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Kobe Bryant has officially retired tonight. Kobe’s shocking 60 point night at Staples Center was just a footnote on a career that made history in professional sports. Even Shaq was happy. Jack Nicholson was happy. Five NBA Championships later and 20 years with the LA Lakers our neighbor kid that lives in Newport Beach and just down the street from us….is pretty darn special. As the sweat poured down his cheeks, the flashbacks of the Kobe of old brought tears to our eyes.
Welcome to Kobe Inc., the great future that we will watch with abandon. How can anyone, even alone in a room score 60 points in a NBA game? Thank you Kobe, for every life and NBA minute. Thank you Kobe for every scary moment in Colorado. Thank you Kobe for getting along with Jerry West, Jerry Buss and the whole Lakers organization over 20 years! Most people today, don’t get to keep their job for over 20 years nor take in over double digit millions every year in the process.
There really aren’t words that express our respect and love for all the joy you brought to the LA Market and LA Lakers fans! Kobe, you could have been traded to the Bulls or anywhere else and we would have missed our Golden Moments with you. Thank goodness you made it through the Shaq Wars. Thanks for making friends with Pau Gasol. Thanks for making Phil Jackson comfortable enough to keep inspiring you guys! There are no words to express our appreciation for your consistent efforts over the years. Amazing does come to mind……but it hardly represents your wonderful spirit and inspiration for kids around the world. We know in our hearts that the five NBA Championships could have easily been Seven or Eight, but we remain grateful for all that you brought to us.
Thank you Kobe! Now the new excellence will be the challenge. Can you aspire, inspire and perspire enough in the private sector to help folks understand that your skills are transferable and whatever you achieved on the basketball court can be reflected in the many challenges and work required….to make it happen courtside! We are pulling for you and we know you have people that have your back. Keep us all close to you, and don’t forget us when things get tough, we will be there for you – as we know you will be there for us.
Thanks for the memories Kobe! They will last forever! Now, how about signing my basketball? Just kidding!
Finally, let us not forget the great Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors that tonight broke Michael Jordan’s and the Chicago Bulls NBA season win record – with an impossible 73! Also, we congratulate Lynn Swan who was just named to be the Athletic Director of the USC Trojans. Hopefully, Swanny will remain low key for a couple of years until we get a new Football Coach that can take the Trojans to the National Championship! We are with you Swanny all the way – just don’t take no trash from Haden or the Greek, while you bring back our Trojans to national prominence.
*It didn’t take long….for the Basketball Sports Pundits to attack Kobe….for Grandstanding last night with his 60 points…in his NBA Finale! Sometimes, people forget that Kobe participated in five NBA Championships. Obviously, he didn’t win the best of seven series all by himself. Kobe had Shack for three, Rick Fox, Lamar Odom and World Peace for two more along with Fish! Hey, based on what we are hearing on Sports Radio, Kobe is being accused of being Mr. Ego, Mr. Showboat….rather than Mr. Showtime. Phil Jackson and Jerry West obviously thought differently. Jerry Buss thought differently. 20 years? Hey, people don’t even work at Walmart 20 years. Much less make double digit millions annually over that time. So Kobe, forget these nay sayer scumball near-do-wells. If you had scored 15 with 15 assists…..they would have said you obviously were facing a diminished skill set, and certainly not “the Kobe of Old”. Anyway, we love you Kobe……..and where do we apply for a Kobe Inc. job?
Not having seen the game due to a complete lack of interest, I would bet the other team’s defense gave Kobe a going away present in an otherwise completely meaningless event.
When a basketball player takes 50 shots it’s really not so shocking that he would end up with 60 points. Kobe made only about 4 of every 10 shots.
I guess his intention was to grab some glory in his last career game rather than be a team player. I think Utah handed L.A. the game. They had nothing to lose. Utah was ahead by 10 with a few minutes on the clock and lost by 5? Huh???
Lakers had another pathetic season.
When pro athletes making multi-million dollar incomes for playing games started going on strike because they felt they were underpaid I stopped watching pro sports.
But I love college sports where the kids play for the love of the game. Particularly March Madness and college football. Big Oregon Ducks fan I am.
*You guys couldn’t make 60 points in a hour – in an empty stadium. The great non athlete pundit trip. We detest Tiger Woods…..but don’t doubt that he was a great Golfer. We are not too thrilled with Lindsay Vonn, but will never doubt her downhill skiing ability. We think Peyton Manning was a terrible jerk, but don’t doubt he positioned himself and his team to win. In case you never saw the movie “Airplane” with Kareem Abdul Jabar, he made this statement: After the kid says: “My Dad thinks you are lazy!” – “You play 40 minutes with 7 foot guys hanging all over you, up and down the floor!” No Kobe earned his stripes…20 years worth. Could he have retired after 17 and gone out big? Who knows and who cares? Bring all your astute NBA analysis and comments to the Sports Center, after YOU win Five NBA Championships!
*OK, Steph Curry has to step on a banana peel and cause some serious drama. Will Steph make the comeback, will the Warriors win the NBA Title? One thing is for sure,
the NBA Playoffs are way, way, way too long. They should take the top four teams
for each Division and have them play the reverse order. That means that after five
games…..we would be down to four teams! Those four play and we are down to two.
Then the Championship Series.
*The Golden State Warriors won again..without Steph Curry. The main man might just sit out the rest of the series…with the Rockets.