It has taken some time to wrap our collective psyche around the tragic passing of Kobe Bean Bryant. Bryant was certainty going to outlive the Yard and we thought he would outlive us all. Moments of melancholy has sprinkled through our days as remembrances of Kobe emerge since the crash. The NBA ceremony at the All-Star game was beautiful. The celebration of life planned for February 24 will be emotional. The passion that Mamba brought every night for the Lakers for twenty years was only surpassed by the passion he brought to his life after the Lakers. There is no silver lining in this one. It is a tragic tragedy of miserable proportions. At a time where Kobe had become the best version of himself, he was gone. Father, investor, media tycoon and Laker icon.
April 13, 2016 Kobe played his final game in a Laker uniform. It was the most amazing final regular season game by any athlete in any sport ever. The game was a microcosm of Bryant’s Laker career. The opening minutes brought a resurgent Kobe racing all over and throwing up five missed shots including an airball in the opening minutes of the game. It was reminiscent of the afro-wielding, petulant 18-year-old trying to find playing time for Del Harris in 1996. Del played Kobe 15 minutes a game and he averaged seven points that year. Del would come to regret some of his obstinance with the strong-willed Bryant later in both of their careers.
By the beginning of the 4th quarter, Kobe had 37 but the Lakers were down 75-66 to the Utah Jazz who were fighting for a .500 record and the last playoff spot in the west. The Lakers were fighting to win Kobe’s final game, but it would only be their 17th win of the season against 65 losses. Bryant was a hollow version of himself in his career twilight. He had missed more games the past two seasons than the previous 18 combined. He was averaging 17 points a game so 37 is a remarkable number in his final game especially with a team which started Roy Hibbert at center. In that heroic 4th quarter that night, Bryant found his inner Black Mamba and took that game over from everyone. It became his game. Bryant outscored the Jazz 23-21 in the final quarter by himself. He did to Utah what he did to Del Harris every time the Laker’s played the Dallas Mavericks in his later years. Phil took Kobe out when he had 60 points by the beginning of the 4th quarter against Del’s Mavs. Dallas was the West champions that year, but Kobe lit them up just like the Jazz in his final game. Just as he had done over his 20-year career, Bryant put the team on his shoulders to victory. He led the Lakers to their 17th victory on the same night the Golden State Warriors would win their record 73rd. Kobe’s night was bigger.
When Kobe dropped the mike that night after his post-game speech to the crowd, he was gone. He was not a Magic or a Jordan who tried to come back after a few years in retirement. He did not miss the game as much as the game missed him. He was not showing up at games and offering commentary on the current state. He was on to the next life with the passion he played during his NBA phase. Few in the history of the game brought the intensity that Bryant brought every night. His will to win was unrepentant. Sweat dripping from his face, tongue hanging out, calling for the ball with three on the clock, contorting into ridiculous shots and pumping his fist as they cleared the net. Jordan might have set the bar, but Kobe raised it. In a terrible foreshadow of this tragedy, Bryant handed Lebron his mantle as James passed him on the all-time scoring list the night prior to the crash. Kobe showed us all what single-minded focus looks like when delivered every night. He showed us what was possible if you gave everything that you had to the things that you loved.
There have been many in the press to call out the Bryant hero worship while reminding us all that he was accused of rape. Kobe was accused of having non-consensual sex with a 19-year old hotel lobby clerk in 2003. Coincidentally, Kobe was 24 years of age at that time. When the indictment was announced, Bryant held a major press conference for all of the media, sitting with his wife Vanessa at center court at Staples Center. Looking directly at his wife, he admitted that he had cheated on her. It lives forever on YouTube. He publicly recriminated himself for his adultery. He disagreed that it amounted to sexual assault. He may never be forgiven by some, but he stood before the world and admitted he was an adulterer but not a rapist. Under the scrutiny of 2020, 24-year-old Kobe’s response may have not been enough. It was still much different than the transgressors we see in today’s spotlight. Celebrities are running for cover when accused hiding behind attorneys, publicists and sex rehab resorts while waiting for the villagers with the pitch forks to tire and go home. The charges were eventually dropped, and Kobe settled a civil suit in 2004. What happened in that Eagle Creek hotel room will never be fully understood. Bryant spent the rest of his life making up for it to his wife, his family and Laker nation. Let us all hope that in death the last version of Kobe Bryant is the one cauterized in our collective memories for history. RIP Mamba.
The Houston Astros cannot sweep their illicit behavior under the infield apron. It is sticking to all of these Astro highwaymen who absconded with our nation’s World Series title. The media glare of spring training has exposed the Astros as unapologetic and tone deaf. Altuve, Bregman and Correa did offer up some lame rationale. Correa has gone on the offensive telling Cody Bellinger to stand down because he does not know the facts. Alex the shortstop says that players need to be informed before they make any comments on the Astros cheating. Justin Verlander lamented the comments made by other players “who do not know all of the facts”. Astros Owner Jim Crane contended that the Astros won “fair and square”?! How can that be when one team had a technological advantage in their home ballpark over their opponent in a championship? How can it possibly be fair if one team has the capacity to steal the opponent’s pitching signs and relay them to their batter, but the opponent does not? How does a scheme of this magnitude go on for possibly years and no one on the Astros thinks it is wrong and deceitful until caught? Astro fan wants to claim the victory of the better team but not acknowledge their obvious advantage. If it was not advantageous, why do it? Astros share with us all of the facts. Please inform us in explicit detail. We all want to hear how this plan was hatched, executed and how far up in the organization this scandal leeched. Regardless of who participated, everyone knew about it. It was cheating and it was wrong. The Astros can keep the title, but players should donate their WS dollars to charities. The Astros should be suspended from the 2020 playoffs. Their title is forever tainted in Wikipedia and beyond.
The impact of this cheating has not been fully revealed. Mike Bolsinger is suing the Astros for $30 million because their trash can signal relay effectively ended his career on a single August night in 2017. He gave up four earned runs on 29 pitches that night. The audio of the game is punctuated with trash can crescendos. Bolsinger never pitched in the majors again. We have already discussed the impact on the historical legacies of Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw with their WS woes in 2017. MLB said that they could not pursue the players because of the strength of the MLB Players Union. How good is a union that fights for one team’s sins at the expense of the other 31? Bets were placed on the outcomes of important games without thinking that the Astros could have video superiority to steal the Dodger’s pitching signals and impact the outcome. We wonder how that mattress knucklehead who keeps betting millions on the Astros feels? The Astros won and he paid for hundreds of bed sets but what is the price of your chosen team’s integrity? This is worse than the bad actors of the steroid era who hid their misdeeds in clinics and bathrooms. Everyone knew and looked the other way. This Astro cheating was an enterprise wide scheme. No one knew outside of the Astros. Many, many had to be involved at all levels within the organization. This was not sandpaper, pine tar in the mitt or HGH in the left butt cheek. It was systemic and that is scary at any billion-dollar corporation. This story is far from over, but the Astro’s season may be. Their first step in the forthcoming death spiral was hiring Dusty Baker.
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