Phoenix Suns: A Farewell To Kobe Bryant

The Final Chapter

In 2010, the Suns and Lakers were battling for supremacy in the West. Six years later, they’re battling for extra ping pong balls in the draft lottery at the bottom of the conference standings. Both have promising franchise building blocks, both are trying to transition into a new era beyond their previous face of the franchise, and both are terrible teams looking forward to a top-five pick this year.

But only one team has a championship in that six-year span. Only one has enjoyed the luxury of watching their star player go out on his own terms, rather than toiling through nagging injuries while playing for a hated rival. And only one can say they’ve been back to the playoffs since then, as opposed to being mired in a six-year postseason drought.

So yes, Suns fans booed Kobe in his Phoenix farewell, and no, there was very little fond reminiscing on playoff memories other than Bell clotheslining Bryant. And yet, all night long there were mixed signals of admiration and enmity, almost as odd and uncomfortable as the dichotomous relationship between the Suns and Lakers itself.

Suns superfan “Mr. ORNG,” a diehard supporter who attends every home game with his skin colored orange while sporting a spiked mohawk of the same color, wore a Kobe Bryant T-shirt in what he called a sign of “respect” and “class.” But he was also incessantly berated by Suns fans on Twitter for the gesture that those fans deemed as a betrayal.

In another sign of class and respect, the Suns aired a 90-second video tribute on the jumbotron during the first timeout of the first quarter. It had only one Suns highlight: that Game 4 game-winner against Phoenix in 2006.

The crowd roared in support of Kobe by the end of it, but the video rubbed plenty of Suns fans the wrong way because of how it glossed over the rivalry itself — a disservice for a fanbase that already feels alienated enough.

Sure, Kobe got video tributes in Boston and San Antonio, where the fans would have had a similar right to boo the man who had been Public Enemy No. 1 for so long. But here in Phoenix, for a bitter fan base that has no championships to hang its hat on? The whole thing felt uncomfortable, even as the Lakers contingent soaked in their feel-good moment.

The biggest bit of irony, however, came from the current apple of Suns fans’ eyes, Devin Booker. The 19-year-old rookie, who has immediately cemented himself as (hopefully) the next face of the franchise, grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. Though his 28 points and seven assists helped the Suns win the game, they were also something of a submission for approval.

That submission wasn’t lost on Kobe Bryant.

Next: Bryant, Booker And The Irony Of It All