RIP Kobe & Thank You

As I reflect on the sad and sudden passing of Kobe Bryant I am curious about what made Kobe Kobe, from the specific context of a professional basketball player. Kobe Bryant had an amazing professional basketball career. After dominating at the high school level, Kobe skipped college and went straight to the NBA at the young age of seventeen. At that point, only a few players had ever made such a leap. Over a twenty-year career he earned major accolades. Won many championships, selected to All-NBA teams almost every year, and will be a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Some would even say he is one of the top five players ever to lace 'em up.

So why was Kobe such a prolific and dominating player? Certainly, he was blessed with god-given talent but it was relative. He was not a quick as Alan Iverson, could not jump as high as Vince Carter, not as strong as Lebron, and did not have the pure shooting ability of Larry Bird. Quite simply, what made Kobe Kobe was his grit and his unwavering desire to succeed. He viewed basketball as his craft and something that needed to be worked on all the time and with deep focus. He simply out-worked everyone else to maximize his potential. He worked out before practice. He worked out after practice. And, when he practiced, he went harder than any of his peers. This gave his game lift. It gave him an edge and the confidence he needed to deliver at the highest level possible, especially in crunch time.

I've been watching college and professional basketball religiously for most of my life and I can confidently say, without a sliver of doubt, there have been hundreds of more talented players that Kobe. But talent alone can only take you so far. It's when you combine that talent with the grit, desire, and the hard work of Kobe that you truly can create something special and, in Kobe's case, legendary. Thank you Kobe for showing the world the meaning of grit, desire, and hard work. You left it all on the basketball court and the court of life. Now you can finally rest in peace.