KOBE lasts FOREVER
Nothing last forever they say, but Kobe’s legacy will. It’s not about the 5 rings and other dozen of titles, medals or rewards. It’s about his personality, who was genuinely destined to succeed in every field he tried to. No matter if it was basketball, writing books, the Oscar movie, analyzing the fundamentals of the GAME during brilliant interviews. All of them were pure statements about his inner value. I think he IS – because I cannot say he was – the best illustration of what Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us’.
The best part of Kobe’s personality was enjoying time. He trained a lot, more than anybody, staying every night to shoot a bit more, to practice every move in order to improve. At the moment when he was the best player, he still wanted to improve a bit if possible and this is a truly powerful message for the entire world, not only for the basketball lovers. He was a man of sacrifice and hard work, giving everything inside and outside the court. After he retired, asked if he missed basketball, he declared plainly: ‘No’, explaining than other chapters of his life have just begun and he wanted so badly to enjoy them. Somehow, without knowing it, he was like in a hurry to do it ALL, before the time was up.
An old joke about his focus on scoring (and not passing the ball so much to his teammates) was based on the funny comparison: ‘What’s the difference between Kobe and time?’ And the answer was: ‘Time passes’. But now this can be true in another way: ‘Time passes, Kobe lasts forever’. Unfortunately, sometimes, hard workers had to rest in peace sooner.
Photo: Yahoo Sports
Gratian Cormos
