Invincible

I have a box of tissues by my side.
A glass of water.
A pen.
Some paper.
And, out of the ordinary, ESPN is not playing on the TV in the background.

Kobe. I thought so highly of him.

Oh, what Kobe meant to me.
What Kobe meant to all of us.

Legend. Hero. Goat (one of my most treasured sports debates). Icon. Brother. Son. Husband. Father.

I wear my #24 Hollywood jersey differently now.
I wear my purple Kobe X’s differently now.
Every single Kobe highlight I watch, I watch differently now.
That time that I went and watched him play in Chicago, I remember it differently now … but how I view Kobe will forever remain the same.

My boyfriend and I began to talk about our favorite Kobe memories yesterday and you couldn’t help but to just … feel your blood began to pump faster, clinch your fists, grit your teeth … you know, full-on Mamba Face. It signifies so much.
Invincible is the word he kept bringing up in our conversation.
Man, we sure do love Bean.

Go hard.
At every single thing you do, go hard. 

Even in crumbling up a piece of paper, getting ready to shoot it in the trash can, pushing the piece of paper upward with your shooting hand, yelling “Kobe” as you release, and follow through. 

Don’t forget to follow through. 

That’s what I imagine Kobe would say.

Because in everything you do, you give it your all. We call it Mamba Mentality ... something that stretches far beyond the hardwood.

****

The best of the very best talk about how much earning and having your respect meant to them. It was always a dream of mine to interview you, but I will vicariously live through those who had that chance.

I sit here and think about how many interviews I’ve watched, how many times I’ve watched your final game tribute, how amped and envious I was when my old boss from Nike told me she saw you at a conference, how many times I’ve debated with others that YOU ARE the goat, how many conversations I’ve had about you with so many, the moment I saw that #24 jersey on my 24^th birthday, the feeling I had when I watched my love open up that #8 royal blue swingman throwback jersey, each time we’ve yelled Mamba Mentality to one another, how in one of our first conversations of getting to know one another he appreciated the fact that I’m a “Kobe girl,” and I remember that moment when we realized our anniversary is on 08/24/2018.

I shed tears on the night of your final game. 

And I’m sure I’ll shed tears when it sinks in that my childhood legend is gone, but right now … you are still invincible to me.

Mamba Forever.