jordan announced his first retirement, when the dream team won the gold medal, OJ Simpson in the white bronco, the call to accept a division 1 basketball scholarship and the death of my grandma. Then came Sunday, January 26th at 11:49 am. The death of Kobe Bryant. I found myself sitting on the couch, with droves of emotions, going through my head. What? Really? Kobe? Why are tears rolling down my face, I mean I’ve never met him. I don’t really know him. The rest of that day was just a roller coaster of emotions, that had me in a funk, and I really couldn’t put my finger on why. As the days passed, it was absolutely incredible. It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just the basketball community, it wasn’t just Los Angeles or the United States…it was the world that was mourning this man. Was it because of the tragic nature of the event…Was it that his young daughter was also in the accident? Was it the others that also lost their lives in such a horrific nature? Strolling through social media feeds was such a difficult task, because the reminders of it were everywhere. The TV offered opinions and condolences from everyone. But for me it really came down to why was this having such a HUGE impact and emotional overload in my life?

For me, growing up basketball was life. It was all consuming to me. It was what I thought about, dreamed about and spent all my time doing and Michael Jordan was the basketball version of immortality. Someone that was far enough away and old enough, that his greatness was almost, through the lens of a young kid…unobtainable. But that certainly didn’t mean that we didn’t emulate. Every time we were on the basketball court we would shoot fade away jumpers, even when we didn’t need to and we would try the most ridiculously difficult layups, with our tongues hanging out, just so that we could have our friends from the stands, go crazy and say, “dude, that was like Jordan!” My friends and myself all, just wanted to be like Mike ?Like Mike, If I could be like Mike, wanna be wanna be wanna be Like Mike, if I could be like Mike?(if you know you know)

When I was in high school a kid named Kobe Bryant was drafted number 13 by the Charlotte Hornets and then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was 17 years old. His first year in the NBA wasn’t anything to get too excited about as he didn’t just get drafted and become a superstar overnight. It took some time for him to get his opportunities, but when he did, he made the most of them. One of the reasons I instantly connected Kobe, he unlike Michael, was my age, which made his experiences obtainable rather than wasn’t a figure that was too large or too much different than me that I couldn’t be like him. He was just like me. He loved a game and he spent his life working to perfect it. This work paid off when he streamlined to the NBA. If Kobe could obtain that, then in my mind it was possible I could too.

As his playing years went on, the media and the ability to look into someone’s life evolved dramatically. Michael, we saw on game days on the TV. We would run home from school just to get a glimpse of his spectacular feats or we would miss it for good. But Kobe, we saw everywhere. Live TV, recorded TV, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and every other social platform that is out there. He was there at the swipe of thumb whenever we wanted. When Kobe would do something amazing, like scoring 81 points in a game, we not only could watch it live, but we could see it every day, any time, all the time on every social feed from everyone. Kobe lived in a bubble. A bubble that can take a person from being just a basketball player into a bonfire Superstar. A vortex, where every person with a phone becomes a media member with the ability to create, enhance and solidify the external perspective of a person or with that same phone they could torpedo that career, with gears and blasphemy towards their character. Kobe excelled through this kaleidoscope of scrutiny …and won.

For me Kobe was more than a basketball player. He was someone that we could watch, through this social lens. He was a fierce competitor with a mindset that is still unmatched in sports, he is a businessman! He treated Basketball life a business, we were able to start to see the fruits of, he visited hospitals to see young kids who were extremely sick, he invested in the younger generation so that they could grow and be the best possible versions of themselves, he was a writer, a producer, he was a husband and he was a father. He did a lot with his 41 years that we from the outside were able to watch and became INVESTED in. I felt a connection and found myself invested in Kobe. I watched to see what he would do next… Watch how he handled adversity and how he handles success. How he balanced a successful career, time with his wife and being a father. How he governed his mind to do the things that he knew he needed to do but did not necessarily want to do. What separated Kobe from other basketball players? What separates him from others? What made this man into the sports icon one of the most mourned of my generation? What separates Kobe from who I am. I believe it’s not the physical giftings he had but rather how his mind worked and how he trained it to operate. He truly was a master of the mental aspects, first in the game of basketball, but then this talent permeated through the more important aspects of his life…being a community member, a husband and a father!

I was invested in Kobe, most of us were. When you are invested in something it truly hurts when it is lost. Kobe, you will be missed, but your example will continue to inspire me, not just the way you played basketball, but the man you became. Thank you for the example of using your mindset to make every day all it can be, just as the player gave every game his all. As my life has grown, so has your example of what I can be, what is obtainable, if I apply your mind set example to my everyday life.

Kobe thank you for the inspiration you shared with me, the basketball community and everyone that knew you and of you.

A Legacy: Kobe - Josh Barnard - Josh Barnard Home Team