“I want people to think of me as a talented overachiever, that I was blessed with talent, but I worked as if I had none.”
Kobe Bryant is dead. 24 hours later, those four words about the man who wore jersey number 24 still resemble something out of a twisted fake news headline. As we heard the devasting news yesterday that Kobe, along with his thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other passengers, were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on the way to his academy for his daughter’s basketball game, I refused to believe it.
Courtesy: Desktop Nexus
As sportswriter Bill Plaschke wrote yesterday for the Los Angeles Times: “Kobe Bryant is gone. I’m screaming right now, cursing into the sky, crying into my keyboard, and I don’t care who knows it.”
How could the man who soared high above the rim, who could hit shots from anywhere on earth, and could balletically dribble through Times Square during the morning rush-hour traffic with his eyes closed, be gone?
How could the person who won five NBA championships scored 81 points in a basketball game and 60 points in his final game be gone?
How could the person who was just seen sitting courtside at a Brooklyn Nets game with his daughter breaking down the sport’s nuances in his own unique and insightful manner be gone for good?
As I flipped through the channels, it became increasingly clear that the impact of Kobe’s tragic death was bigger than simply losing an iconic basketball player. ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, had continuous coverage of the incident, yet so too did every other news channel. CNN, ABC, NBC, and Fox all covered the story as their lead.
With an ongoing impeachment hearing of the President of the United States and an infectious virus that has already killed eighty-one people in China and appears to be spreading to the U.S., no story was bigger than Kobe Bryant.
All eight NBA games played yesterday had a moment of silence, and many teams began their first possession by dribbling out a 24-second violation to pay homage to their hero, who was greatly responsible for many of them picking up a basketball.
Joel Embid, the Sixers center, tweeted, “Man, I don’t even know where to start…I started playing ball because of KOBE after watching the 2010 finals. I had never watched the ball before that, and that final was the turning point of my life. I WANTED TO BE LIKE KOBE. I’m so FREAKING SAD right now!!!!”
Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets point guard and a close friend of Kobe, was in such disbelief he could not suit up to play against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, where Kobe once sent the arena into a frenzy after scoring 61 points. The exterior of the Garden was also illuminated in Lakers blue and gold to pay tribute to Kobe.
The last tweet that Kobe will ever send congratulated Lebron James, who just passed Kobe on Saturday, for third on the all-time scoring list: “Continuing to move the game forward. @KingJames. Much respect, my brother #33644.”
Video emerged of a weeping Lebron James hugging friends on the tarmac after the Lakers team plane arrived back in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. Recently retired NBA star Dwayne Wade paid tribute to Kobe in a heartfelt and tearful Instagram post in which he said, “It seems like a bad dream that you want to wake up from. It’s a nightmare. I know you’re all feeling the same way about such a great leader, a great champion, a great person.” And Michael Jordan said in a statement, “I am in shock over the tragic news of Kobe’s and Gianna’s passing. Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling. I loved Kobe; he was like a brother to me.”
Tributes were not limited to athletes. President Trump tweeted out: “Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life. He loved his family so much and had such a strong passion for the future. The loss of his beautiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even more devastating…Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the wonderful Bryant family. May God be with you all!”
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Former President Obama tweeted, “Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day.” And President Clinton tweeted: “I’m deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, & all who died in today’s accident. Kobe lived an extensive life in a short time. My prayers are with Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, Capri, and all those who lost loved ones today.”
The loss of Kobe seemed to reverberate everywhere. At the Australian Open, tennis player Nick Kyrgios wore Kobe’s jersey onto the court for his match against Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who was interviewed by tennis legend John McEnroe after defeating Kyrgios, said of Bryant, “It’s one of these days that you want to forget, but of course, Kobe Bryant will be in our hearts and our minds for the rest of our lives.” And at the Grammys last night, which ironically were held at the Staples Center, the site of some of Kobe’s greatest accomplishments, Alicia Keys honored Kobe with a heartfelt song.
After Kobe’s last basketball game, when he was asked by sportscaster Jim Gray how he wanted to be remembered, he said, “I want people to think of me as a talented overachiever, that I was blessed with talent, but I worked as if I had none.” Kobe inspired us to push ourselves to the limit and challenge ourselves to accomplish more than we ever thought capable.
Before I went to bed last night, I read a famous speech by Pericles, the Greek general who delivered a eulogy to memorialize soldiers killed in battle.
Perhaps I was still thinking about Kobe. Still, I thought Pericles’ words characterized his relentlessness pursuit of perfection, his assuredness, his win at all costs mentality, his unwavering confidence and self-belief in his preternatural abilities, and his fearlessness of taking the last shot at the most important moment.
Pericles wrote: “When it really appears great to your apprehensions, think again that this grandeur was acquired by brave and valiant men, by men who knew their duty, and in the moments of action were sensible of shame, who whenever their attempts were unsuccessful, thought it no dishonor for their country to stand in need of anything their valor could do for it, and so made it the most glorious present. Bestowing thus their lives on the public they have every one received praise that will never decay, a sepulcher that will always be most illustrious not that in which their bones lie moldering, but that in which their fame is preserved, to be on every occasion, when honor is the employ of either word or act, eternally remembered.”
We lost a basketball legend, an athlete, a leader, an innovator, an Oscar winner, a father, a husband, a motivator, and a storyteller. May God rest Kobe Bryant’s soul, along with his daughter Gianna and the rest of the seven victims of the fateful crash.
