It was Wednesday 13th April 2016, on a night when the polar opposite (in conference standings) New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder got nights off to be couch potatoes and take their pick of the 14 NBA regular season finale games on schedule, NBA players and fans got an almighty tweet treat. Summarised, in part ,with one photo:
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| Stephen Curry (and Steve Kerr!) sure do look smug...and so far have a reason to be! |
An obvious photoshop of "His Airness" Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the greatest player to ever play this game, cradled by his heir apparent to the sport's singular dominating throne. The picture, of course, references Jordan's 1997 NBA Finals "Flu Game" in Utah, where Michael put on a sensational show, tallying 38 points, despite being ravaged by the flu in a 90-88 Chicago win in Salt Lake City. Michael, for those not old enough to know/remember/or just clearly missed the train on what everyone paid attention to at that time, was helped off the court by teammate Scottie Pippen, after squeezing every ounce out of his body to get the win for his team, who were now one win away from repeating as NBA champions.
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| Not so funny now is it! |
The 2016 Golden State Warriors actually eclipsed that hallowed, sacred, mythical and revered 72-10. That same record those "untoucha-Bulls" amassed in their dominant season en-route to their fourth title! That time has actually arrived!
What a night!
But wait we're not done!
The other "part" of the night was equally dominated by the finale for one of the game's greatest individual talents giving his last curtain call.
Kobe Bryant played his final NBA game in the city he raised five banners for. I watched every minute of it, whilst simultaneously peeking at the Golden State-Memphis game. Thank God for an inadvertently purchased season subscription of NBA League Pass!
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| Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe embrace after Kobe's final game, whilst Draymond Green addresses the crowd after his Warriors closed the regular season at... 73-9! |
"Mamba out" Kobe proclaimed as he respectfully dropped the mic on the Staples Centre hardwood floor (he actually should've dropped the mic, for effect, channelling his inner Kanye- who was also courtside along with the usual suspects). The court was also fittingly adorned with his jersey numbers 8 and 24 on the opposite baselines, which he graced for 20 long years.
A buddy of mine in Canada, in our Whatsapp group of secondary/high school graduates asserted "[Kobe won't just need] ice bags after [this]...[he'll need to] sleep in a freezer...!" People probably won't put it past Kobe either, as we've all heard the stories of the lengths he has gone through to remain prepared, recover and get ready to approach every one of his games on court. From high school young gun to old school "O.G." as he was referred to in USA basketball camps, he remained consistent and relentless.
As Kobe approached 50 points on the night, I wondered, why not pack his ego in next season (2016-17), come back refreshed and challenge for another ring, Tim Duncan style? Kobe just dropped 60, albeit on 50 shots (!), shooting 44% from the field, with a plus-minus of +7….but the dude just dropped 60! The most scored individually in the NBA this season and the sixth time in his career he's reached that figure….on the final night of the season, in the final game of his career!
He surely still has something left in the tank. No?
This night for me, April 13th 2016, will almost stand out like June 14th 1996. A "where were you when..." moment. Any self-respecting NBA fan did not miss that night then and would not miss this night.
A team for the ages (and record books), reaching a once near-impossible regular season wins milestone and an individual career and performance that both come to a seemingly sudden halt like no other. Never seen like this before.
Wow!
We now live in a cyber world of infinite immediacy. One dominated by social media, less and less kids playing sports, who substitute physical activity with selfies and "empowerment." For one night, it felt like it did almost 20 years ago on June 14 1996.
For one night I was a reminded of what it felt like to be an absolute basketball junkie once again.
In all this immediacy and technology, as I paced the pavements of Romford, Essex in England at 8:11am, typing this piece on my iPhone, on my way to a job I look forward to also being able to also say "#insertnamehereOUT" to, I felt good about the sport again. Prompting me to try to resurrect my old Bleacher Report profile (to no avail), where I wrote my last article in October 2009, to say goodbye to the old and hello to the (relatively) new.
On this night April 13 2016 (or for those of us in the UK, the morning of April 14) this can also be summarised in this new age as:
#73and60
Let the playoffs and reminiscing begin!
A buddy of mine in Canada, in our Whatsapp group of secondary/high school graduates asserted "[Kobe won't just need] ice bags after [this]...[he'll need to] sleep in a freezer...!" People probably won't put it past Kobe either, as we've all heard the stories of the lengths he has gone through to remain prepared, recover and get ready to approach every one of his games on court. From high school young gun to old school "O.G." as he was referred to in USA basketball camps, he remained consistent and relentless.
As Kobe approached 50 points on the night, I wondered, why not pack his ego in next season (2016-17), come back refreshed and challenge for another ring, Tim Duncan style? Kobe just dropped 60, albeit on 50 shots (!), shooting 44% from the field, with a plus-minus of +7….but the dude just dropped 60! The most scored individually in the NBA this season and the sixth time in his career he's reached that figure….on the final night of the season, in the final game of his career!
He surely still has something left in the tank. No?
This night for me, April 13th 2016, will almost stand out like June 14th 1996. A "where were you when..." moment. Any self-respecting NBA fan did not miss that night then and would not miss this night.
A team for the ages (and record books), reaching a once near-impossible regular season wins milestone and an individual career and performance that both come to a seemingly sudden halt like no other. Never seen like this before.
Wow!
We now live in a cyber world of infinite immediacy. One dominated by social media, less and less kids playing sports, who substitute physical activity with selfies and "empowerment." For one night, it felt like it did almost 20 years ago on June 14 1996.
For one night I was a reminded of what it felt like to be an absolute basketball junkie once again.
In all this immediacy and technology, as I paced the pavements of Romford, Essex in England at 8:11am, typing this piece on my iPhone, on my way to a job I look forward to also being able to also say "#insertnamehereOUT" to, I felt good about the sport again. Prompting me to try to resurrect my old Bleacher Report profile (to no avail), where I wrote my last article in October 2009, to say goodbye to the old and hello to the (relatively) new.
On this night April 13 2016 (or for those of us in the UK, the morning of April 14) this can also be summarised in this new age as:
#73and60
Let the playoffs and reminiscing begin!
