Today, the world lost one of the greatest. I'm not talking greatest in terms of basketball players or as an athlete. While his athletic accomplishments were tremendous and he should always be remembered as a prolific athlete, I do not want to focus on those achievements. I don't want to focus on what Kobe did, because that only speaks to his actions and abilities. Today, and every day for the rest of our lives, Kobe Bryant deserves endless respect and love for who he was, as a father, husband, inspiration, leader, coach, mentor, and so much more. This is what makes Kobe Bryant so dang special, and makes his death that much more significant and felt around the world. Kobe Bryant's life was WAY bigger than basketball. He was much more than an athlete.
Today, we appreciate Kobe Bryant for who he was in all of these areas. See, when you speak about who someone was, rather than just for what they did, you highlight that person's character and their heart more. Kobe's heart was enormous, even larger than his numerous accomplishments. People seem to forget about what people like Kobe are doing after they retire. It's so easy for people to assume that a man worth millions and millions of dollars is just riding into the sunset after retiring from an illustrious career, living in his riches selfishly and doing things to please himself. These people don't realize that what makes Kobe Bryant so special is that this is exactly what he DIDN'T do. This is exactly why millions of fans and people across the world are brought to tears over his death, even though they didn't know him personally or have a close relation with him. After retiring, Kobe Bryant took more time to love his family. His wife, and his four daughters. He lived his life to serve his family, love them, teach them, lead them, and be there for them. Even for one of his daughters, he devoted a large portion of his life to coaching her and her teammates in the game of basketball that he gave himself to. As a future husband and future parent, Kobe has very much modeled for us what it looks like to be a family man. What it looks like to love your family and put them first, and give nothing but your best for them. THAT'S how I want to live my life one day.
For me, Kobe has also embodied the concept of work ethic. I'm talking like whenever the phrases "work ethic, hard work, dedication, giving it your all" are heard, Kobe Bryant is the absolute first person in the world that comes to my mind. Not even my childhood idol, Lebron James, comes before Kobe in my mind when I hear these words. Kobe Bryant showed us what it looks like to work hard, avoid laziness (heck he taught us to HATE laziness), and give your whole heart to something you care about. Kobe taught me that when you truly love something/someone, you will 100% make time for it. Have you ever read the stories of Kobe's daily workout routines (even after he retired!!), how he'd wake up at 4 am and workout super early in the morning? How he would spend his whole day getting in shape, working on his craft, stretching, making himself the best version of himself? That's how you do it. This has inspired me to work my best and give my all in EVERYTHING I do, whether that be school, work, relationships, friendships, or literally any area of my life that I'm striving to see improvement in. Kobe is simply the best hard-worker in my opinion, ever. He has modeled what it's like to earn everything you want, to go get it, and to be relentless and refuse to give up on your hopes and dreams. Because of Kobe Bryant, millions of people now chase their dreams and have stronger faith in what they can become. To leave behind that kind of legacy on this world, that's everything. Kobe has inspired many people in my generation to live for something more, and to be reminded that this life is bigger than ourselves. Your life isn't just about you, there's other people who need a touch of hope and who need help.
I want to end this simply by saying - Thank You Kobe. Thank you for using your physical gifts and unreal talents to inspire many young athletes to be greater. Thank you for gifting every person in the world the concept of Mamba Mentality, the full-throttle work ethic to go hard and give your absolute best effort and heart into every thing you do. Every. Single. Thing. Thank you for modeling what it looks like to prioritize your family even in the life of a celebrity when Hollywood and today's culture throws every distraction your way to keep you away from the things that matter most. You could've easily focused on the glitz and glamour, money, parties, the celebrity lifestyle and all that nonsense that the enemy tries to distract us with. See in this life, we are faced with these distractions that can take us away from the valuable, meaningful, amazing things of life. But you were too good to be distracted by nonsense. You focused on family, on others, on charity, on coaching teenagers, and so much more. You regularly gave speeches and did interviews for the purpose of sharing your wisdom and heart with us - since you could never meet with all of us face to face, you would still share your life lessons with us over video. Thank you for inspiring hope, drive, and courage into millions of us and challenging us to be greater in everything we do. It never truly hit me how much you've done for others until today; I wish I realized all this earlier. Next time I ever do anything and I feel like quitting, taking an easy way out, or settling, I'll remember you. You push us to be our best and not to be great for our own glory and recognition, but to use our lives to serve and life up others. Thank you, Kobe Bryant. We love you forever.
