Federico Buffa
OTTO INFINITO – Vita e morte di un Mamba

LA RECENSIONE

1990s. The National Basketball Association is experiencing its golden age. The Dream Team, in Barcelona, writes a page of history to be forever framed, and the Chicago Bulls rack up victories and collect rings, led by the man who has already been dubbed the “Goat” (and who will remain so for years to come), Michael Jeffrey Jordan, from North Carolina. Across the Atlantic, in Italy, people could glimpse the mythology of American basketball through the broadcast of a single game per week, narrated, with a delay, by the voice of Mr. Dan Peterson. This lasted until the advent of Pay TV and two channels with flashy colors but black and white names, which would change the way Italian audiences experienced the spectacle of star-spangled basketball.

Behind the microphones of Tele+ bianco and Tele+ nero, to talk about NBA basketball, two young men would arrive, nearly unknown to most: Flavio Tranquillo, already a well-regarded sports journalist, and Federico Buffa, freelance journalist known as “the lawyer” (“l’avvocato”), due to his Law degree from the University of Pavia, though he never actually practiced professionally.

By a strange twist of fate, in 1981 Tranquillo temporarily replaced Buffa (who was in the States) at Radio Press Panda, as a commentator for Olimpia Milano games, then joined him upon his return. The sliding doors would later invert their roles, until Buffa decided to go solo, realizing that his extraordinary talent for enriching commentaries with fascinating anecdotes could become an art form in itself. With the birth of Sky, he would be entrusted with columns and TV shows, during which he would recount, as few have been able to do in Italy, the feats of basketball champions at first, then footballers, and eventually broaden the scope to encompass the "queen of sports," athletics, as well as the many Olympic fairytales.

January 2020. A tragic helicopter crash leaves the world orphaned of Kobe Bryant and his second daughter Gianna. The news shocks everyone, not just diehard basketball fans. Six years later, Federico Buffa decides to properly celebrate an extraordinary player, one who kept the League’s name high long after those magical Nineties, bringing to the stage a mesmerizing show: “OTTO INFINITO. Vita e Morte di un Mamba”, produced by International Music and Arts, directed by Maria Elisabetta Marelli.

Over two hours immersed in the incredible tale of the life, thoughts, and accomplishments of the man unanimously named Michael Jordan’s successor, even by MJ himself, who was bonded to the Laker by an intense relationship of respect and friendship. An infinite eight, that number Kobe wore for years on his back, symbolizing a love and passion for the game that goes beyond the boundaries of time.

The story begins with his cradle in Philadelphia, then moves to his life in Italy, following his father Jo “Jellybean” Bryant, first in Rieti, then Reggio Calabria and Pistoia, finally ending up in Reggio Emilia. It continues with the birth of his inevitable love for basketball, his return home as a fish out of water, and his final—but not easy—landing at the court of the Los Angeles “Lakers,” inheriting Magic’s legacy, and ultimately becoming the worthy successor in purple and gold. A skinny, bald eighteen-year-old, with a name that evokes Japan, starting from the trophy won at the Slam Dunk Contest on a cold February day in Cleveland, would go on to conquer the world.

Buffa walks on stage dribbling, and closes the show with his arms wide open, looking to the sky. You get moved, you laugh, you reflect, and marvel at how much beauty can emerge from the storytelling of a professional so humble, yet so magnetic and charismatic. Here, everything is amplified even more by the figure at the heart of the tale. A child, then a young man and then a man who made mistakes, fell and got up again, dedicated body and soul to his dream, to the point of being reborn under the sign of the “Mamba Mentality,” teaching the world a new way to approach life and sports. Eight becomes Twenty-four, as a testament to maturity and new awareness. Twenty-four, like the number Kobe wore in high school. Like that “23,” raised by one to give continuity to the legend. Like the twenty-four hours a day devoted to training, playing, and achieving results that those who sleep will hardly obtain any time soon.

With Alessandro and his sons Sebastiano and Filippo Nidi, respectively on piano, percussion, and trombone, the atmosphere enters a dreamlike dimension. From the dream, we move to the struggle, all the while feeling as if we are walking the streets of an America profoundly different from today’s. Different not only in terms of its approach to sports, but above all in its dealings with reality and motivation.

This narrative has an end, but the person who animates it genuinely gives the impression it might never truly finish. Maybe that’s really the case. Fate was certainly rushed with Kobe Bryant, but not so much as to prevent the writing of such an intense story of humanity, life, and sport.

A story entrusted by fate, to our great fortune, to the care of one of the greatest storytellers of our time.

Truly, hats off, avvocato Buffa. Rating? Otto infinito. Of course.