Kobe Bryant Discussion: Mamba Out!

Interview with Jack

https://cbsloc.al/2t3FJSS

 

So far only Dwight (i think) came up with a few words. It tells you how much it HIT everyone in the Lakers family. From the FO, to coaches, training staff, players. There will never be anyone close to him. Kobe's last tweet, Dwight's and Bron's last interview got me sobbing, incredible stuff, who would have thought...
People say we'll miss his HOF speach, i think we got one, "Dear Basketball".
I love You Kobe, you REALLY got me thru some rough stretches in my life. I miss you brother.

 

I hope someone is checking on T-mac too. I haven't heard from him. I know he's sick to his stomach.

He and Kobe were the closest out of all the players in their generation.

 

He was just on the Jump. He's very upset. It was a good interview.

 

Yeah that T-Mac interview was tough. He told an eerie story of how a young Kobe would say he wanted to die young. He wanted to play ball and be better than MJ, then die young to be immortalized. Obviously that changes over time with family, but it's just such a Kobe thing to say. That was painful to watch, but you could see the love T-Mac has for KB.

 

ill need to listen to this later. hate being at work right now

 

So on my next-door.com site in that thread this person started in a classy enough way, he's also one of these types always with the last word and putting his unsolicited two cents in to the point of being a pain in the *** to see him post as often as he does. I typically just lurk. Anyway a couple posts higher in the thread he had alluded to maybe they shouldn't have been up in that weather as helicopters are much more dangerous. Yeah OK. Enough now let's not speculate. Right? And then this morning he kind of goes there again and gets politely and calmly called out by RW below and asked not to speculate. To which the OP replies (it actually is OK). After which it became one of those "It's a small world" moments. This guy is a neighbor somewhere close by. And he posted a small photo of the pilot and then wrote this below.



RW




"This is Ara Zobayan, Kobe Bryant's personal pilot. Ara came to the United States from Lebanon many years ago to become a helicopter pilot. He and I trained together at the same flight school. Although I was a little too old to become a commercial pilot, Ara went on to get his commercial license and then became a flight instructor himself. He accumulated a huge number of flight hours, mentored scores of students and, for a few years, he was the chief pilot for Island Express Helicopters, the company that provides helicopter transportation to and from Catalina Island as well as to all the offshore oil rigs. Ara was as competent as a pilot can be and he was also IFR certified to fly in low visibility conditions. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word and loved by everyone. All of us who knew him are devastated that he has lost his life in this way, along with the lives of eight other good people, and we're sending love to all their families."



Here's now a link about this additional information coming out.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...f8fb1c-4127-11ea-b503-2b077c436617_story.html


^^^ In the account above it's mentioned if you look for it .....the (helicopter) coming down at a high rate of speed. There was also yesterday at least one person interviewed we heard say he heard a sputtering and failing engine.

But some other speculation now which would maybe point at the pilot's judgement is being too low and trying to climb steeply at the last moments and "hitting" the side of the grassy slope where they crashed. Which doesn't make sense per the paragraph above.

 

Hearing these reflections, memories and responses of grief has been a balm for my own all too tender feelings of sorrow.

Like so many here I woke up this morning, and my first thoughts were Kobe is dead. I too thought in the blurry haze of waking was this a dream, and grasped for some illogical path to make solid fact into a vaporous fantasy. But i knew it was true. Damn. It hit me so hard. My first visual confirmation was seeing the smoldering wreckage on the hillside and I think that was the harrowing part.

I just realized that for me Kobe is synonymous with basketball. There is never a time when I am practicing basketball I don't think about a Kobe move, or a Kobe game. When I miss a free throw I think of the two free throws he shot made with an Achilles hanging off his sinews like a broken guitar string. When I face an opponent I think of how Kobe's move to the basket was a symphony of experience, spacing, footwork, of tendencies of the player broken down from hours of watched footage, of an in game reading of how the game is going using his brain and heart. His technique was like that well honed dagger that always swung for the heart of the opposition. I cannot post in the game thread without thinking how Kobe would have approached things, and Kobe applies to a lot of other sports and situations in life.

And what is sad is that if Kobe had never done anything else for basketball, I saw how happy his daughters were with him, I saw how much he was trying to be the father who could give more time to his family after so much sacrifice for the game for his fans and for the Lakers and of course for his career. I was looking forward to his daughter playing in the WNBA and another Bryant dominating in basketball with Kobe hugging his daughter when she won a championship. I regret the fact I can't hear him take his place in the pantheon of basketball greats, give his speech, and I regret the fact that when Vanessa is there for the Kobe statue there will be two important people missing from her side. I remember for all the poisonous talk of Kome how he was willing to help those who worked on the court, how he stood buy team mates and said these are the cards I am dealt I will find a way to win.

Love you Kobe. Thank you for not giving us the answer, but giving us the knowledge that we can find the answer within ourselves to work, to learn and to strive for that excellence that is within us all.

 

t-mac was the closest thing to kobe in that generation

hurts watching that

 

It's crazy... he and Shareef were just talking yesterday morning.

 

I still can't believe this. I want to keep my thoughts in one post. Before I wrote the above on this page I wrote the following and I just want to share because I think this whole thread is a bit of therapy....


