Kobe Bryant - AP Photo/Rick Bowmer - https://apnews.com/d465010625f8118c5fdbf8e05103d21c

Editorial: Kobe, To A 5-Year Old In 1999, With 2020 Perspective

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Editorials, Santa Clarita Latest News January 31, 2020 - 11:50 am 5 Comments 1,972 Views

By: Aaron De La Torre

It has now been five days since the passing of Kobe Bryant, who, along with his 13-year old daughter Gianna, was among the nine lives lost in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on Sunday morning.

After cancelling Tuesday night’s home game against the Clippers, the Lakers will return to its regularly scheduled contests, starting tonight at home against the Portland Trailblazers.

Since Sunday morning’s tragic news, tributes from around the world have poured in as the shockwaves continue to ripple through the Southland.

This was “The Big One.”

Like any sane, self-loving Los Angeles resident, my heart bleeds purple and gold.

Like all Angelinos, tears have been plenty as I, too, struggle to settle into this numbing reality.

But to echo Paul McCartney, with each passing day, “I got to admit, it’s getting better. A little better, all the time.”

To counter with the subsequent John Lennon quip, “It couldn’t get no worse.”

Born to sports-obsessed parents, my older sister, our oldest brother, and I were never comic book kids.

Never into Superman. Or Batman. Wonder Woman. Even Spiderman, for that matter.

Masked vigilantes and caped-superheroes running around, saving the day? We’ll pass.

Why futz with fantasy?

We had Kobe.

Admittedly, though, my love for basketball didn’t always revolve around the Lakers.

Unfortunately, my parents raised me to be a front-running sycophant, somehow allowing me to root for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

In fairness, it was the late ‘90s, and Space Jam was the Avengers before the Avengers ruined Hollywood.

My roots were thin, but my passion ran deep. I wore my red “33” Scottie Pippen jersey everywhere.

I even had a Tony Kukoc action figure that I forced my mom to buy me from Rite-Aid because I refused to continue my 5-year old existence without it.

I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but I was only months away from ditching my Chicago threads for good.

Before the Shaq/Kobe three-peat, and the back-to-back titles with Pau Gasol, prior to his regular off-season workouts at UC Santa Barbara, and before he ever locked himself in a gym with Hakeem Olajuwon attempting to perfect his low-post game, early in his career, Kobe Bryant spent part of his summer in Santa Clarita, training on the basketball court at the Santa Clarita Athletic Club.

It was the Fall of 1999. I was in kindergarten at Old Orchard Elementary School and Kobe was gearing up for what would eventually be his first title season.

One afternoon, as I arrived back from school and walked to our house’s front door, my dad raced his car around the corner of our street. With his car still running, he sprinted inside, had a momentary back-and-forth with my mom, grabbed a Sharpie, ran back out and scooped me up like a fumble.

I didn’t know where we were headed or why, but I could instantly feel my heart pick up its pace.

We bolted to Sport Chalet, snagged a Spalding NBA Official Game Ball, and jetted off to our final destination.

It was almost too late.

Kobe was in the hallway of the Athletic Club, trying (what I assume) desperately to make his way out of the gym, but was hounded by a growing mob of adoring grown men.

Moments later, he spotted my dad and me in the fray and greeted me with a chummy, “Wassup lil man?!”

He held out his hand.

This was my moment.

I windmilled my arm and unloaded the strongest high five I could conjure. After I connected my vicious blow, he graciously acted as if I broke his hand, even when it most likely made the impact of a housefly hitting The Incredible Hulk.

He picked me up for a minute and continued to talk to all of us in the hallway. After he set me back down, he tousled my hair, and signed our ball with a now proverbial Kobe-like message:

“THINK BIG!”

From that moment on, I was in. The Lakers were my team, and that guy, he was my guy. Forever.

Kobe thrilled us for two decades, filling us with memories and stories of greatness that will be bandied about for the rest of time.

We’ll brag about being at the games we weren’t at, we’ll marvel at the buzzer-beaters, we’ll wonder what could have been of the Kobe/Shaq era, we’ll look back in awe, reflecting on the games he played through pain and injury.

But what will stick with us most will be the impact Kobe had on our lives outside of the basketball court.

Kobe gave us the blueprint on how to live life; how to attack our goals without fear.

He inspired us to pay the closest attention to the littlest of details.

Kobe showed us how to prepare both our bodies and our minds, but reminded us to always lead with our hearts.

The regular season continues for the Lakers tonight, but of course, nothing about the rest of the season will be “regular.” Championship hopes have been pinned on the team since it bolted to a 24-3 record, but never more so than now as fans across the globe implore the team to “Win it for Kobe.”

Even when everything breaks right, to deliver a championship, a team must undergo an untold physical, mental, and emotional toll.

The 2019-2020 Los Angeles Lakers have been dealt a crippling blow during the middle of its season. Whether or not it can rally behind the spirit of the city and its fallen hero remains to be seen.

These Lakers do not owe the city of Los Angeles a championship.

These Lakers only owe the city one thing: to continue the remainder of the season with the spirit and focus of the Mamba Mentality.

Just as Kobe would have.