Appreciation

I know it is unusual and I know that some of you might have a problem with it but as a former professional athlete this hurt me quite a lot: the death of Kobe Bryant.

The night he died, I cried like a little baby and I just could not stop - I am not even going to lie, I cried for hours while watching videos of him. The people that know me, can assure you that I do not even cry at deaths of really close people to me, but this one hit me like a ***.

I grew up with Michael Jordan and his mesmerizing game play and when he finally passed the torch to Kobe I got to see for 20 years one of the best athletes to ever play the game of basketball. And not only play, he awed people like Michael Jordan did. I do not want to talk about his titles, rings or anything else - what stood out the most to me, was his discipline and work ethic on and off the court.

The whole Los Angeles Lakers nation and the league (National Basketball Association) lost not only a legend and a Hall of Famer, but an almost perfect role model - and with almost we all know what I mean, but I am not going into detail.

Think about this:

Kobe Bryant was on every poster, in every gym, tv, newspaper etc. - we basically grew up with him, without ever knowing him. He was being talked about at work, on the basketball courts, on playgrounds, in subway, plains - just anywhere around the world people knew this man. You either loved him, or hated him - but everyone had deep respect for his achievements and his never ending strive to be the very best. His work attitude is unmatched and his professionalism is a work of art.

Now, today, after his death, you can really feel the appreciation even from the "haters" that talked negative about him thru his career, because even they know what we lost. Kobe Bryant was a man that combined "oldschool" with "newschool" - his endeavour to conquer the basketball world has no words. A man, a father, a son, a husband, a friend passed away and left a deep hole in our hearts - and with "our" I do not mean just basketball fans, or Lakers fans, or Kobe Bryant fans. No, I mean the hearts of every person that strive to be better every day, in business, in sports or in life.

We always talk about generation Y, X, Z.....but do you know that a simple Basketball player is the hero / role model of the majority of the current NBA players? That any young player looked up to him and wanted to be like him? That they started their careers because they watched him play and said they wanted to be like him?

You don‘t believe me? Just watch what the players have to say to his death.....thanks to social media you can find any interview in no time.

Remember when people made a huge bulk out of the relationship of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James? When people said that Kobe needs to pass the torch to King James and that they were fierce enemies? That Kobe was an arrogant ass*** and LeBron James ahead of him in many ways? What would you say if I tell you that people again did not understand Kobe Bryant? Or how would you explain this? (would you cry over someone you don‘t like, like LeBron does here?)

The NBA did not cancel the games the same day the accident happened and we all think that Kobe would have wanted the games to be played. What stood out to me personally were the reactions of the whole league: from former team mates, to opponents, to haters, to fans - everyone was just in shock. In case you missed it, Doc Rivers‘ reaction sums exactly up what I felt and what everyone else was going thru:

Kobe Bryant was more than just an NBA player, he was a loving father who focussed on his life after sports. As a father of a daughter I cannot imagine how he felt in the moment of the accident and I hope that no one will ever have to feel this pain. I cannot even read or watch what happened as I start shaking and thinking about precious ones.

Life after the NBA made him happier than ever, you can hear that from anyone around him and the most important thing to him was to leave a mark for other generations. This is the part that hurt me the most, as most people do not understand a character like the one of Kobe Bryant.

A workaholic, an arrogant dreamer, a man with a huge ego, a ball hog....and many more things come to my mind when I think about what people called him - but Kobe Bryant was the definition of a professional athlete. He LIVED his dream and his definition of a professional athlete was: to always be the best, to always get better, to entertain the fans, to give always the maximum and to never give up. Only this way you could improve and show others what great things can happen if you put effort in something. This is the reason why I personally will always respect him and and will always be grateful to have lived in the era of Kobe Bryant. In case you do not understand what I mean, or who Kobe Bryant was, please have a look at this. Note: this was HIS ceremony with TWO jerseys being retired (first time in the history of the NBA) and this is what stood out most or what defines this man:

Event without being interested in sports, you can learn a lot from this man. Sports does relate a lot to the real (business) world - you have to have talent, you have to be lucky, you have to fight with politics, you have to have dreams and you you have push yourself. Of course not everyone is dreaming to become a millionaire/billionaire or to lead a team, to have his own company and so on, but aren‘t we all to some extent looking to be a better version of ourselves? Do we not deep down want to leave a mark for our children, future generations? Improve the world a tiny little bit?

So, why does his death hit me personally so hard?

Because we are all little Kobe‘s deep down inside - some more, some less. Me personally, I had a similar journey but in a way smaller extinct and of course I was not even in the range of a Kobe Bryant, but my life had similar turns. I could relate to him in so many ways, from being miss-understood, from people laughing why to always give 200%, why come earlier and leaving later, why changing the world, why doing things different then others? You don‘t have to follow the road of Kobe Bryant but you can at least try to understand.

And if you are like me, try to remember him like this

Thank you for everything, you will be missed Mamba.