No… There is another….

Master Yoda to Obi Wan in, The Empire Strikes Back

I just graduated High School, it was 2009, I grew up in Central Florida and partially in Orlando. I grew up as a young child during the Shaq and Penny era, and while I never really had a favorite NBA team, (I was more a fan of players than teams) I had a soft spot in my heart for the Orlando Magic. Shaq and Penny were my childhood, the true Dynamic Duo of my generation. So here my father and I were, me a fresh High School Graduate sitting with his dad in a sports bar in Central Florida, watching our Orlando Magic advance to the NBA finals over the King himself Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers. We could not believe it, they were ACTUALLY in the NBA Finals, it was a night to remember and one I will never forget…

The Magic would be advancing to play the Los Angeles Lakers, the golden child of the NBA, that franchise that just felt more a part of the League than most other teams not named the Celtics, Knicks or Bulls. The small market Orlando Magic were in the big leagues now, on the world stage, my dad and I were excited, proud and enthusiastic. The Magic had a promising powerhouse of a Center in Dwight Howard and a murderer’s row of shooters in Hedo Türkoğlu, Rashad Lewis and J.J. Redick, none of them, besides maybe Dwight, were names you would remember or know as a casual NBA fan but they were all piquing, seemingly at the same time. It was show time now, money time….Unfortunately, the Magic lost the first game of the series… but it was ok, we were on the road, we could afford to maybe drop a game on the road, as long as we got one game on the road we were in good shape. As Jay-Z would say, “On to the Next One” …The Magic fought hard and showed they belonged in game 2, they pushed it into overtime, but alas, they lost yet again…. Now, our boys were coming back home. Home to O-Town, to a city starving for professional sports glory of any kind, the atmosphere was feverish, my dad and I were optimistic.

All of a sudden, the Magic came alive at home, the extremely excited crowd of fans that had not had an NBA title worthy team since Shaq and Penny were boosting their team of solid NBA stars over the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers. The Magic won two hotly contested games at home and were primed for a Disney-esque story of underdog triumph…But then it happened, he happened. He came like an assassin, quick, efficient and LETHAL beyond measure. “He’s in the lane , uh-oh, your big athletic center came over to help on D, no worries, here’s a mid-range fade away in the entire teams face”…”Uh-oh, your double teaming him, HAHAHA, watch this ball fake, pivot move to a turn around jumper so smooth even the opposing teams own fans and coaching staff weren’t even mad at it”. There it was, there HE was, the Black Mamba, The Assassin, The Killer, the Deadliest and quickest gun in the West (and the East for that matter). My dad and I understood then that we made a grave mistake, we forgot, how could we forget!?!?? How could we forget the Lakers just were not a storied franchise, the Lakers were not just a uniform or famous team name, the Lakers had their own one-man force of nature…. The Lakers had Kobe Bean Bryant!

We watched our Magic fall, we watched our hometown heroes get dismantled by the Mamba, but we couldn’t even be mad, we only could just look on, look to the screen in wonder, and marvel at the beauty that was Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals. Kobe was not going to let his team lose, Kobe was a closer, Kobe was like Mariano in the 9th with a one run lead and no outs, once the Sand Man Cometh, the Sand Man Taketh! Kobe arrived like he always did and it was the end of our little franchises’ dreams for a title, for a long, long while.

On the Basketball court Kobe embodied the words “Tenacious”, “Cold Blooded”, “Fearless”, “Deadly”, “Lethal”, “Frightening”, “Majestic”, and “Wondrous” wrapped all in one.

Kobe was, Triple threat, pump fake, drive right by you, and pull up just because he could. Kobe was… use that same move again but this time take it down the lane and slam it over your 7 foot Center, putting him on a poster for the rest of his life. Kobe was back to the basket, you know your guy needs help but before you could react, he already sunk a turn around jumper, winked at the camera and was already back on defense…
Kobe…. Well, beyond that, Kobe was a dad, a son, a husband and a hero to millions of kids and adults across the planet. Kobe was fluent in multiple languages and one of the “worldliest” American sports stars of all time. Kobe was one of my heroes.

Kobe brought a level a tenacity to the basketball court that has not been reached since that one guy from the University of North Carolina was drafted into the NBA.

Speaking of that guy from UNC…well…lets just say if the sport of Basketball came to life and became a living breathing person… it would be that guy, it would be Michael Jordan, everyone knows Michael , MJ was the greatest competitor of all time when he played, he was the most skilled, the most dynamic, the most lethal, MJ before even Kobe embodied words like Tenacious”, “Cold Blooded”, “Fearless”, “Deadly”, “Lethal”, “Frightening”, “Majestic”, and “Wondrous”. When MJ retired officially, (I mean his retirement from the Bulls not his run with the Wizards…) When Michael Jordan retired the world was at a standstill, Basketball had lost it’s God, it had lost it’s very soul, everyone was at a loss, they thought, “Never again would we see another like him”, “That man was our only HOPE!!”……But they were wrong, oh were they ever wrong, they were wrong whether they want to admit it or not, because the Universe in all of its mystery, all of its mystical inner-workings that we can’t seem to grasp, spoke to all of us….As we wailed at the departure of Michael Jordan shouting aloud …”There goes a man the likes of which we will never see again In the sport of Basketball!!!”…The Universe spoke back to us and said…..”NO….There is…Another!”….

Rest in Peace Kobe Bean Bryant, Rest in peace Gianna Bryant and the other innocent lives lost in that tragic accident….

Written By: Marcos Lopez 1/28/2020