{"id":116332,"date":"2015-11-30T12:45:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T20:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilcomprd.wpengine.com\/?p=116332"},"modified":"2024-01-04T10:55:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T18:55:28","slug":"like-mike-to-the-end-michael-jordans-dear-basketball-retirement-letter-kobes-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ballislife.com\/like-mike-to-the-end-michael-jordans-dear-basketball-retirement-letter-kobes-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Like Mike To The End: Michael Jordan's 'Dear Basketball' Retirement Letter &#038; Kobe's Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"hoverZoomLink\" href=\"https:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"563\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-116345 hoverZoomLink\" src=\"https:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR-1024x563.jpg\" alt=\"BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR-1024x563.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BIL-MJ-KOBE-DEAR.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We all know Kobe Bryant wanted to be like Mike. The only difference between him and 99.9% of the people who picked up a basketball and drank Gatorade is Kobe actually became Mike. Well, at least \"this generations Michael Jordan\" as Jamal Crawford once said.<\/p>\n<p>And like Mike, Kobe set records, won scoring titles and championships and even announced his upcoming retirement in a similar way.<\/p>\n<p>On November 29th of 2015, Kobe Bryant wrote a letter called \"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theplayerstribune.com\/dear-basketball\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dear Basketball<\/a>\" with the announcement.<\/p>\n<p>On April 20th of 2003, Nike took out a full page ad in a bunch of Sunday newspapers to publish Michael Jordan's retirement letter titled \"Dear Basketball\"<\/p>\n<p>You can read both of the letters and then enjoy some great videos showcasing just how similar the two legends are.<\/p>\n<div class=\"omc-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width:100%; height: 100%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ejU0v6-Na8w\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen width=\"600\" height=\"420\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h3>KOBE BRYANT: DEAR BASKETBALL<\/h3>\n<p>From the moment<br \/>\nI started rolling my dad\u2019s tube socks<br \/>\nAnd shooting imaginary<br \/>\nGame-winning shots<br \/>\nIn the Great Western Forum<br \/>\nI knew one thing was real:<\/p>\n<p>I fell in love with you.<\/p>\n<p>A love so deep I gave you my all \u2014<br \/>\nFrom my mind &amp; body<br \/>\nTo my spirit &amp; soul.<\/p>\n<p>As a six-year-old boy<br \/>\nDeeply in love with you<br \/>\nI never saw the end of the tunnel.<br \/>\nI only saw myself<br \/>\nRunning out of one.<\/p>\n<p>And so I ran.<br \/>\nI ran up and down every court<br \/>\nAfter every loose ball for you.<br \/>\nYou asked for my hustle<br \/>\nI gave you my heart<br \/>\nBecause it came with so much more.<\/p>\n<p>I played through the sweat and hurt<br \/>\nNot because challenge called me<br \/>\nBut because YOU called me.<br \/>\nI did everything for YOU<br \/>\nBecause that\u2019s what you do<br \/>\nWhen someone makes you feel as<br \/>\nAlive as you\u2019ve made me feel.<\/p>\n<p>You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream<br \/>\nAnd I\u2019ll always love you for it.<br \/>\nBut I can\u2019t love you obsessively for much longer.<br \/>\nThis season is all I have left to give.<br \/>\nMy heart can take the pounding<br \/>\nMy mind can handle the grind<br \/>\nBut my body knows it\u2019s time to say goodbye.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s OK.<br \/>\nI\u2019m ready to let you go.<br \/>\nI want you to know now<br \/>\nSo we both can savor every moment we have left together.<br \/>\nThe good and the bad.<br \/>\nWe have given each other<br \/>\nAll that we have.<\/p>\n<p>And we both know, no matter what I do next<br \/>\nI\u2019ll always be that kid<br \/>\nWith the rolled up socks<br \/>\nGarbage can in the corner<br \/>\n:05 seconds on the clock<br \/>\nBall in my hands.<br \/>\n5 \u2026 4 \u2026 3 \u2026 2 \u2026 1<\/p>\n<p>Love you always,<br \/>\nKobe<\/p>\n<h3>MICHAEL JORDAN: DEAR BASKETBALL<\/h3>\n<p>It's been almost 28 years since the first day we met. 28 years since I\u00a0saw you in the back of our garage. 28 years since my parents\u00a0introduced us.<\/p>\n<p>If someone would have told me then, what would become of us, I'm not\u00a0sure I would have believed them. I barely remembered your name.<\/p>\n<p>Then I started seeing you around the neighborhood and watching you on\u00a0television. I used to see you with guys down at the playground. But\u00a0when my older brother started paying more attention to you, I started\u00a0to wonder. Maybe you were different.<\/p>\n<p>We hung out a few times. The more I got to know you, the more I liked\u00a0you. And as life would have it, when I finally got really interested\u00a0in you, when I was finally ready to get serious, you left me off the\u00a0varsity. You told me I wasn't good enough.<\/p>\n<p>I was crushed. I was hurt. I think I even cried.<\/p>\n<p>Then I wanted you more than ever. So I practiced. I hustled. I worked<\/p>\n<p>on my game. Passing. Dribbling. Shooting. Thinking. I ran. I did\u00a0sit-ups. I did push-ups. I did pull-ups. I lifted weights. I studied\u00a0you. I began to fall in love and you noticed. At least that's what\u00a0Coach Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. But now I know.