Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

[ggsimmonds]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I saw the news on FB yesterday and assumed it was one of those fake celebrity deaths that get passed around so often but just to be sure checked espn.com and was heartbroken to see that it was true.

No other celebrity death has affected me as much, and the funny thing is that for quite a while I was a Kobe *****. Then I gained an appreciation for his determined to win mindset and just how authentic he was. Dropping over 80 points on Toronto helped also, can't really hate on that.

He became one of my favorite athletes because of his authenticity and unabashed love for his game.

RIP Kobe, you will be missed.

[jr86]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I never thought I’d shed tears over Kobe Bryant, yet here I am the day after, still shook up over this for reasons I can’t even understand.

I was never a Kobe fan and still I found myself crying off and on most of the day as if I lost a family member. Even this morning there was still a flood of emotion I had to try and hold back. I can’t explain it.

Why this one is different than any other death, I don’t know. Maybe it was the circumstances. Maybe it was the disbelief and the way it felt like the world stood still. Most of all maybe it was seeing the reactions of all the players and coaches and thinking of the effect this is going to have on everyone from them to the fans and most importantly to his family. It just hit differently.

Like I said, I was never a Kobe fan. Hate is a strong word, especially on a day like today, but I guess you could say I rooted strongly against him. On these very forums I used to try and slight his skill and success by saying things like, “he’s just copying Mike”. Well, do you realize how insanely skilled you have to be to “copy” Michael ****ing Jordan??

I also used to get into all of those debates about “who’s better? Kobe or MJ? Kobe or LeBron?” and now it really puts into perspective how little any of that really matters. How we don’t appreciate what we have until we lose it. And I hope that whatever good comes from something so tragic, part of it is that we appreciate not just the players, but our own lives and our own families. Because clearly we never know when it’s all going to end.

I remember reading a book in school about Kobe’s upbringing. How he struggled to make friends and be accepted for who he was. How his love of basketball helped him cope with that and be himself. No one loved the game more than he did, and it was clear even after his retirement. The way he took pride in teaching the game to Gianna and seeing the effect the game had on her. The way he so willingly passed his knowledge of the game on to other players.

As fans of basketball, I think that’s why this one hurts so much. Because love him or hate him, you couldn’t deny his love of the game. And if there’s a silver lining to find in all of this, maybe it’s that the kid who put so much love into the game of basketball, the game has and will continue to give back to him for years and years to come.

There’s so much more to say but at the same time it’s so hard to find the words to put it all together. I haven’t even touched on the fact his daughter and so many others were lost with him, which just adds to the difficulty, the confusion, the pain and the sadness. Even this is just a mess of thoughts, but it’s something I felt I needed to get off my chest. All of this coming from someone who was “never a Kobe fan”. Imagine that.

Great post.

On a side note. Really not liking what I am hearing in regards to the flight even taking place.
A pilot being replaced because he didn't want to risk it, the Heli getting special dispensation to fly even though the police had grounded theirs...I think we can draw our own conclusions from this but if true their are going to be some serious lawsuits from the other passengers families.
Really Hoping none of the above rings true and it is just pure speculation and the 'don't you know who I am card wasn't played.' otherwise things are going to get ugly real quick.

[VDusen04]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I'm still struggling.

I teach fifth grade. First thing this morning I had a student walk into class before the start of the day and ask me not to make him cry about Kobe today (by talking about it too sadly, I presume). Multiple students were quick to relay that they and their parents had all cried at the news yesterday.

I kept it positive, but I could tell a lot of us were still hurting. Acknowledged the sadness but focused on how much of a legend he is. One of my students mentioned the "Kobe!" trash can meme going around and we collectively agreed that shooting paper into the trash was fine today so long as there was a "Kobe!" attached to it.

During our downtime, I showed them a home video from the one time I was able to see Kobe play in person, in 2012 at the Palace. The Pistons weren't great at the time (they're not great now, but they weren't then either) so for once my brother, dad, and I were able to get some affordable lower bowl tickets only 10 or 12 rows up. The Lakers were down two with 10 seconds left and I kind of figured it'd be Kobe time. So I cued up the digital camera and waited for greatness.

(Volume warning)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvquH_fKPL8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've been to the Palace a fair bit over the years and never have I heard the home crowd respond the way they did for Kobe that night. You can even see the mass of purple, yellow, and other Lakers paraphernalia in the crowd. Dude just transcended team, city, region, country, and planet.

