Lost in the smiles and handshakes and bro hugs, buried deep beneath a jovial demeanor of a man basking in the final moments of his NBA dream, is the reality of Kobe Bryant’s farewell: The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t good, and that still doesn’t sit well with him.
As he said of the imminent end, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:
What would be Kobe's ideal final game? "Win the championship. That [expletive] ain't happening so there you go," he said.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) April 7, 2016
Although it’s necessary to celebrate Kobe’s final season, for all he’s done on the basketball court, it would be ignorant of us not to acknowledge that this isn’t the way he would want to go out.
Everything about his final year is basically unsettling. He is clearly having fun on the court, even when the Lakers are losing, sharing smiles and anecdotes with friends he once would have growled at during games. This is also the same man, mind you, who was obsessed with not just contending for championship, but winning titles.
Yet, here he is, on the worst team in the history of the Lakers, playing out a final year that has lacked profound forward-looking meaning, instead serving as a protracted trip down memory lane, through the accolades of years past, with an emphasis on all Kobe and Hollywood’s finest used to be, rather than what they are now.
So yes, Kobe has an ideal ending to his NBA career.
The Lakers just aren’t in any position to actualize it.
