Deemed by Rolling Stone to be the first poem ever to crash a website, Kobe Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” retirement ode spread like wildfire through social media, the sports world and academia virtually as soon as it was published on Nov. 29. Everyone — from professors to poets ;to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — seems to have had a strong reaction to it. Everyone, that is, except sworn enemy sworn friend ;who knows ;Shaquille O’Neal, who claims, at least, to have had no idea that Bryant announced the end of his career via free verse last week. ; When Seth Meyers told him about the ode on his show Monday night, O’Neal’s reaction was a mixture of (supposed) surprise and suppressed delight. ; His verbal responses were, in order…
Deemed by Rolling Stone to be the first poem ever to crash a website, Kobe Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” retirement ode spread like wildfire through social media, the sports world and academia virtually as soon as it was published on Nov. 29.
Everyone — from professors to poets ;to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — seems to have had a strong reaction to it. Everyone, that is, except sworn enemy sworn friend ;who knows ;Shaquille O’Neal, who claims, at least, to have had no idea that Bryant announced the end of his career via free verse last week. ;
When Seth Meyers told him about the ode on his show Monday night, O’Neal’s reaction was a mixture of (supposed) surprise and suppressed delight. ;
His verbal responses were, in order:
- No he didn’t.
- He did?
- Hold on, like, hold on, like, roses are red, violets are blue type thing?
- No way, no he didn’t.
- Seriously?
- A poem, seriously?
- You’re pulling my leg, stop it.
Considering both that Shaq knew Kobe had announced his retirement and that the poem was nearly everywhere in the past week and a half, O’Neal may very well have been aware of Kobe’s ode to the game. But this is Shaq and Kobe we’re talking about — and this wouldn’t be the first time that ;Shaq has ignored one of Kobe’s moves.
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Shaq Was The Only One Who Didn’t Hear About Kobe’s Retirement Poem
