The NBA legend Kobe Bryant died on
Sunday, January 26, 2020 when a helicopter he was riding in crashed and burst
into flames in thick fog, killing all nine people on board including his
teenage daughter and plunging the sports world into mourning.
Bryant, 41, was travelling with his
13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when their
Sikorsky S-76 helicopter slammed into a rugged hillside in Calabasas, west of
Los Angeles. He was on his way to the academy to coach his daughter and other
children. The academy was hosting the Mamba Cup Tournament Series, a series of
tournaments for boys and girls basketball teams from the third through eighth
grades.
Kobe brought excitement and joy to
basketball fans not just in Los Angeles, but all over the U.S. and around the
world. He was drafted to the N.B.A. directly out of high school in 1996. Bryant
was named an All-Star in 18 of his 20 seasons for the Lakers and helped lead
the team to five championships. His hyper-competitive nature led to occasional
public disagreements with coaches and other players, but his commitment to
winning was never questioned.
The winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable
Player Award for the 2007-8 season, and the N.B.A. finals M.V.P. in both 2009
and 2010, Bryant showed a rare commitment to success on both ends of the court,
with a résumé that included two scoring titles — and an 81-point game in 2006
that is the second-highest single-game total in N.B.A. history. He also thrived
on the international stage, where he won gold medals for U.S.A. Basketball in
the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He will surely be remembered as the most for
inspiring basketball player around the world who always competed to the very
best of his ability. He showed us what is possible when remarkable talent
blends with an absolute devotion to winning!
Kobe and another legend, Shaquille
O’Neal arrived together in Los Angeles in 1996, proceeded to build a new Lakers
dynasty, and then had their extremely public rivalry that resulted in O’Neal
being traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. They were an inspiration both on and
off the basketball courts and helped so many children to get engaged with the
beautiful game and stay away from drugs and trouble.
Kobe's iconic stature made him the brand
ambassador of Nike, with which he remained associated for nearly his entire
career. The company, which signed him to a $40 million contract in 2003 has
lost perhaps the most shining knight of this era whose talent and smile were
his most precious armour. Bryant wore the first in his initial line of
signature shoes during the 2005-2006 N.B.A. season, including the game in which
he scored 81 points in January 2006. In 2011, the company supported his
introduction of the nickname The Black Mamba, releasing a commercial in which
he was pitched an idea for an action film by the director Robert Rodriguez. And
when Bryant was set to retire, the company christened April 13 “Mamba Day.”
On his retirement Kobe wrote a beautiful
poem “Dear Basketball” in which he said:
“My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say
goodbye,”
This poem was the basis for the short
film which in 2018 won an Academy Award! He also created the web series
“Detail” for ESPN in which he analyzed current players. After retirement he
became something of a champion for women’s sports and the loss of his beautiful
daughter, Gianna, who had a bright future in basketball, makes this moment even
more devastating.
He was one of the greatest athletes of
his generation and had an immeasurable impact on the world of sport and the
community of basketball. Not just Los Angeles or the U.S but the entire world
has lost an icon of excellence and a source of inspiration!
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