It has been four months, two weeks and about two days since Kobe Bryant recorded his last NBA game on 13 April 2016, when he eviscerated the Utah Jazz for 60 points in a 101-96 win. The Los Angeles Lakers season was doomed long before that game and with the Houston Rockets winning on the same day, the Utah Jazz knew their playoff hopes were over regardless of the result, but, it was Kobe’s last dance and he knew he had one big exclamation point left in him.

What is a Kobe exclamation point made of? Throughout his illustrious career spanning over two decades, five championships, three finals MVPs and countless other achievements, there was always one obvious quality that made Kobe who he was- his uncompromisingly competitive nature, he wanted to win above all, above whether you liked him or not. In Kobe’s last game against the Jazz, you, being a normal human being perhaps like me, or like most other NBA players, could be mistaken for believing Kobe’s in his last game just wanted to please the fans and entertain…almost like this had nothing to do with putting the foot down on an opponent’s throat, an opponent who embarrassed Kobe and his Lakers two weeks before. On 29 March 2016, Kobe suffered his worst loss ever with the Lakers when the Utah Jazz wiped the floor with the Black Mamba in a 123-75 victory. That Laker’s loss was perhaps their fault, not believing that Kobe wanted to exact revenge against the Jazz, is our fault. After Kobe’s last game, Lakers then Head Coach Byron Scott said: "He's loved that villain role that he's played, going into arenas and breaking people's hearts." (per Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune). And on March 5, 2014, before a home game against the Pelicans, when asked about how bad the Lakers season was going at that point (21-39 record), Kobe stated “Let it sit in now, because revenge is sweet and it's quick.” (ESPN.com news services). The Lakers’ seasons were over early in both 2014 and 2016, it didn’t matter to Kobe, there was always something to play for, some point to prove, some score to settle.

Since Kobe’s farewell, Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship and Kevin Durant, arguably the second best player in the league signed with the Golden State Warriors who set an NBA total wins record of 73 wins last season. Durant has taken a lot of heat from media, current and ex NBA players alike for deciding to sign with the Warriors, even his new head coach, Steve Kerr felt compelled to come out in defense of his star recruit saying “To think of Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry or any of our guys as villains, it's kind of absurd. Especially Kevin" (Ramona Shelbourne, ESPN). At first, it sounds like a normal comment from a coach protecting his player, but there’s a whole lot more to Kerr’s quote. Kerr knows his team is an overwhelming favorite for the title next season and yet he’s adamantly stating that we can’t label any of his guys as villains. If a team coming off a record-setting season who just added the league’s second best player can’t be labelled as a villain, then who can be? Kerr is asking us to live in a new post-Kobe era without any fun villains any more. I want someone to walk in and destroy the comfort and decreased scrutiny that Kerr is asking for, but we need a villain to do that…who can that be, who is left? The Big Ticket? Like Kobe, Garnett is a dying breed who doesn’t have much left in the tank to make his own exclamation point.

The Warriors set a new total wins record in a regular season, they broke all types of efficiency records and Durant joined them to form a super team. Lebron and Kyrie Irving will continue to lead the Cavs to successful seasons on another loaded team. But where are our villains, who will look for revenge in a seemingly meaningless regular season game because he’s pissed? I’ll let the now fired ex Lakers Head Coach Byron Scott summarize the void left behind: “

He loved taking your hearts out as fans, as players as teams. He enjoyed that, and I think the league is going to miss that. I don’t see another guy in our league who is like that.” Brian Scott (Jody Genessy, Deseret News)