Kobe's final game. This is it. Wednesday April 13th 2016.

[Nomad1]

kobe's last game on my bday

 

[CarltonJunior]

It's over

 

[jaguar paw]

That's excellent

 

[Rain]

I know how I'm gonna be browsing the Coli tonight

 

[Mr. Jack Napier]

Wearing my Kobe jersey & Kobe sneakers to work today

#MambaDay #ThankYouKobe

 

[Mook]

@CantStop is the Marissa Cooper of the coli.

 

[ALonelyDad]

lmao this bytch shelly on ESPN saying Kobe only said sorry to her because she had cancer, get her the fukk outta here

 

[Sauce Dab]

All this love for another man
Us Harlem men will let this be an exception

 

[Primetime21]

Flash forward to the summer following his rookie season, and Bryant is lifting weights at Gold's Gym in Venice, California, desperate to chisel his adolescent frame into a man-sized body. He's balancing a barbell on his shoulders when his Nextel cellphone rings midsquat. He almost lets it go to voicemail, but curiosity wins out.

"Hi, it's Michael," the voice on the line says.

"Michael who?"

"Michael Jackson."

Bryant is incredulous. Kobe has never spoken to Michael Jackson before. It doesn't sound like the King of Pop; the voice is lower, subdued, devoid of the childlike whisper Jackson uses onstage. "He's calling me out of the f------ blue," Bryant remembers now. "I don't think it's a real phone call."

It is. It turns out Jackson has been studying the young Bryant from afar, and he has called to offer advice, one idiosyncratic phenom to another.

"Keep doing what you're doing," Jackson implores him. "Don't come back to the pack and be normal for the sake of blending in with others. Don't dumb it down."

The conversation lasts no more than 15 minutes, but the two men click. Jackson clearly knows the NBA, rattling off a string of Lakers factoids. Kobe, a fan of Michael's music, has questions of his own. They come tumbling out: Who were your early influences? How did you make Thriller? What prompted you to buy the catalog of the Beatles' music?When Jackson invites Bryant to join him at Neverland Ranch so the two can trade notes on how they approach their crafts, the 18-year-old Bryant jumps at the chance.

Good read brehs
The unlikely people who led Kobe Bryant to embrace his 'obsession'

 

[Milk N Cookies]

Goodbye

 

[darryl]

This is crazy to me. One day, you young people will only start to feel based on the players you watch retire in sports. Check this out.

Me and my cousin used to play Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside on N64 every day in the summer for money, in best of 7 series.

We were both in the 10th grade, about 15 years old or so, with no cares in the world.

My cousin is twice married with 2 kids, I'm a business owner, we are 34 years old with houses and families.

We lost that house, graduated HS, went to college, played ball, lost parents, grandparents, divorced, kids, seen friends go to jail, had friend play in the NFL and NBA for 10+ years, retire, and start 2nd careers, been through 3 presidents, had heartbreak like no other, and met the loves of our lives. Seen rap go from being shot in DC over a Biggie vs Pac convo to DC becoming hipster town USA.

We both didnt own cell phones for at least 4 more years.

You were a nerd if you used the internet. It was still 6 years away from being cool. No social media, that wasn't even a term.

Apple products were considered wack ass computers.

Aaliyah was still alive.

And Kobe is just retiring from the NBA TONIGHT. What in the f--k.

 

[Primetime21]

Then Russell drops a gem about Wilt Chamberlain, his rival and longtime friend. There were times, Russell says, when he'd let Wilt score. "Bill didn't want to activate Wilt," Kobe says. "He felt if he defended Wilt too well, then Wilt would take that as a challenge. And if he did, Wilt was going to demolish Bill because he was so physically big and strong. So Bill felt if he could appease Wilt, let him score once in a while, then Wilt would remain satisfied and Bill could keep him at bay."

Bryant tucks it into his memory bank. "I'm thinking, 'That's Art of War s---. I'm going to try that.'"

Bryant refuses to name players he used the strategy against. But former teammates and coaches have no such compunction, naming Tracy McGrady and, later, a young LeBron James as players Kobe rope-a-doped. When asked to confirm the names, Kobe laughs. "I will neither confirm or deny," he says

 

[Arithmetic]

I know how I'm gonna be browsing the Coli tonight View attachment 10997

 

[[REDACTED]]

I never thought this day would come

 

[RubioTheCruel]

Good read brehs
The unlikely people who led Kobe Bryant to embrace his 'obsession'

reached out to Kobe unsolicited to put him up on game. MJ was a real one

"You've got to study all the greats," Jackson tells Kobe. "You've got to learn what made them successful and what made them unsuccessful."