Can James retirement tour be a god? Is it beyond Kobe s sentiment or the peak of traffic?

If Kobe's curtain call is a movie that touches the world, then James' retirement tour is likely to be a super live show that runs through global social media.

Don't be anxious to get overwhelmed, we have to admit one thing first: the NBA has changed. From Kobe's retirement to James' about to leave, it's not just a decade, but also an evolution and upgrading of the entire communication environment. As a digital blogger, I am more concerned about the mechanism behind these influences. From this perspective, James' retirement tour may really surpass Kobe in all respects.

First of all, the time point was chosen too well. The 2025-26 season is James' 23rd season. Wearing the No. 23 jersey is no longer a sentiment, but a sense of design, and it can even be said to be a carefully laid brand closed loop. This kind of retirement time with a sense of narrative was something Kobe didn't have at that time. In addition, James himself is also an IP operation expert, and this tour won at the starting line from the idea.

You can imagine that once James announces the start of the tour, every home court in the NBA will become a traffic scene. Cleveland, that is the starting point and the belonging; Miami, the memory of the era of the Big Three; Los Angeles, is the last legendary stage. Not to mention cities like the Warriors, Celtics, and Knicks that have their own traffic, the tickets for these competitions will not be several times, but at least it is a guaranteed hot search on one platform.

The year Kobe retired, every stadium paid tribute to him, but that was the last wave of the traditional media era. James faces a editing frenzy of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels. His warm-up move may be able to reach a global trend. Judging from the communication efficiency in the social media era, every game of his game is not only a farewell to the fans on site, but also a joint participation of global live broadcast audiences.

Do you still remember Kobe's 60 points in the curtain call for retirement?那是属于电视时代的经典收官。但如今，数据才是话语权。 James's dynamic can trigger a hot search for several hours, and an interaction can drive the number of discussions on topics of tens of millions. On the day he retired, the data dashboard of the entire platform must have become popular. This is not only a farewell for fans, but also a feast for digital platforms.

Of course, influence is not just about popularity. As the NBA's total scorer, James' status as a god in data has also added a lot of confidence to his retirement tour. And more importantly, his influence is no longer as simple as a player. He is an entrepreneur, a producer, and a spokesperson for the global business alliance. His retirement symbolizes not only "no one fights", but also the curtain call of a cross-age idol. This symbolic meaning is an external influence that Kobe did not have at that time.

However, it does not mean that James can definitely surpass Kobe's every influence. Kobe is too strong in terms of feelings. Black Mamba's mentality, injury persistence, and 81-point miracles are all symbols that can instantly ignite emotions. James is more rational and more planned, and he lacks the dramatic feeling of "hot-blooded counterattack". This also means that he may have fewer "tear points" during his retirement tour, but there will be many more "nodes". You may not cry because of one of his games, but you will definitely admire his entire tour layout.

From a communication perspective, Kobe's retirement is more like an emotional blockbuster, while James' curtain call is more like a top case of social matrix operation.一个是经典终章，一个是全景收官。 Which one do you think is more shocking? It depends on which dimension you stand on.

The more realistic question is: Are fans willing to pay for James' retirement? From the moment, the answer is yes. No matter whether you are Zhan Mi or Zhan Hei, you will not miss this tour. Because you know, this stop is really the last stop. And for many people, this is the moment when they officially graduate from their youth.

So I don't think this is a discussion of "Who is greater, James or Kobe?", this is actually a contest of influence forms of the two eras. At a time when information explosion and IP operations are highly mature, James' farewell is destined to be more structural, narrative and disseminated than any previous star.

I can even predict that this tour will eventually end with a home curtain call in Los Angeles. Tickets, hot searches, commemorative peripherals, digital collections, live interactions, AR tribute videos... All content forms you can think of will be launched together. This is not only the curtain call for James, but also a closed loop of content at the age level jointly completed by the NBA and digital communication.

Some people say that Kobe said goodbye with tears; while James ended with traffic. But I want to say that both of these methods are the best way to say goodbye to legendary stars.

If Kobe is the last hero to make fans cry on the spot, then James is the first king to leave the curtain on the global screen.

So the question is, in your heart, who will be more moved by retirement? At which stop do you prefer to see King James' final battle? Welcome to leave a message and tell us your answer.