Oscar (Academy Award)

I’ve seen an Academy Award (Oscar) in real life before...I just wanted to say that. And it was breathtaking.

My fairwell message to Kobe Bryant and a celebration of his life's work

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This is the video that got me in tears for Kobe Bryant.

"Shaq Breaks Down In Tears Talking about Kobe Bryant"

I mean ugly tears...I mean holding-my-mouth tears. I cried more than I cried when my grandparents passed away because I knew Kobe more than them.

‪Sorry grandma and grandpa, I love you. But I didn't know you intimately. Even though I never met Kobe, I knew him more than I knew you. I am going to talk about Kobe from the aspect of playing his character in the best NBA video game series, the annual NBA 2k series.

When I played NBA 2K video games over the last 2 decades, my friends and family would tell you, over 90% of the time I would choose the LA Lakers because of 1 person...Kobe Bryant.

He was fluid in movement. Anyone who knows anything about video games knows that the basketball players performed motion capture for these games to accurately capture their actual motion. This way, the video game characters moved like the actual basketball players.

‪Kobe was the best player. Until Lebron and Steph came around. Yet there was something about Kobe that I understood. I would watch him in real NBA games and his video game character moved the same as he did in real life. ‬

‪So, I had the opportunity to move with Kobe Bryant when I played the LA Lakers in the NBA 2K series. Because of those many hours I spent with Kobe and his team and watching him on tv and seeing how much of a good man he was on and off court.

‪When I watched one of his closest compadres, Shaq talk about him, it broke me, I cried on my bed, I cried in the bathroom the next day while I was brushing my teeth. Tears rolled down my eyes when I was at work facing my computer...I cleaned those tears so no-one would see‬.

‪Kobe, we are all crying, not because we are sad for you. We are celebrating your million accomplishments. We are celebrating your incredible longevity: 20 years with a single team, the LA Lakers. We are celebrating your Academy Award win for "Dear Basketball" after retirement from the NBA. Of course retirement is the wrong word, because you never retired. You became a coach for young women, including your daughters. We are sad because your daughter's promise was cut short. Thank you Kobe for doing all you did. For all the inspiration. ‬

‪I'll keep playing you on NBA 2k series. I'll keep crying until the tears stop and the smiles resume. God bless you and your  daughter, Gianna. Rest in perfect peace. But as all know, Kobe is not resting in heaven. Kobe is still taking Gianna to basketball practice. ‬

‪There’s no such thing as rest for Kobe, even in death. Kobe is not even dead, he just transitioned to the Spiritual realm. He's still doing what he was doing, because that's the kind of relentless spirit that Kobe Bryant has. ‬