Dear Basketball,
From the moment
I started rolling my dads tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
A love so deep I gave you my all
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because thats what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as youve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And Ill always love you for it.
But I cant 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 its time to say goodbye.
And thats OK.
Im ready to let you go.
I want you to know now,
So we both can saver every moment
we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.
And we both know,
no matter what I do next
Ill always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner,
5 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 4 3 2
...1
Love you always,
Kobe
Subtitle By SamiR