Many happy returns baby!! It's been a blessing being with you. May all your dreams come true and you know I love you!

All it took was 4 minutes. First, a drive to the basket to stop Spain's run and stop Team USA's bleeding. Then it was a shot behind the arc followed by a drive and dish to Dwight Howard. Finally, to end Spain's hope of a miraculous upset, a 4-point play while also disqualifying red hot Fernandez with his fifth foul. Game over. He did exactly what they got him on the team to do.

Kobe Bryant did not need the entire Olympics to showcase his greatness. He needed 4 minutes. For the entire Games he took a backseat while letting youngsters LeBron and Wade show the rest of the world how the beautiful basketball can be. But when the game is on the line, all you need is a small dose of Kobe. Even with LeBron, Wade, Melo et al, you wouldn't want the ball in anybody else's hands but Kobe's when the game is on the line.

In the biggest game of the Olympics and possibly for the other 11 members of Tea USA, Kobe Bryant made it clear why there should be no dispute when it comes to the greatest player in the game today.

Being a Bryant (and subsequently a Lakers) fan even before he graced the league, I find it hard to believe or understand why there are so many haters out there.  I find it difficult to understand how do you hate a player who has almost perfected the game in every sense. When he first entered the league, I can understand how many perceive him as cocky, arrogant, overconfident, selfish. He is still all that, but over the years he has at least justified his reason for being all those things. However, the hating never stopped.

When he won 3 straight championships, there were haters.

When he scored 40 points in 9 straight games, there were haters.

When he broke the record with 11 threes in a game, there were haters

When he won MVP, there were even more haters.

But then again, Jesus had his haters too.

If you are a fan of the game itself and not the hype, maybe you can start to appreciate his god-given ability on court. If you play the game of basketball, you will start to realise how difficult it is to master the game the way Kobe has. Kobe has reached a level where he can strike fear into his defender even before the game is tipped off.

People even hated when he scored 81 points in a single game. ONE game. 81 points.

Try doing that in pickup games. No, try doing that by yourself without anyone defending you and see how difficult it is to reach 81.

What fans or haters don't get is that in 4 - 5 years, we may not see Kobe Bryant play basketball again. Haters have to even admit that watching Kobe play is like watching an artist in work. He makes the game look so easy. I wish I had the luxury of watching every game he plays because every time I do, I see things that I have never seen before or probably will ever again. And then I try to emulate it on the court and it gives me a further admiration of his basketball ability.

The NBA is fortunate that Kobe has inherited the status of Jordan. Unfortunately, what he has not inherited is the respect he deserves.

Like Jay Z, it gives Kobe even more reason to say "We'll see what happens when I no longer exist".