Nike presents "The Conductor": Kobe Bryant's last dance

We all hate you, Kobe. We hate you so much that we cannot accept the fact that we won’t be able to hate you anymore. We hate you for all those times you have not passed the ball, for all those free rant to your young teammate. We hate you because you tried to erase from our minds the memory of Michael, and there you went closer than anybody else. We hate you for all the baskets at the end of the game. You have destroyed our Kings, our Portland, make bleed green supporters in Boston. We hate you because you always had more than the others, even today, while you're leaving.

But there is nothing more beautiful than hate based on admiration, respect, approval. It is the feeling that expresses Nike in his last, dutiful and emotional tribute to Black Mamba: The Conductor. Directed by Mark Romanek (in partnership with Wieden + Kennedy Portland), the short film re-delivers all the NBA fans a view of a thousand times scene. Kobe got the ball a few seconds from the end, put himself in the post, takes away from the defender and... BANG. Clutch. Like a few others have been able to be.

In the video there is his mentor, Phil Jackson, the man who taught him to be less villain, but at the same time transformed him in the perfect war machine. There's Paul Pierce, the most proud member of the Lakers rivalry, the one with the Celtics, and there is the talent of another villain like Rasheed Wallace. But above all, there are all those fans who have endured sore his superiority, because it was too obvious, too limiting. Those same fans who gathered around him, however, in the celebrations of Kobe Farewell Tour, one of the greatest tributes in the history of American sports.

For those who had the Kobe poster in the bedroom instead, Nike has decided to make special #MambaDay, officially established a few days ago when all Nike champions have begun to pay homage to the 24 Lakers. On Nike website you can access the Mamba Day Generators, to get a snapshot of this memorable day, adorned with black and gold. Since the beginning of his last match instead you can buy limited edition Kobe 11, customized with the 8 key statistics Kobe career.

It is now 8.24 (the two numbers that have marked the legend) in LA (17.24 in Italy) and it left less than 10 hours to last dance of Kobe Bryant, in a Staples Center to imagine moved to the limits of the bearable.

Then go, Kobe, makes us cry all for the last time, it's joy or pain. We learned to love hatred, to respect the opponent and to be stronger, just by looking you play. If you want to stop now, go ahead, let us love to hate you forever. A last, damn, time.