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[av_heading heading=’ FEEL THE GAME Kobe Bryant’s vacant throne’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY BOBBY MOTUS
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Thursday. September 14, 2017
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FOR 20 YEARS, basketball fans around the world had witnessed a confidently cocky 19-year-old rise to become a multi-awarded and multi-titled super-duper superstar. He was notorious for his work ethic it seems like he’s almost immortal. He demanded the best from his teammates that often times he was misunderstood.
When the 2017-2018 NBA season opens on Oct. 18 (Philippine time), we will be seeing for the second straight year a Laker team missing someone very important and, just like Magic Johnson before him, a true definition of the purple and gold who also had spent his entire playing career with the Los Angeles franchise.
After an Achilles injury limited his playing for two years, father time caught up with a 37-year-old Kobe Bryant that he finally retired from the game he loved so much. His permanent absence now makes Laker games somewhat look bland, like drinking day-old coffee or maybe like watching K-dramas without the English subtitles.
He spent the last half of his career carrying the Lakers on his shoulders and his body took a beating. He became brittle and vulnerable but greatness was written all over him. Combining all the positives and negatives, the Kobe legend will never be replicated.
Kobe left in his wake young talents who could well be pretenders to the vacant throne. Guys like Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Brandon Ingram, and hype-encrusted rookie Lonzo Ball. These players are all stars in the making but the road to stardom is never easy – and in Ball’s case, there’s the hurdle called Lavar.
Someday, sometime in the near future, the abovementioned Lakers will make Staples Center glow. They will bring back the glory that once was Laker domain. Maybe one or two of them will achieve cult following and superstar status, but I sincerely doubt if the younger crop have the same obsessive desire and passion to excel, pushing themselves to the limit, like Kobe did.
Laker Nation is “infanticipating,” and a new star will be born among the current crop and become the new face of the franchise. Just like the other Laker greats, there will never be another Wilt, another Jerry West, another Kareem, another Magic, and definitely there will never be another Kobe.
Kobe just turned 39 and is happily retired. With a good portion of his estimated net worth of more or less $320 million courtesy of Nike, he and his family are settled for life. His throne will not be taken over and will remain permanently vacant./PN
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