Today would have been Kobe's birthday. This sad occasion had me thinking about my dear friend.
While we spent years competing against each other, it was the summers of '07 and '08 that saw us wear the same Team USA jersey. The camaraderie we built during those FIBA/Olympic summers, man, was it something special.
We spent hours together in the gym, on buses, planes. We often were in the same groups for workouts and, even more often, sat near or next to each other when we were on the go.
We talked a lot. About family. About religion. About basketball. About life. I'm not going to go into those conversations in depth now, but I have one specific memory to share.
A memory of playing dominoes with Kobe. Actually, a memory of helping to teach him how to play. Over that summer, Kobe would proceed to play on flights with me, Tayshaun Prince, and Chris Bosh.
With the benefit of hindsight, I know it wasn't actually about the dominoes for him. Kobe didn't care about the game. He was, I think, trying to ingratiate himself with us, with his teammates.He was trying to make sure we had the chemistry in place to come home with the Gold medal...which we did.
He was masterful at using his mind like that. He played chess, mentally, while most of the world was playing checkers.
We miss you, brother, today and always.
As a teammate, as an opponent at times and, more importantly, as a brother, always uncondicional and eternal love.
Happy birthday hermano, miss you. 🙏🏼❤️
Hi @ChelseaFC my wedding is supposed to be in November 2026 but I have convinced my wife to be that we push it to the last Saturday in May 2027 because I want to celebrate a double that day. “My wife and the EPL”. Don’t dissapoint, just get me the PL trophy. Thank You.
Before the Premier League season starts, I want to categorically state that I hate Arsenal with all my heart, and I wish them nothing but misery this season