3 Things to Learn from Kobe Bryant, Roy Halladay’s Passing
By Matt Rappa
1. Appreciate greatness while we still can
It’s easy to forget just how good Halladay was in 2010 and 2011, when the Phillies had other All-Star caliber pitchers in the rotation, including Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
It’s not without question that Phillies fans loved Halladay and tuned in each time he took the mound, but at the time, did we really take into account of just how great he really was?
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On the all-time list, Halladay ranks 44th in career WAR for pitchers (65.4), 110th in wins (203), 19th in win-loss percentage (.659), 80th in bases on balls per nine innings pitched (1.938), 71st in strikeouts (2,117), among other feats. He truly was one of the game’s best that it has ever seen.
Likewise, we saw and appreciated Bryant for his accomplishments on and off the court. But, it’s important for us to look at his similar accolades: an 18-time All-Star, two-time NBA scoring champion, five-time NBA Finals champion, 15-time All-NBA nods, 12-time All-Defensive nods … and the list goes on.
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In commenting on him achieving success, Bryant said in a Showtime documentary, “When you make a choice and say, ‘Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,’ then you should not be surprised when you are that.”
Bryant continues, “It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that … when that moment comes, of course it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”
In retrospect, when Bryant and Halladay were at the pinnacle point of their careers, and even post-career, we could have and should have appreciated them more … not just for what they gave to us as sports fans, but as humans as a whole.