And it comes to an end... Saying goodbye to a G.O.A.T

Hey Ya'll it's your favorite, SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnnn the buildin'! It's been a long time coming for me to write this post. I have been holding on to these thoughts so closely because there is something about putting it out in the world that makes it all so real for me. And I don't think I truly want to believe that the game as I have loved it will not be the same....

There will only be one Kobe Bryant and the post today is about him and the dreaded "R" word when it comes to sports- RETIREMENT!

On November 29th, 2015 my timeline jumped with so much buzz around a posting on The Player's Tribune. That posting was announcement from Lakers star and notably one of the great NBA players, Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement.

This season I have been catching glimpses, predictions and more about Kobe retiring and I didn't want to hear it. I even think I told a friend in October that if that day came, someone would have to pick me up off the floor. I think in the world of sports each generation has their person, their great athlete who makes the game enjoyable for them. One who will top it all. For some athletes they eclipse the game across the boundaries of teams etc, but for most athletes, they just become the "It" to the game. They make it all make sense.
 Names like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Walter Payton, Joe Namath, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter and of course Michael Jordan, just to name a few. These are legends of the sport, greats who changed the game in how they played it. They were and are still respected, even if you despised the team they played for there was something about the athlete that you just wanted to watch. You wanted to see the magic, they were what made the game great.

In basketball my great, was and is Kobe Bryant. I came in too late to understand the magnitude of Magic and Larry, and I was growing up in the midst of MJ. But as a sports fan you are also waiting for the one to come out of your generation and that one was Kobe. He was 18 when he entered the game, just out of high school in Philadelphia. I will admit as a young girl he was the heartthrob athlete who took Brandy to the prom- HA! I was all over my Teen Beat magazine when that story broke. My love of him wasn't instantaneous.

I knew he was drafted with the Hornets, and then traded to the Lakers and yes as a young Lakers fan, it's equally exciting to have your basketball great on your team. But as I was saying of course he didn't become my great right away. It took time, it took watching him transform the team, watching him grow, mature and develop in the game. Like my favorite in the rap game- Eminem, Kobe had a volcanic relationship with the game he loved.

It wasn't perfect, at times he took it for granted, at times he risked it and at times you worried, would your glimpse at greatness taint the game in a way that would be disappointing (I.E. performance enhancing drugs, scandals etc). And it was touch and go, especially The Trial.

Or the drama- he's cocky, he's not a team player, he leads with agression, he's a baby, he wants to get his way.... Blah blah blah. But when he plays and he shines, it's just magic.   You catch a glimpse of why the sport is played, you catch a glimpse of joy, of pure synergy and it makes the risks, the times the game is taken for granted, the drama go away.

And you crave it! The fire, the passion, the boldness that Kobe plays with, as a fan you can't hate it. It stokes the fire of your team especially when they are winning and dominating the game and the league in a particular season.

Going into this season, I asked myself what would happen if there wasn't a Kobe. I was asking myself more for the Lakers than I was for the sport. I was being selfish, the Lakers have been slipping in their reign of being one of the formidable teams to beat. Teams end up having their ups and downs, but I never expected it with the Lakers and certainly not with Kobe on their team. But some things just fade, the music fades away, the curtain closes and that moment was coming for the era of Kobe and the Lakers. The Lakers will be my team through their inevitable seasons of rebuilding.

But the game will have changed, some might argue it already has and your body as an athlete- I can only imagine- just let's you know when it can't keep up and change and grow with the rate the game has. And I guess that's what happened with Kobe. It will be sad not to see him suit up, it will be different not watching his side grin when he knows he banked a shot that just sealed the game. The game will be different because even if the team around him isn't the strongest, the way opponents play against them is still with a fight because he's on the court.

As the ticks for this season, and the send-offs continue on the farewell tour, I will hold on to the great moments, the moments when a community says farewell to my G.O.A.T in the NBA- Kobe. It's bittersweet for sure, because when they close the chapter in the game, you hope they can go out on top (cut to Peyton Manning entering Super Bowl 50- yes I am foreshadowing a retirement from Peyton, and no I don't think the Broncos are going to win), that won't be the case for Kobe. There is not one last championship in his future. All he has are the last games, the last games in this city or that city, the last games against that opponent etc.

So Kobe, here's to your last games. May you at least go out in you own blaze of glory! Thank you for making this game exciting, thank you for giving me my greatest in the game, there will never be another one like you.