Kobe Bryant Discussion: Mamba Out!

I was at church when I got a facebook message from one of my students. I thought he was trollin. Went on Twitter and saw the Woj Tweets, my heart just dropped and I was numb for the next 2 hours. Did grocery shoping and went home and saw the news, I couldn't believe my eyes.

 

Tomorrow will be a celebration for Kobe the basketball player but more importantly, the person. Thank you Kobe

 

The world just hasn't been the same since last Jan. 26 ...

 

Rocked all over again.

 

I can’t watch any of this stuff today

 

The world hasn't been the same ever since Kobe's death.... RIP

I found a video collection of ESPN, ABC News and media talking about Kobe's death 1 year ago. It's a historical moment in sports history. In 10-20 years, people who didn't lived through Kobe's career won't truly realize how massive Kobe's tragic death was.

Here's the full list of the video collection within this torrent file.


- ABC News Kobe Bryant: - Death Of A Legend

- beIN Sports HD 11 English: Kobe's Farewell

- ESPN Hoop Streams: Remembering Kobe Bryant

- ESPN SportsCenter: Kobe Bryant Tribune

- TNT Inside The NBA: For Kobe Bryant

- NBA Extra France

- NBA The Jump (27th-31st January)

 

Kobe gave me some of the happiest memories of my life. I was in Staples for his 81-point game (just a random Raptors game I went to on the cheap), and up in the last row for Game 7. I also watched most of his big games with my best friends, crammed into our s****y apartments, on our crummy couches, drinking cheap beer. I enjoyed his whole career with the people I loved the most. I never thought it would all end with me sitting in a hotel room in Cincinnati on a random cold day in January, crying, and then waking up the next morning wishing it was all a bad dream.

I've thought a lot about why his passing meant so much to us, and to the world, beyond the obvious. For all the mantras we hear in professional sports (giving 110%, leaving it all out there on the court, giving your all, it only matters how many times you get back up... etc.), nobody, and I mean NOBODY lived those values more than Kobe. Nobody worked harder to get better every day, nobody gave as much to the game of basketball, nobody made it their mission to go to bed stronger than when they woke up like Kobe. He just kept on putting one foot in front of the other. It's why we were all genuinely excited to see what he was going to do with the rest of his life. We just KNEW it was going to be special because Kobe didn't stop working at anything until he MADE it special. That's who he was. And to have a soul like that taken away from us in an instant, with no rhyme or reason. . . it's a really difficult and stark reminder that, at bottom, this universe just does not care who you are, what you're doing, how great a father you are, or what you plan to do with your life. When your time comes, it comes.

For me at least, it was a really big wake-up call. If his passing teaches or reminds us of anything, it's that you just never know when the music is gonna stop playing, so you gotta make every day count. You have to make it special. You have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. You have to get better, wherever you can. Kobe may be gone from this Earth, but he left a legacy for all of us, the Mamba mentality. It's our job to carry it in our hearts wherever we go, whatever we do. I'm sure that's how he'd want us to honor him.

 

Not just the basketball world has changed since Kobe passed a year ago. The whole world changed. They say when Buddy Holly's plane went down was the Day the Music Died. Will never forget walking around SoCal and observing the day of the helicopter crash -- it was the Day the World Stood Still.

 

I should have stayed off the internet today. Didn't hit me until now hopping on social media and such. Damn.

 

If you have The Athletic, this is a good read about Where Were You When... . They interview a slew of people from fans to Luke, Kerr, Jim Hill, O'Shea, Sacre, Dyan Cannon, Tanter, Adande, and others. (I'd post it, but it's reeeaally long)
https://theathletic.com/2340370/202...anniversary-legacy?source=user-shared-article

 

Man, I don't know whether to thank everyone for posting or yell at you to stop. I feel like we lost him this morning and I am just having to deal with it for the first time. Not sure I will ever be able to think about everything and find true happiness. I keep telling myself that nothing is defined in death, that it is all about the living and what was given on all sides. That man had a great life and a great family. He didn't even know me and yet brought me so much happiness. There have been a lot of great Lakers in my lifetime but NONE of them had the competitive drive and intensity that Kobe did. This is what I will remember about him. Playing through the pain and the injuries, the mind over matter, in your face intensity. Nobody comes close him in that regard.

Mamba out!!

 

Oh my God.... Sekou Smith just passed away due to COVID. What the F.... One of my favorite journalists covering NBA