The Jock and The Poet

My friend ST sent me the following poem the other day.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer
This season is all I have left to give
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye

If you are a basketball fan you probably could guess who penned these beautiful words. Yes, it’s Kobe Bryant of the The Jock and The PoetLos Angeles Lakers. I don’t follow sports much, let alone basketball. So I didn’t recognize who the author was. But I’ve always admired good athletes albeit in a non-fanatic and non-groupie way because of their hard work, concentration and sheer will to win. As an occasional writer I absolutely admire people who are good with words. When I read his words, I felt the author’s pride, prosperity and poignancy bouncing all in sync at once. I congratulated ST for a beautiful tribute to someone who might be Bryant. (At least I remembered from the news that he was soon retiring from the Lakers.) ST corrected me and told me it was Bryant himself who wrote it as a farewell message to his millions of fans.

I was surprised. A super jock who wrote stirring lyrics?

Bryant was drafted (hired) at the young age of 18 in 1996. In the following 20 years of his career, he went on to help the Lakers win 5 NBA (National Basketball Association) championships and himself numerous times as MVP (Most Valuable Player) in different categories. Let’s not forget that he scored over 30,000 points during his professional days. Talk about working hard at your job.

In the US, most professional basketball players are drafted after college. Very few went straight from high school to professional status. Bryant was one of them. (LeBron James also comes to mind, among a handful of others.) Now we all know Bryant was smart and mature enough to work full-time without going to college.

I have to confess a pre-conception of him here, and it is wrong. I didn’t expect a high school graduate whose talent was in the basketball court to be this good with his pen also. I am wrong, Mr. Bryant. I might not have followed your graceful moves on the court, but I love your sensitive writing!

Now the fat lady sings and Kobe Bryant retires. Like my friend ST would say: That’s 3 points at the buzzer. Well done and good luck, Mr. Bryant!

 *** The End ***

 

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