[Scofield]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

For some reason I just assumed he'd be with us forever, like Russell or Kareem. What can you say... the words are all used up...

He lived as a warrior and died a hero. And the great tragedy is that he was on the verge of building something even more extraordinary than his basketball legacy.

This will never be made good.

[Mintsa]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I can’t even play my game tonight......I’m not.

And I just play adult rec league. Couldn’t even imagine what players close to Kobe went thru yesterday and tonight.......

[jeremym480]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I only had the opportunity got to see Kobe play live once. It was a random mid-season game against the New Orleans Hornets in March of 2013 (the Kobe, Nash, Dwight, Artest team) so I'll forgive you if you don't remember but it really was an incredible performance to see live.

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_W9VKdH7TI



here's a video with better quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0yJVX74rC0



I've talked about this before but we were sitting four rows behind the Lakers bench and what y'all don't see is this video is some dude starting heckling him pretty hardcore towards the end of 2nd quarter... and from that point on Kobe just flipped a switch.

Here's the boxscore https://www.basketball-reference.com...303060NOH.html
Check out Kobe's stats by Quarter and particularly in the 2nd Half (where he played the entire half). Kobe put that team on his back though and the Mamba Mentality was in full effect.

I'm sure I took more pics at the game but I only have two I uploaded to Facebook. This was one and while it doesn't have Kobe in it, I think you can clearly see his impact by the Jersey's in front of me (four Kobe jersey, no other players)

[Jeffx]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

Jerry West said it all....."today was just a godawful day".

Haven't felt this sad about a celebrity passing since Prince, and when I first heard about Magic's HIV announcement (at the time, many thought it was a death sentence).

This f****** sucks.....RIP to all

[djep]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

Jerry West said it all....."today was just a godawful day".

Haven't felt this sad about a celebrity passing since Prince, and when I first heard about Magic's HIV announcement (at the time, many thought it was a death sentence).

This f****** sucks.....RIP to all

The Magic Johnson announcement left me feeling the same way but after a bit of reflection I knew he had a fighting chance to beat it b/c of his money and fame. Also, there was a silver lining to his announcement in that he would shine a spotlight on AIDS and HIV that no one could before. I'd like to think Magic was important in pushing our collective will towards finding a way to help people live with HIV and not just automatically die of AIDS. With Kobe, I am trying to find this silver lining and not seeing it

The only other celebrity death that rocked me like Kobe's would be the night John Lennon was shot. Someone who preached love and peace getting murdered feels a lot like a physically indomitable athlete losing his life so suddenly in a freak accident.

The NBA postponed the Lakers-Clippers game tomorrow night - very good move.

[3304Life]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I just broke down in tears thinking about something that got brought up a couple weeks ago in the forums when talking about the upcoming HOF class with Kobe, Timmy and KG all up for induction and there were jokes made about Kobe’s speech being the most ridiculous thing with him signing off saying ‘Mamba out’.

It hurts me so much even as somebody who never really appreciated Kobe the player that we’ll never see that speech. We’ll never get to see an ESPN or TNT panel with Kobe sitting alongside Shaq or a retired LeBron talking about old times and still somehow being so competitive that it makes for a great show.

I don’t have much more to say. This hurts, I never expected to go before Kobe because he’s almost 15 years older than me but I wasn’t prepared for it to happen so soon, how it happened, and the collateral damage.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

Still doesn’t feel real man. It’s crazy how the furthest thing from my mind when I woke up yesterday was Kobe Bryant and his daughter being gone from this world and then when I woke up this morning and turned on the tv I found myself thinking about how Kobe Bryant is really just gone like that. Makes you appreciate life so much more cause in the blink of an eye you can just be gone. Nobody is promised tomorrow. So live life, enjoy life. Enjoy your friends and loved ones cause you never know when the last time you see them will be THE last time you see them or THE last time they see you.

IMG_7997.JPG


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[daflyboys]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I think there's something to all this .... I have a hard time believing this is just a mere accident. Something's up.

[jb12780]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

Empire State Building purple and gold:




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[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

https://twitter.com/espndrunk/status/1221817091633876992?s=21

[Majingir]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

I passed by Scotiabank Arena today and it was so crazy to see the Kobe tribute on their big screen in Jurassic park.

And later on, I saw they had a little vigil outside too. A picture of him set up and people leaving flowers and everything.

[Majingir]

Re: Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, and several others die in helicopter crash

https://twitter.com/FanSided/status/1221583979553476608?s=19

https://twitter.com/Dave11W/status/1221532455443681281?s=19