Kobe Bryant “Mamba” Out: It’s time to say goodbye

“Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep rolling” –Kobe Bryant

It has been days since the passing of the basketball Legend and his daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant including seven other passengers. People are still in grave grief; everyone still feel the cold stone.

The fact that Kobe Bryant and his daughter’s picture is still dominating the interface of the internet reflects the true inspiration that they had both bequeathed.

This Academy Award winner, inspired people since the beginning of his basketball career in 1996. He surpassed many known names in basketball phenomena’s and made his own line in history. He is also a philanthropist, among his endeavors are; the basketball great partnered with the non-profit After-School All-Stars as part of the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. He also ran an annual summer camp called the Mamba Sports Academy.

He is as ordinary as any of us. He had social issues, accused in court, almost got divorced in 2011, a father and a husband.

What stuns people of inspiration is that during his time, even with injury and in between health recovery, he has pursued to play and pushed for his passion.

Last 2016 after his retirement many had expressed their tribute including Magic Johnson. “We are here to celebrate greatness for 20 years,” Johnson said. “Excellence for 20 years. Kobe Bryant has never cheated the game, never cheated us as the fans. He has played through injury; he has played hurt. And we have five championship banners to show for it.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game,”

The point of all these is that, fan or not, it is not easy to carry or even ignore the burden of this tragedy knowing that he had given hopes, smiles and inspiration to many. Knowing that in the next morning or tomorrow’s next NBA, we would be missing one person in the picture.

To say that what we can only do is to accept and understand the flow of life is something ironic for it is not easy to accept something immensely tragic (specially for the family) in the moment of pain. We cannot even utter the word “move on”. It is not even rhetorically applicable to say words of acceptance. In fact, there is nothing to understand. What is needed now is to keep on grieving. People of profession in these kinds of emotional field always advise to follow the process of grief, to make it work, and that the faster it goes the faster recovery comes.

I think it is wrong to force the speed of grief. The best thing that should happen is to let grief be there until it is gone on its own. We all have tendencies of violence to cope but we all have each other to manage it.

Today, January 26 is another red mark on the History’s book. It is something hurtful, but it is also a sentence that we will always remember his name, the goodbye of another legend.