GREENSBORO, N.C. — It still doesn’t seem real. It feels like some half-remembered dream. Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a tragic helicopter accident in southern California on Sunday. I do not think I will ever forget where I was when I heard the heartbreaking news.
I was stunned. For as long as I can remember, Kobe Bryant has been there. I am too young to have witnessed and appreciated MJ or Larry and Magic or Wilt and Bill. But Kobe was real to me. He was visceral. He was always there. He has been around so long I couldn’t even tell you the first time I saw him play, but he was one of the players who helped me fall in love with the game.
Part of what is so shocking is how invincible Kobe seemed. At the age of 41, he was in better shape than most anyone on the planet. He had fully embraced his second act, his role as a father and his role as a mentor to the next generation of stars. He chased dreams and achieved goals he never could have while he was laser-focused on becoming an NBA legend. He was far from a perfect man. But Kobe was as close to perfect on the court as they come.
I imagined a future in which my son would have asked me what it was like to watch NBA legend Kobe Bryant play. I would have told him how at 13 years old, I snuck out of my bedroom into a playroom, turned the TV on mute and watched him score 81 points against the Raptors. He wouldn’t believe me when I told him Kobe did not let a ruptured Achilles tendon stop him from walking back out on the court to shoot a pair of free throws in a meaningless regular-season game. He would marvel that in his very last game, Kobe Bryant would steal the spotlight once again and drop 60 points in an epic farewell.
That conversation can still happen, but I will always feel robbed of a true ending to Kobe’s legendary story. Kobe was bigger than basketball. How many times in your life have you tossed something into a trashcan while calling out his name? How many retired athletes have won an Oscar? How many people can make the world come to a standstill with the news of their death?
Moments like this serve as a shocking reminder at just how precious life is. How minuscule all our day-to-day problems seem. Kobe’s life inspired so many, his singular focus and insane work ethic served as a blueprint for others to reach their dreams. The devastation felt by his fellow athletes, coaches, Grammy-nominated musicians and regular people like us show us what athletes can be. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that they should just stick to sports or that their value is defined by what they accomplish on the court.
Kobe Bryant was bigger than the game of basketball.
Kobe Bryant was a global icon.
Kobe Bryant was a legend.
Kobe Bryant is gone but legends never die. They live on through us, in our stories, in our memories, and in our hearts.
Rest in power Kobe.
