SPORTS - Kobe Bryant Plays His Last Game In His Philadelphia Hometown

LA Lakers via Instagram

Kobe Bryant

Here's a beautiful ESPN piece: "Philly Farewell Almost As Good As It Gets For Kobe."

PHILADELPHIA -- Kobe Bryant drove through the city at night, visiting the playground parks where he spent countless hours, thinking of how fast time flew by.

He walked the hallways of Wells Fargo Center a day later, greeting ushers who babysat him while his father played at a nearby arena that has since been torn down. He hugged Julius Erving, who, as Bryant said, "held me when I was a baby."

There were thunderous ovations during player introductions and a moving video tribute. There were cheers and chants of "Ko-be!" and "M-V-P!" that rained throughout. There were more roars and another standing ovation at the end, after which Bryant blew a kiss, tapped his heart and saluted the fans as he walked off the court Tuesday after his final NBA game in his hometown.

This crowd had booed Bryant in previous visits, but Bryant said it never bothered him, because the city that raised him also gave him armor to shield him from such things.

"There's not one playground around here where people just play basketball and don't talk trash," he said following a 103-91 loss to the previously winless Philadelphia 76ers. "So my family was just a bunch of trash-talkers. Every park I went to was a bunch of trash-talkers. It teaches you how to have a thick skin."

Then came an overwhelming reception Bryant didn't expect, including receiving a framed No. 24 Lower Merion High School jersey before the game by his coach at the suburban Philadelphia school where he dominated two decades ago.

In all, Bryant said it moved him beyond measure. He doesn't fashion himself as emotional, but he couldn't help it Tuesday. "They got me," he said, searching for the right words. "I couldn't ask for anything better, other than winning the game."

Bryant struggled mightily, shooting just 7-of-26 from the field, including 4-of-17 from 3-point range, numbers atypical of a 37-year-old with a ton of basketball mileage and three consecutive season-ending injuries on his resume. But before he started misfiring at an alarming rate, Bryant was able to give the fans -- countless of them donning his No. 8 or No. 24 jerseys from the Lakers or from his high school -- one last thrill.

He opened the game with a 25-footer from the top of the key. Swish.

He followed that up with a 26-foot step-back shot. Good again.

After a miss from 27 feet, Bryant set back up from 28 feet and launched. Good again!

"M-V-P!" the crowd roared, rising to its collective feet, reaching a deafening pitch.

The scoring frenzy reminded many of the player Bryant once was, someone who short-circuited scoreboards in a matter of seconds during a hot shooting streak. It was an especially welcome sight after so many off nights this season, filled with too many air balls and pump fakes that reeked of desperation. And it felt like the perfect beginning to a potentially magical story, a fitting farewell to his childhood backyard.

"It was great and I was hoping he could keep it up," Lakers coach Byron Scott said. "I was hoping that was an indication of what was going to come."

It wasn't to be, and Bryant knew it.

"God knows I can't sustain that level of energy for 48 minutes like I used to," he said.

And so he missed 18 of his final 22 shots, including 12 of 13 shots from beyond the arc. There were air balls. He had shots blocked, including one into the stands. He had a layup that was wildly off the mark. There were other shots that made for comical highlights online, further evidence of his decline, but he didn't seem to care during the game. He just kept firing, miss after miss.

In his mind, all the shots were justified, as this marked his final game here, which meant he couldn't leave any bullets in the chamber. He had to keep shooting.

"I'm going to save it for pickup basketball at Equinox in December?" he asked.

For as much as Bryant played 1-on-5, isolating his teammates in the process, he focused instead on nostalgia after the game, just as he had done before it began.

He recalled the soft pretzels he always had at the top of his locker here, always with mustard, and the cheesesteaks he had waiting for him after a game.

He recalled playing in the Sonny Hill league and going scoreless one summer.

"That was a turning point for me, it really was," Bryant said. "I was 11 years old, and I was hoping maybe I'd get like a technical free throw, you know what I mean? Zero points the whole summer, and that became a big motivating thing for me, to make sure when I came back to the Sonny Hill League I was ready to play, I was ready to compete with them."

And he recalled the toughness the city instilled and that he carried ever since.

"It's funny, because growing up here, playing basketball here, and coming back here as a Laker, I brought my Philly attitude back as a Laker," Bryant said, "and Philly was like, 'No, don't do that.' So it was like, two rams, which was a marvelous thing."

He continues to play at his very worst, but he continues to say that's OK.

"You take it all in, man," Bryant said. "If you're going to win championships, if you want to be a champion inside and out, you've got to roll with the punches. You can't run from the very, very tough times. You can't run from the criticism. You can't run from the fact that you're not playing as well as you want to be playing. You've got to stand up and face that stuff just as you would when everybody is singing your praises and you're winning championships and everything is fine."

All he could hope for during his farewell tour is a small moment, a faint glimmer, something he can leave the fans with who might never see him again, something besides a pile of bricks. And he delivered that early Tuesday night.

"It felt good to come out and go down memory lane a little bit," he said.

Bryant took the fans along, one last time, reminding him of the player he was before all that time flew by.

SOURCE - ESPN
Baxter Holmes: ESPN Staff Writer

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