Tracy McGrady has provided the most poignant reflection on Kobe Bryant’s death. He entered the NBA one year after Kobe and described them as “rookie” friends.
Here is what McGrady said on ESPN’s The Jump on Monday:
He used to say: ‘I want to die young. I want to be immortalized. I want to have my career be better than Michael Jordan, and I want to die young.’ And I just thought he was so crazy for saying that.
To be fair, host Rachel Nichols jumped in to clarify that this was before Kobe had children. But the story was out there. More to the point, it gave remarkable insight into the twisted, James-Dean ideation that motivated Kobe early in his career.
But, as Paul Harvey might’ve said, it’s important to share the rest of the story. Because even I could see that Kobe wanted to live long enough to be a 60-something sitting in the stands with his dad bod watching Gigi light it up, night after night, for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
I’m sure Kobe and Michael still talked smack. But, where his basketball legacy was concerned, it was elevating Gigi in life, not beating Michael in death, that was motivating Kobe.
This is why, if not Tracy himself, I hope Magic or one of Kobe’s other close friends has the presence of mind to share the rest of this story at his memorial service.
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