On Kobe?s Retirement
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 02 Dec 2015
We will never see Kobe coming down the floor with the basketball again soon. Never see his serious face as he brings the ball across, stops, fakes and heaves a three-pointer 30, 35-feet away. Never see him practice shooting, blindfolded all by himself inside the gym.
Kobe Bryant, the man they call Black Mamba, has announced he's hanging his sneakers by the end of the on-going 2015-2016 NBA season following a storied playing career spiked by five championship rings, a MVP, a pair of Finals MVP, a dunking title, etc.
Such an announcement, made early this week, was met with mixed emotions from fans all over the world. But while in his own country, the legacy he will bequeathed is still being debated on, here, in this basketball-crazy nation, Bryant, who made it to the NBA right after graduating from high school, is, undoubtedly, one of all-time greats, if not the greatest.
For local basketball's living legend and former Senator Robert "Sonny" Jaworski, " Bryant's "commitment, dedication, passion and, yes, LOVE for the profession of his choice are traits worth emulating for."
"KB's loyalty to the sport, his team, teammates and the league is beyond scrutiny," the former playing coach of popular Ginebra San Miguel, noted. "He started and will retire with the Los Angeles Lakers and play for the NBA in his entire pro-career. That provided a positive, life-changing impact on all professional athletes."
"This passion and love for basketball are what made him one of the 10 greatest players of all time and he has records to show," Jaworski, popularly known also as the "Big J," or simply "Jawo," said in a text message sent to this writer.
Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, a long-ime friend of Kobe's, agreed, adding the Laker's "humility makes him a standout from among his peers in the professional sports."
"I remember when I was still struggling to make name, he would visit me in training at the Wild Card Gym in L.A. Sikat na siya noon, but still he would give kind words that served as inspiration for me in my quest for fame," Pacquiao who also plans to retire after is next fight in April, said.
Manny V. Pangilinan, president of the Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas and the man who brought to Manila Bryant along with a NBA All-Star that included, among others, the then reigning MVP Derick Rose and shooting champion Kevin Durant, felt sad learning of Kobe's decision.
"Sad, but inevitable ... for all athletes," Pangilinan, MVP to sports and business communities and owner of the Talk "N Text team in the PBA, said. "Kobe is living a legacy few players can mach. We wish him well."
PBA greats Atoy Co and Philip Cezar shared MVP's sentiment, saying "it's sad seeing a great basketball player retiring, but that's the fact of life of an athlete."
Ditto to incumbent PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa. "It's always sad to see a great athlete retire. But like Michael Jordan, Kobe was the benchmark of brilliance during his time. And it's because of this standard that new heroes are born and legends created."
For Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, "Kobe is a polarizing figure, you either loved him or hated him. But you'll never forget him for I don't believe here's a more focused, more intense competitor in our time than him."
The sport of basketball, according to reigning PBA MVP Arwind Santos and Jimmy Mariano, another basketball hero, owes Kobe a lot.
"Si Kobe ay isang alamat," Santos, a mainstay of PBA defending Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer, assured. "I fell so blessed na kahit sa isang pagkakataon ay nakalaro a nabantayan ko siya sa larong basketball. Salamat Kobe Byant sa lahat ng nagawa mo sa larangan ng basketball."
"We have to thank Kobe for his enormous contribution to the growth of the sport we all love," Mariano, an Olympian and many-time member of Asian champion Philippine team, remarked. "Kobe is the idol of my 10-year-old grandson. Like millions who idolized him, my grandson felt sad upon learning his idol is retiring."
Kobe's hanging his playing jersey comes at the right time before his age rewards him with injuries he might regret for the rest of his life," former Games and Amusement Board chair Dominador Cepeda and current GAB commissioner Fritz Gaston, for their part, said.
"While Kobe's quality of play might still be superior to a lot of others, he must not wait to a point when fans watch him struggle and opponents challenge him without respect," Cepeda and Gaston chorused.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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