By Ivan Munoz
When you think about the NBA, you think about the most famous teams in the league as well as rivalries, but also the legends that made the game what it truly is today. We often think of these individuals as untouchable beings because of how extraordinary they may seem, but sometimes fate has other plans. On January 26th 2020, Kobe Bryant and his daughter, along with seven others, were killed in a helicopter crash just outside of Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant wasn't just any basketball player, he was an inspiration to many. He was known worldwide, not only for the game he brought to the basketball court, but for the positive messages he shared with his audience.
Growing up, Bryant was just a kid with a dream like many. He attended Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania and was one of the top highschool basketball players at the time. As soon as he graduated from his senior year at Lower Merion, he declared for the 1996 NBA Draft.
Bryant was drafted in the first round by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, but was soon traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He would go on to become one of the great young superstars of the league, and won the Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star game in 1997 during his first year in the association.
From that point on, the rest is history.
Kobe Bryant would end up becoming a five-time NBA Champion, a two-time Finals MVP, an 18-time NBA All-Star, a four-time NBA All-Star MVP, an 11-time All-NBA First Team, a two-time All-NBA Second Team, a two-time All-NBA Third Team, a nine-time All-NBA Defensive First Team, a three-time All-NBA Defensive Second Team, a two-time NBA Scoring Champion, won two Gold Medals for the United States Olympic National Team, and two NBA MVP awards, all while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
With many luxurious moments experienced during his NBA career, he faced many injuries that would eventually lead him to announce his retirement. On November 29th, 2015, Bryant shocked the world by announcing his retirement through a poem on the Players Tribune.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
His final NBA game would be on April 13th, 2016 in a match that the Los Angeles Lakers would host against the Utah Jazz in an NBA Primetime game. He would go on to score 60 points that night and had the sold out arena jumping after he connected with each of his shots. It truly was a remarkable end to his luxurious career.
On December 19th, 2017, during halftime of a game between the Lakers and Golden State Warriors, the entire Staples Center were on their feet for the Jersey Retirement of the top scorer in franchise history.
"Thank you so much for tonight. But it's not about my jerseys that are hanging up there for me, It's about the jerseys that were hanging up there before. Without them, I couldn't be here today. They inspired me to play the game at a higher level.”
Numbers 8 and 24 are now in the rafters where they always belonged.
His 20 NBA seasons were remarkable, for not only the NBA brand, but also for the young audiences all around the world who grew up idolizing the legend. After his retirement, he would go on to receive an Oscar award for the retirement poem he wrote and turned into an animated-short film, established the Mamba Sports Academy to inspire youth in sports, and continued to be a huge advocate for women's basketball. He’s paved the way for so many new rising stars in the league and will continue to leave a mark for future generations to come.
Rest in paradise Black Mamba, we’ll never forget your legacy.
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