People wonder why I spend my life trying to find the joy in it. People wonder why I rather sit and talk with a person for an hour about their life than sell my book to them. People wonder why I stop and take the same pictures, the same videos from the same places over and over and over and over again. People wonder.....

I do this because life is too short to spend hating yourself. Life is too short not living the best life you can. Life is too short to not want to see the smiles of others peoples faces, to laugh with other people and to love endlessly. I am not one to be shook by random deaths as I, like many of us, know life is short and precious. Today is a little different as one of the most polarizing athletes I have ever watched died in a helicopter crash with eight other people including his 13 year old daughter, her teammate, the teammates mother. Let me share a thought.

I don't feel sorry for Kobe because I think the man lived his life fully. I feel for his family because they lost him. I don't feel sad for the man because one way or another we all have to go. I feel for the many people who have yet to be inspired by a man who I watched give his everything to his chosen craft and then some. I feel for the many who will never really understand the magic behind someone who lives their dreams, passions and gives to others with everything he has to give. Some hated the man for his arrogance, his "ball-hog" mentality, his unwavering drive and expectations (sometimes unrealistic) in others. Some hated him for "snitching" on Shaq during his rape investigation. Some hated him for running Shaq out of LA (even though he didn't). Some hated him because he dared to believe he was better than MJ. And, many loved him for the same reasons.

For me, as a fan he was the greatest of the Lakers. We can discuss it at nausea but the fact it's arguable is enough. As a fan of basketball he was the greatest to play the game with the tools he had at his disposal. He worked harder than anyone, he believed as much as anyone and he left it all on the court. I am grateful to have watched so many greats wear the Purple and Gold but I am more grateful to have seen Kobe Bryant play the game of basketball year in and year out. The sports world took a hit today. The whole world took a bigger one. Thank you for inspiring so many Kobe. As you said at the end of your last game, one last time, "Mamba Out!"

 

RIP Kobe, Gianna and everyone else aboard.

There are some links out there with the flight paths and profiles. Another one with the conversation between the pilot and the control towers in Burbank and Van Nuys. Some commentary from another pilot regarding flight conditions. That's all searchable. Have at it.

This happened maybe eight miles from my house. I remember thinking the overcast was a bit low, but did not realize it was lower yet in the Santa Monica Mountains to the south of me. Weird part is Saturday morning was fine, this morning was fine, but yesterday morning was not. Go figure.

Now I am an old, old fart, my rooting interest in the Lakers dates back to the pre-Wilt days when it was just Baylor, West and a bunch of mostly forgotten others. Sort of like the 60's version of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Those were not bad teams by the way: they made it to the Finals five times before Wilt was traded to them. The Lakers would go to four more Finals before Wilt retired. Baylor was long gone and West soon followed Wilt out the door.

Now this is me putting it in my perspective: my dear dad died last June. That one hit me way harder than Kobe. Because that was deeply personal and I still miss him. I never worshipped Kobe, I haven't worshipped a player since Baylor and West, in fact. Don't slam on me, everyone has family they're close to, how hard would that hit you if they went.

That said, yes I was shocked when I first learned of it and I felt sad at we were losing. More shock when it came out that Gianna was with him. I will mourn him along with everyone else. But life goes on. Like it is doing now that dear dad is gone.

Kobe was a complex person. But there are three positive things everyone can take from his life:
1. He put in the work. Set the example. You been seeing Lebron work his a** off to stay fit all these years? That is primarily Kobe's influence. Playing with Kobe at the Olympics was probably the single best thing Lebron ever did for his own career. Most of the time, no achievement is possible without working at it. A worthy example for the young.
2. It is possible to turn one's life around from a very low point (Colorado in Kobe's case).
3. Kobe was a cradle Catholic, he returned to the faith following Colorado and he was raising his daughters that way. As a fellow Catholic, we really need more examples like him.

Once again, RIP Kobe, Gianna and the others on that helicopter. Life is short, keep your loved ones close.

 

Shams with more context:

 

I hope I can stomach coming back to read this thread someday. I can’t do it right now because it can’t be true. Not sure I can handle it tbh

Has another individual been responsible for more happy moments in my life? More anticipation? More highlight reel memories? (And is this even good?)

I never revolved my schedule around TV shows or programs, but if you dared to miss a Laker game across his 20 years, you risked missing a few jaw dropping, heart stopping, and fist pumping moments that would never be replaced. You HAD to see it live.

we watched him grow up, make mistakes, mature, and become a champion on and off the court.

this makes me understand the grief of tearing your clothes, and covering yourself in sackcloth and ashes and mourning like days of old

people who get the most out of their ability in life like Kobe did seem to deserve to live the longest, not get cut short in their prime

this is a deep sadness beyond being a fan

I knew my passion as a fan could never be the same as when I watched Kobe. I longed for one of our young drafted talents to be the “next Kobe”, and probably got too attached to them, but then we shipped them all out. We hired mercenaries who I don’t know or care about, and quite honestly feel indifferent about. There is little passion. There are few moments of excitement. I don’t change my schedule. Meh.

the flickering flame of my fandom is in danger of having been snuffed out forever

there will never be another Kobe Bean Bryant

 

"A legend works during the day and comes at your home when the light goes off , in the children dreams and in the sleepless nights of the older"

Translated from a French journalist ( games are during the nights here in France)

I thought it was beautiful

 

Dude, I don't even know if I can stomach basketball for at least another week, let alone a few days.