When I walked into the Target Center on Sunday afternoon (after a game on Friday and family Christmas in Duluth on Saturday – relaxing weekend, I know), I heard a Timberwolves fan walk in and say something I found stimulating.
“Man, we’ve got to deal with all these Kobe lovers tonight…”
Which, yeah, is true. And probably annoying if you’re a Timberwolves fan. It’s like going to a Twins game when the Yankees are in town. Suddenly every freaking person from Minneapolis has some sort of New York tie. People act like they are Derek Jeter’s cousin twice removed or something.
That’s kind of what it’s like when Kobe and the Lakers are in town. It has to do more with Kobe, though, than the people in town. When you’re great, like the Yankees and Jeter, you become more loved… and oddly more hated at the same time.
That’s how it works.
Kobe even said it after the game. He said it felt weird getting a standing ovation on the road because he was so used to being the villain over the years, sometimes even in his own locker room.
On Sunday night, though, it was one of those rare moments where if you’re a Wolves fans, you’re probably okay with there being tons of Kobe fans in the Target Center.
Scenarios in which you’re okay with there being a lot of fans from the opposing team in your house:
1.) A Player’s Last Hurrah
I was in the Metrodome on April 29, 2001 for Cal Ripken Jr.’s last game at the Dome. It was awesome. There were Orioles jerseys everywhere. Maybe they were fans of Cal, maybe the Orioles, hell, maybe they even cheered for the Twins. But for that day, it was okay to recognize a legend.
The Twins rained on Cal’s parade and won 4-0. And those Cal Ripken Jr. fans didn’t exactly get any satisfaction either as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
What I’ll remember most, though, isn’t the game at all. It was of Cal when he trotted around the Metrodome, signing autographs, talking to kids and taking pictures. I was 11 at the time, probably too young to really know what was going on. I was mostly just worried about getting ice cream and a hot dog (I was a fat kid).
Either way, it’s a moment that I’ll always remember. It’s also a moment when it just felt right to be on Team Cal – for nine innings at least.
2.) A Coach Is Retiring
This goes for legendary coaches like Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich. Coaches who have strong local ties to the city or community they are coaching in also qualify.
If you’re from Minnesota, think of if Kevin McHale announced this was his last season. If you’re a Minnesota (high school, college or pro) fan, you’d probably want to make it to that game and a tiny bit of you would hope he’d win, right?
Another example would be if the most successful coach in team history (imagine Flip Saunders) went to a team (like Detroit or Washington) and decided he was going to retire one day. You can bet that crowd would be on the side of the guy who has done so much for the sport of basketball in Minnesota.
3.) A Record Is Being Broken Or Passed
Like Kobe on Sunday.
4.) Yeah, I Can’t Think Of Anther One…
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane: I was at the Vikings game two weeks ago when they faced off against the New York Jets.
My best friend is related to wide receiver Eric Decker. I won’t say how because I don’t need you to get your Facebook creep on.
And yes, I said Eric Decker. Like the dreamy dude who grows perfect facial hair and makes the rest of us look weak, ugly and ridiculously out of shape.
Back to the story.
I was sitting in the “Decker” section. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but it was fairly competitive. Or non-competitive, depending on how you look at it. It was the Jets and Vikings. We take what we can get.
Teddy Bridgewater went back and hit Charles Johnson deep for a touchdown. The only person standing and clapping was of course me… Everyone looked, stared, and gave me a “why did we invite Kyle?” look.
The Jets ended up scoring at some point in the game. I’m not sure when – I may have had a Redd’s Apple Ale or two...
After the score, everyone cheered. I fake clapped. But really, my insides hurt and I could only imagine what eight-year-old Kyle would think of this situation.
And this is coming from a guy who spent quite a bit of time in the same house as Decker. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I’m pretty sure there are millions others just like me.
Back to Kobe.
Seeing fans root for Kobe at the Target Center should normally piss a Wolves fan off. Like did these fans make the switch to the Lakers when they went from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960? What’s their reasoning? Do they just like Kobe? Did they find a Lakers jersey at a garage sale once and the rest is history?
But on Sunday night, it wasn’t necessary to ask any of those questions. If you cheered for Kobe that night, it was understandable. Everyone kind of was.
That goes back to what that fan said when he came into the arena.
Yeah, unfortunately for one night, these Kobe lovers will probably annoy you. But while chatting with my buddy Sam, he made it pretty clear and I couldn’t agree more.
How many times are we going to have the opportunity to witness this type of history?
You can argue for days about who the best basketball player of all-time is, and at the end of the day, we’re all probably just going to disagree. No matter how you slice it, though, Bryant and Jordan are two of the best. We got to see one surpass the other in the most meaningful individual stat in all of basketball. That’s pretty special.
Think about if LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant in points. And it happened at the Target Center. Maybe I’m a basketball nerd, but I think that’s pretty special.
In other words – we probably won’t see anything like what we saw on Sunday for quite a while.
Another thing I found fascinating was the fact that the hero (Kobe) of young pup Andrew Wiggins was the one passing his own hero (Jordan). It’s kind of surreal if you think about it. It seems pretty fitting for Wiggins, considering most scouts compare him to Bryant and Jordan. And if you’ve seen his stepbacks on the baseline, you know why.
"It was just a strange feeling. I remember being Andrew Wiggins,” Bryant said after the game. “I remember playing against Michael my first year and to be here tonight and to play again him, seeing the baby face, and the little footwork and the little technique things that he's going to be much, much sharper at as time moves on. It was like looking at a reflection of myself 19 years ago. It was pretty cool."
“It’s an honor and motivation to my ears,” Wiggins said about Bryant’s comment above. “It makes me work even harder to become something like him. He’s an all-time great.”
I have a feeling we are going to look back at those comments in 15 years from now and laugh a little bit.
Pretty cool stuff for a basketball fan of any kind.