I was at a family gathering when an e-mail notification popped up on my phone saying that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.
My immediate thought was, “No, I read that wrong.”
I read the e-mail and thought, “No, I read that wrong.”
I opened up Twitter and saw a mish-mash of rumors and thought, “This is just a Twitter rumor blowing up.”
Unfortunately, the e-mail was not wrong. A 41-year-old Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California, along with five other people, including one of his four daughters, 13-year-old Gianna.
Whenever someone of significance dies, you always hear, “Spend time with your loved ones. You never know when it’s the last time you’ll see them.”
And that’s all true, but I think of that anyway.
Kobe Bryant was a tough S.O.B. I wasn’t his biggest fan, because I’m a Pistons guy. But there are lots of talented players who don’t come close to approaching what Bryant did on the court. And it’s because he was one of the hardest workers and most driven athletes we’ve seen. There are a lot of great players who play great, and yeah, I enjoy watching them. But I don’t find a lot of them to be inspirational. That’s not the case with Kobe Bryant, though. Reaching the top of the mountain never stopped him from searching for another mountain. He never stopped working to compete and get better, and I think we can all learn from that.
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I was about to leave the gym when my news alert went off. I dismissed it because “TMZ,” but within minutes I got a call from my youngest son, who texts all the time, but NEVER calls; he was shaken. While on the phone, I got another call from my brother (almost never calls), then texts from old associates, my nephews, GF, etc. I looked around the gym, and it seemed like all the lifting had stopped, and machines were slowing down – everyone was on their phone (moreso than normal)
This was a HUGE event. Sad, awful, tough to bear. Kobe’s impact on society was unfolding right in front of me. It’s not the most appropriate comparison, but I hadn’t seen the world stop, and people mourn together like this since 9/11
I feel for Kobe Bryant’s family. I don’t pray as much as I used to, but my thoughts & prayers are with his family. I won’t stop thinking about his kids, who lost their father and sister way too suddenly
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