"It's a trip to even be doing this right now," Lamar admits in the video's opening seconds, as he wraps his head around the fact that one of his favorites will soon be hanging up his jersey.

The video, titled "Fade to Black," was written by Scoop Jackson and performed by Lamar. "What can we say/ Day by day/ Season by season/ 20 to be exact," Lamar says with a rhythmic sensibility to his speech, as if he were delivering slam poetry, while footage of Bryant owning the court plays. "So I ask, how do empires last when there's no longer an emperor?" Lamar questions.