One year ago today, on January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant and 8 others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, tragically died in a helicopter crash.
Today, for many people, is just another Tuesday. However, for basketball fans across America and the world, it is a reminder of one of the most surprising and devastating days in recent memory.
The accident shocked the sports world and saddened millions who remembered the Lakers legend.
Today, 1 year removed from the horrible tragedy, we look back with fond melancholy on the incredible man that was, Kobe Bryant.
As Lakers forward Lebron James told ABC, “There’s a lot of things that die in this world, but legends never die, and he’s exactly that.”
On the court, Kobe was nothing short of spectacular. In his 20 years in the NBA, all spent in a Lakers uniform, he was an All-Star 18 times. He made an All-NBA team 15 times, including an incredible 11 First Team selections.
Kobe brought Los Angeles 5 championships, including their first in 12 years. He won countless other honors, including 12 All-NBA Defensive Team selections, two scoring titles, and league MVP in 2008.
Even among the countless superstars that have worn a Lakers jersey throughout the franchise’s storied history, Kobe stands alone.
As Magic Johnson once said, “He’s the greatest of them all.”
He holds an astounding 17 franchise records, including most points, steals, and minutes to name just a few.
To say Kobe impacted many different people in many different ways would be an understatement of criminal proportions.
The late, great Kobe himself said that “The most important thing in life is how your career moves and touches those around you and how it carries forward to the next generation, I realized that’s what makes true greatness.”
As jaw-dropping as his accomplishments in a Lakers Jersey were, they were only a small part of what made Kobe an iconic figure.
More than anything, Kobe served as an inspiration to others. On April 12th, 2013, he delivered a performance that will undoubtedly be remembered and talked about forever.
With 3:08 left in the game, Kobe stepped to the free-throw line, his team down 107-109 to the Golden State Warriors, his teeth gritted through the pain, his left Achilles completely torn. In true Kobe fashion, he coolly knocked down both free throws, tying the game, before limping off the court for the last time that season.
Though clearly a basketball-related moment, it was times like this that showed Kobe’s determination and never-give-up attitude, an attitude that endeared him to many and earned the name ‘Mamba Mentality.
Kobe himself explained the meaning behind the Mentality.
“The Mamba Mentality simply means trying to be the best version of yourself, it means every day, you’re trying to become better.”
For Kobe, that applied to all aspects of his life.
The commitment to better his community and the world around him was unmatched. He founded After-School All-Stars, the Kobe Bryant China Fund, the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, and was a founding donor for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was also an avid supporter of women’s basketball and the WNBA.
Not only that, but Kobe also inspired others as a proud and loving husband and father. ESPN’s Elle Duncan, reflecting on the tragedy, and Kobe’s effect on her life, said that “I suppose that the only small source of comfort for me is knowing that he died doing what he loved the most, being a dad, being a girl dad.”
Kobe’s second-oldest daughter, Gianna, died in the crash alongside her father. The pair is survived by Natalia, Bianka, and Capri, as well as Kobe’s wife, Vanessa.
They had been on the way to Gianna’s basketball tournament at Kobe’s Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California. She was well on her way to becoming an incredible basketball player in her own right, as well as an inspiration to other young girls.
As Kobe told Elle Duncan, “That middle one [Gianna], he said, that middle one was a beast, she’s better than I was at her age, she’s got it.”
The way that Kobe threw himself, full force, into everything that he did only grew his legend. There was absolutely no quit in him and, for those idolizing the Lakers superstar, there is no quit in us.
Howard Beck put it perfectly in an essay for Bleacher Report, “It’s the way he made us feel […] like no dreams were out of reach, like nothing was impossible. […] He made us believe that we too could be the greatest, we just had to put in the work, like Kobe. We just had to dream big, like Kobe. We just had to keep going, like Kobe.”
On a day that will be remembered forever, I would like to leave you with a quote that embodied Kobe’s life better than any other, a quote from Kobe himself, “Have a good time, enjoy life. Life is too short to get bogged down or be discouraged. You have to keep moving, you have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile, and just keep on rolling.”
