5 time NBA Champion. 18-time NBA All-Star. 2-time NBA Finals MVP Awards. 11-time All-NBA First Team Player.

Those are just a few of the many incredible accomplishments in the brilliant career of Kobe Bean Bryant. He was the Michael Jordan of my generation. Success in basketball from about 1999 until a few years ago was measured on the “Kobe Scale.” For most of the early 2000s, Kobe and the Lakers stormed through the NBA on a mission: win at all costs. Later in his career, Kobe’s numbers faded and his body was beaten up but his competitive fire still burned like he was a youngster at Lower Merion High School.

Many people has speculated at what will be told about Kobe’s legacy; will it be the 5 time champion, or the corporate powerhouse (seriously check out any of his commercials, they are the best ever written for a professional athlete), or could be some combination of both? No matter what you think or what the experts say only time will really tell.

However…

If there is one thing that we can all agree on, it is that Kobe’s name will forever be on the tip of our tongue when we pull-up or fade-away from the metal can in the corner.

Kobeing is the action one takes whenever he or she is throwing any piece of trash or material away from a reasonably far distance away while simultaneously yelling out “Kobe!” with supreme confidence (normally ending up with a terrible brick (miss)).

Kobeing took the world by storm. No matter what anyone had in their hand, if it needed to get thrown away “Kobe!” was being called out for everyone to hear.

You may not believe Kobe Bryant is the best player to play in the NBA, however you can’t deny you’ve done this before. You’ve thought about saying “Jordan!” or “Bird!” or “Lebron!” but it just doesn’t work. Even with the magic that Steph Curry has put on in the last few years yelling out “Steph!” or “Curry!” doesn’t give you the same bad-ass feeling that Kobe does.

Kobe is confidence. It’s the “I can do anything” word. It’s the one word that when you hear it, you know someone means business.

So yes, Kobe Bryant will enviably go down as on the greatest players to ever step foot on a basketball court. He will probably be the pitch man for some company (Nike) for the next 40 something years and he will always be around the game of basketball somehow but Kobe’s reach won’t stop there. He will be in your office, your home, your car, and everywhere else you can throw something away.

Kobe may be leaving the NBA spotlight but he will always be center court when you need that clutch apple core three.