Kobe Bryant's Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

present

kobe

bryant

for

enshrinement

he is a mentor, a role model and most of all his dear friend michael jordan please welcome vanessa

bryant

im fine i love you last february i called michael and told him I asked if I could introduce Kobe tonight and he graciously agreed, thank you. you for being here michael

kobe

I admired you this means a lot to us I always avoided praising my husband in public because I felt like he received enough praise from his fans around the world and someone had to bring him back to reality right now. I'm sure he's laughing in heaven because I'm about to publicly praise him for his accomplishments on one of the most public stages.

I can see him now with his arms crossed and a big smile saying, isn't that right? He's still winning. I wish my husband was here to accept this incredible award, he and Gigi deserve to be here to witness this. Gigi would be very proud to see her dad be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. I know Kobe really wants to be here, she asked the room. of

fame

to specifically add a sixth ticket for capri. He was so happy that he didn't really talk about the upcoming awards, but he did mention this one a week before he and Gigi passed by.

My husband and I were sitting at our kitchen island and he and I. I had a conversation about my mother and father-in-law attending the consecration tonight. I invited my mother and father-in-law to tonight's consecration to thank them for bringing one of the most incredible human beings into this world. Pam and Joe, thank you for parenting. kobe ​​must be exceptional thanks to the entire kobe family sharia you have gone above and beyond i love you there will never be anyone like kobe kobe was unique he was special he was humble off the court but larger than life all our close friends and family who have been present for my daughters and I thank you that the list is long and it takes a village, but know that your kindness and love do not go unnoticed.

I know Kobe is grateful that you all are helping. His daughters, we love you all and we will be eternally grateful for you. If my husband were here tonight, he would have a long list of people to thank who helped him, inspired him, and equipped him to be in the

hall

of

fame

. Family. Friends. Mentors. Lakers teammates, muses and opponents, this is one of the many difficult parts of not having him here at the risk of leaving someone out. I can only say thank you to all those who helped him get here, you know who you are and I thank you for the On behalf of him, I do not have a

speech

prepared by my husband because he improvised each

speech

.

He was intelligent, eloquent and gifted at many things, including public speaking. However, I know he would appreciate everyone who helped him get here, including the people who doubted him. and to the people who worked against him and told him that he couldn't achieve his goals, he would thank you all for motivating him to be here after all, he proved him wrong. All athletes who accept a Hall of Fame award share the fact that they have to sacrifice a part of their lives to dedicate more time to their craft it takes a lot of dedication and discipline no one can take away their own success kobe's personal statistics speak alone kobe was on a different level he never took shortcuts when it came to

basketball

he gave this game everything kobe played through one injury after another to name a few he was given IVs during halftime to play Through food poisoning and the flu he played with a broken nose, had a broken finger and had it put back in place long enough to finish the game, he also taught himself how to use his left hand to play the rest of the game. season while his finger was healing, he even shot two free throws with a torn Achilles tendon and walked off the court with his own, I'll never forget the look he gave me as he walked off the court that game, I knew it was bad, the crowd was cheering and I was assuring Nathalia and Gianna that Dad would be fine like any other injury, but when he entered the tunnel there were no winks or kisses in my direction.

I could see the worried expression on his face. That injury was big, but his recovery from that injury was bigger. People don't know it, but it's one of the reasons my husband played. The injuries and pain were because he said he remembered being a little boy sitting in the nosebleeds with his father watching his favorite player play. He could remember the car, the combos and the excitement of being lucky enough to have a seat in the Kobe arena. "I don't want to disappoint his fans, especially those in the 300 sections who saved up to watch him play against kids with the same excitement he once had.

I remember asking him why he couldn't just sit in a game because he was hurt," he said. . What about the fans who saved up to see me play just once? He never forgot the fans of him, if he could help it, he would play every minute of every game, he loved them all so much, Kobe had many achievements, five time NBA champion, five times. New York Times bestselling author 18-time All-Star League MVP and two-time Finals MVP Two-time Olympic gold medal winner He's also the first professional athlete to win an Oscar The list goes on, but his most accomplished achievement precious was being the best girl, dad, usually people thank everyone who has helped them get here, but since I don't have Kobe's specific list, I want to thank my husband, he did the work, he broke those records and inspired people to be great, I want to thank you for finding ways to dedicate time to not only being an incredible athlete, a visionary entrepreneur and a storyteller, but also for being an incredible family man, dear Kobe, thank you for be the best husband and father you could be, thank you for growing and learning. from your own mistakes thank you for always trying to be better thank you for never giving up on us thank you for all your hard work thank you for our family thank you for our daughters natalia gianna bianca and capri thank you for working so tirelessly to provide for us and for giving us the most incredible life together Thank you for waking up at 4 am to train, for coming home to kiss me good morning, and for dropping our daughters off at school just to go to practice, come home, and pick up our daughters. from school whenever you can thank you for never missing a birthday a dance recital a school prize show and counting or any game our daughters played in if you are scheduled allowed thank you for putting your love for our family first thank you for bring us so much joy in our lives enjoyed by people around the world thank you for inspiring us to be better than the day before thank you for teaching me and all of us to put someone else's joy before our own thank you for being so selfless and loving with a goal with a heart of gold thanks for never taking yourself too seriously thanks for your sense of humor thanks for your wit thanks for never telling me no and always letting me get my way most of the time thanks for being patient and tolerant thanks for letting me burst your bubble whenever I could thank you for graciously accepting all my harsh answers thank you for returning them thank you for being my mini's mickey and my alley's noah thank you for loving me enough to last lifetimes in every lifetime I choose you for our daughters natalia and gianna thank you for sacrificing so much time away from dad so he could focus on being the best at everything he set out to do bianca and capri i'm so happy you're here to see this tonight dad was amazing he loves you girls so much congratulations baby, all your hard work and sacrifices paid off.

They once told me: if you are going to bet on someone, bet on yourself, I'm glad. you bet on yourself, you achieved a great performance, you did it, you are in the

hall

of fame now you are a true champion, you are not just an MVP, you are an all-time great, I am very proud of you, I will love you forever . and kobe bean is always right