–by Gaven Li, longtime devoted Lakers fan
On November 29th, 2015, Kobe Bryant, the All-Star shooting guard from the
Los Angeles Lakers, made an announcement that after playing 20 years
in the National Basketball Association, he would retire after the end
of this season. Posting this poem “Dear Basketball” on the website “The
Players’ Tribune,” the 37-year-old “Black Mamba” shared his story and
love to 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
Kobe Bryant is definitely one of the greatest basketball players in
NBA history. After being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996,
Kobe spent his whole career with the Los Angeles Lakers and won five
NBA championships (in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010), one Most Valuable
Player (2008), two times NBA Final MVP (2009, 2010), and four times
All-Star MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011)–all while wearing his purple and gold jersey.
His retirement announcement made millions of his fans sad, including me.
So, what influence does this announcement bring to the NBA?
Ticket prices have gone up!! On Saturday, which was November 28th, I WAS going to
buy tickets for the Lakers’ last game of this season with my friend.
However, we decided not to buy them then because they cost about 600
dollars each, and we needed to talk to our parents about that. The next
day, after Kobe’s announcement, we made up our minds to buy the
tickets. When we went on to the website, we saw this:
HOLY COW. What’s going on? The prices were increasing crazily; you could
even see the numbers going up if you kept refreshing the website! We
found the tickets we looked at the night before, and they
were——-NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH!!!
Me and my friend were like:
At the end, we still bought two tickets for 600 bucks each, but they
were much much further back. This story tells us: Buy your ticket
early!
Anyway, Kobe Bryant’s retirement is no doubt a huge loss to
Basketball. We hope, well, at least I hope, that Kobe can enjoy the
rest of his final season.
Leave a Reply