By JEAN-PAUL AGUIRRE

If you follow professional sports, chances are you heard about two major events in the NBA, which unfolded Wednesday night: Kobe Bryant’s last game before he retires and the Golden State Warrior’s pursuit to 73 wins within an NBA regular season.

The major sports channels, such as ESPN, spent more than a fair amount of time on Kobe and the Warriors. It was the highlight of the week, holding greater importance than practically every other sporting event.

Kobe Bryant has spent 20 years in the NBA and has won five championships with the same team—the LA Lakers— two Olympic-gold medals and an MVP award; these are feats few have accomplished.

He is considered by many as an icon, an NBA Hall-of-Famer, and the best player in the league since Michael Jordan retired.

On the other hand, the Warriors made history by breaking one of Jordan’s records. They won 73 games in a regular season, setting an NBA record; the last team to hold that record was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls when they won 72 games with Jordan.

These two stories hold extreme weight in the sports world as the league has just lost one of its best players, while at the same time celebrating a historic accomplishment by one of its best teams. Thus, both are being covered non-stop by the news media in today’s news cycle.

I felt that the attention placed on the two stories was appropriate for their own reasons.

Kobe Bryant retiring can be made equivalent to when Jordan retired from the NBA in the 1990s. Generations have grown up watching him play and set standards for players just entering the league.

The Warriors are on pace to win the championship and become one of, if not the greatest team to have played the game.

We may never see two completely different stories occurring at the same time, carrying equal amounts of importance as these, ever again. That is why the media covered it so heavily and I feel they were justified in doing so.