Phoenix Suns: A Farewell To Kobe Bryant
Bryant, Booker And The Irony Of It All
For the last few months, Suns fans have endured interim head coach Earl Watson‘s comparisons of Booker to Kobe in terms of his work ethic, his young age entering the league and, hopefully, the kind of superstar-caliber future he’ll have in this league. But Wednesday night, Phoenix had to stomach Kobe’s final curtain call with the knowledge that their beloved rookie was soaking up every moment of it.
"“Obviously a guy like that, he has more knowledge than me, so he was just spilling it to me,” Booker said. “I was just open ears to him, trying to be a sponge and I’m happy with what I got out of it. It’s just something I will remember for the rest of my life and I can tell my kids about.”"
Normally there’d be no reason for Suns fans to protest Booker taking advice from one of the NBA’s all-time greats. Kobe’s act of gifting him with a pair of shoes signed, “To Book, Be Legendary,” was a classy, courteous gesture, and one that Booker likely won’t forget as he embarks on his path to live up to those words.
Hell, even Kobe himself sang nothing but praises for the 19-year-old after the game.
“I think he’s fantastic,” he said. “He has the right attitude, he has the right competitive spirit, I think his footwork’s extremely sound, his fundamentals are extremely sound and now it’s just about him figuring out exactly what his game is. Then he can go to that every single night and make counters off of it. But he has the skills.”
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Bryant told Booker he’s always around if he ever wants to talk or pick his brain. It didn’t take long for the Suns rookie to earn Bryant’s respect when, early in the first quarter, he found himself matched up with Kobe in the short post.
Booker, who was just five days old when Bryant played his first NBA game, tried one of Kobe’s patented fadeaways on his childhood idol and missed, but Bryant admired the balls it took to try it — much like he once did the first time he found himself matched up against Michael Jordan.
“‘You’re not gonna beat me on my move, man!'” Kobe told him after the shot. “But it was great to see. It was absolutely great to see, because I did the same thing with MJ.”
None of this to say Devin Booker will become Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan — nor should he feel the pressure to. But there’s no denying the irony of Suns fans loathing a player that Booker aspires to be like — a player that Kobe said is now being thanked by other athletes for his work ethic, his focus and for “being an asshole.”
Like Devin Booker’s praise for the Lakers legend, like the video tribute and like Mr. ORNG donning a Kobe T-shirt, watching Bryant accept the crowd’s applause for his final curtain call made for an uncomfortable, almost bipolar viewing experience.
Though his place among the games’s legends is unquestionable, here was a man who had broken Suns’ fans hearts, in a place that used to be dominated by purple and orange in Nash’s prime, being cheered off the court the only time in his career — and by an overwhelmingly pro-Lakers crowd at that.
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It was a meeting of respect and hatred, a juxtaposition of past and future, a living dichotomy of good vs. evil in the Suns’ own sanctuary.
In other words, it was the perfect way for the Phoenix Suns to say goodbye to Kobe Bryant.