Tell me the first things that comes to your mind as I say those words to you.

Basketball. Love.

Los Angeles. Home.

Retirement. Peace.

Legacy. Long pause. Wow.

Does a man have a right to shape his own legacy or is legacy something that is bestowed upon you once memories of you are all that is left? 

For a man that always strove for greatness, Kobe never seemed to be preoccupied with the legacy he was going to leave behind. Different from many star players that came after Jordan, the question of legacy was not in Kobe’s manifesto. The man was gifted with this seemingly inexhaustible fire where the only thing that mattered what was comes next, for himself and for the others. There was no space to talk legacy, even if reporters would keep asking him about it. 

This is why his sudden death leaves us in disbelief and repudiation, existentially numb. It is not that we are reminded of our own mortality and our own legacy. Even people less anxious than me are reminded of their mortality on a daily basis. It has more to do with the realization that no one really has the time they need to establish themselves in this universe. We have accepted we are temporary and perishable. But our heroes should be for ever, right?

It turns out that legends do not live for ever. Yes, their lives burn brighter than ours will ever do but they do not get to relish their legacy, let alone plan for it. Nobody really ever does. 

Kobe has inspired millions of people around the world, in different ways, for different reasons and at different levels. On a primary level, yes, he did teach us what you can achieve with work ethic alone. For lazy-asses like me the message not always landed as forceful as it should but knowing that is possible to be that determined at everything in life is inspiration enough. 

There are so many other layers that shaped the Mamba Mentality other than the constant endeavour to better oneself. Anecdotes and stories abound on how Kobe was able to excel at anything, and on how he would try to garner as much as possible from every human being he happened to meet on and off the court. If you were passionate about something, he would just want to know everything that made you good at it. To learn, to be inspired and to inspire, once again.

While his basketball career is the epitome of the hero’s journey Kobe never got enamored with his own narrative. You could tell by his storytelling that he did not think of himself as some sort of chosen one. He actually convinced himself that he could be both the hero and the villain of his own story. He was one of the best self-made man this world has ever seen and he knew it. He would rub it in your face, modesty be damned. Not dissimilar from Jordan. 

And yet this internal conflict between the instinct to compete against everyone coaxed with a noble character that cared deeply about the others, not just about their well-being but about their craft, on a basketball court and outside. This juxtaposition spawned his appreciation for everybody else’s greatness and his drive to live an eclectic life made of several passions, deep familial bonds, and an ever-increasing number of ventures. 

One of these new undertakings even won him an Oscar. Because guys like him could not enter Hollywood from the back-door. It was this over-reaching approach to life that set him apart from other sport greats. That, and his journey from the self-centered, lead-by-example superstar player of his younger years to the supportive teammate and mentor to us all. The passion and the work ethic was something he was born with. The ability to make everyone else around him better was something he had to learn.

They used to say he was not the best of teammates. He himself said he had no real friends in basketball. We all know that was just a shield to protect his intimate relationships. He was the first to sit next to and the last to leave Lamar Odom’s bed when he overdosed a few years ago. By how the NBA players reacted to the tragic news we now know he found the time to mentor so many of them. Not sure how he would find time to do that with all the travel, the games, the endless work-outs and the time spent with his daughters. I am not sure Kobe took the time to sleep. 

Some will say his legacy is complicated by the rape trial. He was one of the first celebrities to be involved in similar cases and you could tell it was a formative experience for him. He admitted to his sins while mantaining he did not willingly force himself unto his victim. This does not exonerate him (although it is much more than you usually get from superstars in similar predicaments). But I do believe that the work he was doing to promote women’s basketball was (and still is) his redemption arc. 

If there is one legacy he was working on was the promotion of the game among women because his love for basketball made him realize that the game should not be confined to fifty per cent of the living. His recent comments on Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi being ready to play in the NBA are a breath of fresh air in a sports world that is still anchored to sexism and prejudice. The women’s basketball world has lost its main sponsor and ticket to relevance. 

So, yes, Kobe was bigger than basketball and probably bigger than life. If we want to take away a lesson from his legacy is this. You can live a life devoted to one single purpose and pour yourself in it until you are the best. And you can live a life full of diversity, new experiences, big and small projects. Or, if you are superhuman and/or aspire to be one, you can do both. Whatever works for you. You don’t need to have the Mamba Mentality to be happy in life. The Kobe mentality will have to do for us mortals.