Kobe Bryant's Legacy

Jan 26th, 2020 the world was hit with devastating news - Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash. Not only him, but also his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, along with two of her teammates and five other people.

This news hit me hard also - why? Let's be real, I was never a Kobe Bryant fan - NEVER! I respected his individual game, but as a team player I just didn't enjoy watching him. I was one of the people shouting "pass the ball" even though he often shut me down since he most often made his shots even against three defenders. So what is it all about?

First of all, I think his death hits so hard because he was such a successful, accomplished man. He basically had everything you wish for, but it shows you once again nobody is safe, destiny hits everyone!

Second, what is really sad in my eyes is the death of his 13-year-old daughter and their teammates. Gianna was really good for her age. Kobe's older daughter isn't so much into sports, only Volleyball. The two young daughters Brianna and Capri are too young to teach, so he gave all his knowledge to Gianna and her team. His legacy could have lived on through her, but we won't be able to witness this.

Due to his death I have been watching a lot of videos and interviews online. I am in the process of getting to know him more as a person and what principles were important to him. Even how he teaches Basketball reminds me a lot about my own principles and methods as he i.e. taught his players to use their left hand in daily activities and I have been doing this with my players as well.

The world definitely lost a good human, one that inspired people, but I am also positive that just like me more people even became aware of what he did and even after his death he is still inspiring people.
Thank you, Kobe!

The LeBron Dilemma

The Heat lost in the finals, and suddenly everybody talks about LeBron leaving. I thought that was just the talk they always do. It’s like certain people just can’t do the right thing, so I didn’t pay it any attention, because I was sure, he wouldn’t leave. But then, he opted out of his contract.

Mmmmmhhhh is he really thinking about leaving? I still doubted it. I never had a problem with him leaving Cleveland. I know a lot of fans were upset, but that are common situations and common reactions. It is nothing wrong with going somewhere, where you can get more money and be more successful. However, leaving now to team up somewhere else, I consider as wrong. The heat is on the right way, they have been in the finals several years in a row, and they are just missing something to win it all. The Spurs showed how to do it. Last year the Spurs lost in the finals, and came back strong and determined and won it this year. That shows how it goes, not giving up, taking an easy way, where you think success will come easier, but stick it out, fight through the rough times and then earn it all.

However, him opting out shows that he wants something, be it either more money or other teammates that will help him win the championship. Now it was all over the news that he wants more money ($26 Mill) and better teammates, where my mind rings an alarm bell and say ***CONTRADICTION*** lol First of, what is the big difference between $24 and $26 Mill? If you have so many millions, I don’t think two will make a difference. Next thing is, if you want more money, your team will have even less for your teammates because of the salary cap, so that kind of makes both impossible, unless they get a really great deal on someone. Dirk Nowitzki in example, stated that he would be willing to less money, if that makes it possible to get better players to have another shot at a championship, which seems very reasonable to me. Sometimes you have to make personal sacrifices to gain team success.

Besides that, there could be another reason, why he might opt out, well actually two. One simple one, he gets paid by the media, and does all that to bring movement and rumors in the market, but never intended to leave. Another one, which could be a huge factor, is the way his teammates played in the finals. I only saw the last of the final games, and only LeBron showed up. The performance of his teammates was really bad. It was like something was missing, be it the will, the drive, the heart, the fire, whatever you want to call it. If it is the case that one player felt let down by his teammates, this team might not have a future. If this was the case, I doubt we will ever find out, but I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the NBA :)

The Sterling Case

In April it was all over the news, the Clippers owner Donald Sterling made racists comments (the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/04/26/clippers-owner-donald-sterling-tells-girlfriend-not-to-bring-black-people-to-games-disses-magic-johnson/?tid=pm_pop). My first thoughts about this case were: Why is this so big on the news? Racism in the USA is still a topic today, and unfortunately there are often racist incidents or racist comments made. Also, I was wondering: why is this even in the news? It was a private conversation between two people, how did this become public? All this already seemed bizarre. Then I read an article about an interview of Kareem-Abdul Jabbar (http://toprightnews.com/?p=2777), which hit it right on the spot. Exactly my thoughts: People are furious about the fact that someone like the owner of a NBA team with players of all races makes racist remarks. Interesting is the fact that there have been incidents before, where Sterling denied housing to African-Americans, and this didn’t bring up any consequences for Sterling. Furthermore, currently are a lot of discussions about the privacy of people. There was the incident that the NSA audio monitored the phone from German chancellor Angela Merkel, or that facebook bought whatsapp and is now also entering the privacy of the customers. All that are facts that alarm us, but the fact that a private conversation between two people is published and costs a man a lot isn’t. That’s all very suspicious, if you ask me.

 As a result to the incident, there were some crazy reactions. Some of them just as bad as the whole incident itself: Larry Johnson tweeted that African-Americans should make their own team and own league (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2044113-knicks-great-larry-johnson-calls-for-all-black-league). Of course, it is your right to do or start a league like this, if you want to, but how is that any better than the racist comments by Sterling? How will this solve the issue of racism in the US or in the world? Often I think people are just really upset that they don’t think, and just try to pay like with like, but even the Bible says that you shouldn’t.
Furthermore, the NBA had to react and they did. Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, banned Sterling for lifetime from all NBA activities, and decreed a 2.5 million fee and the sale of the Clippers (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/nba/20140429/adam-silver-press-conference.sportsillustrated/). That is the next thing that seems very suspicious to me. I understand that Sterling should face a punishment, but how do you ban him from his own team that he owns? And how do you tell him to sell something that is his? Plus it is really not a punishment, if he still makes money off of it.

As a normal reaction to all this, of course Sterling wouldn’t give in, and decided to fire back. Sources say he sued the NBA for 1 billion dollar (http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/report-donald-sterling-to-sue-nba-for-1-billion-053014), and as this all wasn’t enough, the story continues. Sterling’s wife wants to sell the Clippers, but Sterling doesn’t. Now his wife tries to prove mental illness on his side, so she could decide on her own (http://nypost.com/2014/06/24/judge-donald-sterling-has-little-chance-of-blocking-clippers-sale/). All this is just another suspect matter, and calls one more time for a huge setup. I wouldn’t even be surprised, if his wife and his girlfriend made a deal to set him up and sell the team. Right now it has been really calm about this story, but within the next month there should be some decisions since the deal for the Clippers is only valid until Sept 15^th.