Kobe Bryant had plenty of jokes at the ESPY Awards last night. In his acceptance for the 2016 Icon Award, he acknowledged other world class athletes Peyton Manning and Abby Wambach who were standing right next to him on stage. After the necessary “Kobe” chanting simmered down, Bryant began with some mocking insight on his lackluster final season.

After the jokes, Bryant started informing the audience about his vision on how he can influence the sports world. He urged that it was not only his talents that brought him on that stage. It was the excruciating hours of training, practice, and lifting that helped elevate his game to the legendary status it is today.

Now that he is recognized as an icon (if he wasn't already), he can use his retirement to build youth athletics into a much more conducive playground to achieve monumental success.

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We all anticipate what Kobe's next moves will be in the latter part of his life.

[button width=”full” button size=”bigger” color=”custom” align=”center” textcolor=”#ffffff” texthcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#8b0000″ link=”https://clutchpoints.com/kobe-bryant-didnt-want-fans-to-be-sad-as-he-played-his-final-game/”]NEXT: Kobe Bryant didn’t want fans to be sad as he played his final game[/button]