艾弗森亲笔:我爱你,科比(2)

Remember when I came out to L. A. for the first time our rookie year? You picked me up at the hotel and we went out for some food, and you asked me what I was getting up to later.

I said I was going to the club. I mean, we in L. A. ! I'm going to the club, Kobe. Come on, man. And what did you say? "I'm going back to the gym."

You're probably the only dude in the history of the game where the mystique wasn't exaggerated. The Mamba was no myth, man. It didn't even do you justice. One, two, three in the morning, we knew where you were.

Me and you, every single time we stepped on that floor, we were going to war. But it wasn't an animosity thing. There was never any beef.

It was like heavyweight fighters beating the hell out of one another. And then at the bell, it's nothing but love and respect. Greatness needs company, and we needed each other. Mike needed Prince like Prince needed Mike.

Everybody needs that person to say, Oh, you're the shit, huh? Well I'm the shit, too. And boy, you were the shit. You were the toughest man that I've ever seen in this game.