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For two decades this man has been responsible for some amazing baskeball. Just watching him play you could not help, but feel inspired to do your best. On Sunday following Thanksgiving a letter was given to all of those that entered the Staples Center. How fitting for Kobe to give his farewell to an incredible career Thanksgiving weekend. We have followed him on and off the court and through one of the darkest periods in his life that at times he still does not seem to have recovered from totally. Never will I forget one of the best interviewes of my career was a informal talk with the NBA Superstar in his hotel room at the Madison Hotel in Memphis. We talked for at least two hours about his comeback and what he had been through and how it changed his life. It is not time for him to bid us a farewell after twenty years his body has just run out of gas and this season will be his final bow.
Read Kobe’s letter below:
Dear Basketball
Dear Basketball,
From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.
And we both know, no matter what I do next
I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
Love you always,
Kobe
