艾弗森亲笔:我爱你,科比(4)

and now I'm talking about you in the past tense, and I still get emotional about it. It still doesn't seem real. You were my guy. The 2001 Finals, we were going at each other like fighters.

Not out of some beef or hatred - that's what some people could never understand. Not out of hate. Out of admiration. Out of love. I can't tell you how many pictures I've seen of me and you, at the free throw line, talking our sh*t and just smiling.

Man, who the hell loses an NBA scoring title averaging 33 a game? How the hell are you going to average 35 like that, man? Why'd you have to do that??

You had to do it because you're you. Because you're Kobe Bean Bryant. Because you're a straight-up giant. You were probably watching me do my thing on SportsCenter every night like, 41, huh? Lemme get 43 - see how you like that, Chuck.

I was always confident. I knew what I could do. I was a scorer. I was a winner. I did it my way. I won some games. But you were a champion.