\u00a0Coach Smith was teaching me how to love you, how to listen to you, how\u00a0to understand you, how to respect you and how to appreciate you. Then\u00a0it happened. That night, at the Louisiana Superdome in the final\u00a0seconds of the championship game against Georgetown, you found me in\u00a0the corner and we danced.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, you've become much more than just a ball to me. You've\u00a0become more than just a court. More than just a hoop. More than just a\u00a0pair of sneakers. More than just a game.<\/p>\n<p>In some respects, you've become my life. My passion. My motivation. My\u00a0inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>You've my biggest fan and my harshest critic. You're my dearest friend\u00a0and my strongest ally. You're my most challenging teacher and my most\u00a0endearing student. You're my ultimate teammate and my toughest\u00a0competitor. You're my passport around the world and my visa into the\u00a0hearts of millions.<\/p>\n<p>So much has changed since the first day we met, and to a large degree,\u00a0I have you to thank. So if you haven't heard me say it before, let me\u00a0say it now for the world to hear. Thank you. Thank you, Basketball.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for everything.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for all the players who came before me. Thank you for all\u00a0the players who went into battle with me. Thank you for the\u00a0championships and the rings. Thank you for the All-Star Games and the\u00a0Playoffs. Thank you for the last shots, the buzzer-beaters, the hard\u00a0fouls, the victories and the defeats. Thank you for making me earn my\u00a0keep. Thank you for #23. Thank you for North Carolina and Chicago.\u00a0Thank you for the air and the nickname. Thank you for the moves and<br \/>\nthe hang time. Thank you for the Slam-Dunk Contest. Thank you for the\u00a0will and the determination, the heart and the soul, the pride and the\u00a0courage. Thank you for the competitive spirits and the competition to\u00a0challenge it. Thank you for the failures and the setbacks, the\u00a0blessings and the applause. Thank you for the triangle. Thank you for\u00a0baseball and the Barons. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for the\u00a0assistant coaches, the trainers, and the physical therapists. Thank<br \/>\nyou for the announcers, the refs, the writers, the reporters, the\u00a0broadcasters and the radio stations. Thank you for the Pistons and the\u00a0Lakers, the Cavs and the Knicks, the Sixers and the Celtics. Thank you\u00a0for Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Utah. Thank you for the Wizards.\u00a0Thank you for the believers and the doubters. Thank you for Coach\u00a0Smith, Coach Loughery, Coach Albeck, Coach Collins and Coach Jackson.\u00a0Thank you for the education and the experience. Thank you for teaching\u00a0me the game behind, beneath, within, above and around the game\u2026the\u00a0game game. Thank you for every fan who has ever called my name, put\u00a0their hands together for me and my teammates, slapped me five or\u00a0patted me on the back. Thank you for everything you've given my\u00a0family. Thank you for the moon and the stars, and last but not least,\u00a0thank you for Bugs and Mars.<\/p>\n<p>I know I'm not the only one who loves you. I know you have loved many\u00a0before me and will love many after me. But, I also know what we had\u00a0was unique. It was special. So as our relationship changes yet again,\u00a0as all relationships do, one thing is for sure.<\/p>\n<p>I love you, Basketball. I love everything about you and I always will.\u00a0My playing days in the NBA are definitely over, but our relationship\u00a0will never end.<\/p>\n<p>Much Love and Respect,<br \/>\nMichael Jordan<\/p>\n<div class=\"omc-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width:100%; height: 100%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JnB9bvud6IU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen width=\"600\" height=\"420\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"omc-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width:100%; height: 100%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v27Hk5OIe-k\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen width=\"600\" height=\"420\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all know Kobe Bryant wanted to be like Mike. The only difference between him and 99.9% of&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":116345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8316,1444,3,74,23],"tags":[1921,1599],"featured":[],"class_list":["post-116332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-all-blogs","category-nba","category-nba-videos","category-video","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-michael-jordan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Like Mike To The End: Michael Jordan&#039;s &#039;Dear Basketball&#039; Retirement Letter &amp; Kobe&#039;s Letter - Ballislife.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ballislife.com\/like-mike-to-the-end-michael-jordans-dear-basketball-retirement-letter-kobes-letter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like Mike To The End: Michael Jordan&#039;s &#039;Dear Basketball&#039; Retirement Letter &amp; Kobe&#039;s Letter - Ballislife.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all know Kobe Bryant wanted to be like Mike. 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