Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

[arelg]

Amare Stoudemire In total shock - LIVE Reaction to Kobe Bryant's death during his debut in Europe

[Levenspiel]

I just checked ESPN for NBA scores, and this was the last thing I expected to see. What a shock for the entire bball world.

[Demetrios I. Soter]

[Serbian_Layup]

Many, many people around the globe are in tears and genuinely mourn for Kobe...I guess that's the evidence that the quality of human's life shouldn't be judged solely on its longevity. He must have given something good from his inner being to all people that care this much for him, not just as a famous athlete with outstanding achievements, but rather as a person who was an inspiration for many young people with various problems and bad circumstances in their lives that everything is possible if you dedicate yourself to something you truly believe, and it's not necessarily about sport, but in general. May God bless him by all those tears shed for him and all others that died yesterday.

[Wellbet]

I am lost for words......man I hope this is just a bad dream..

[maccabeo]

kobe

It could be banal dedicating him some words. everybody is doing it. to the man. to the champ. I m simply moved to write of the way he was so exteemed as man here in italy. as his father was on of greatest scorer ever in italian league (impressive player), grewing up as bball star, kobe showed his marvellous character here,
leaving many friends he always took care durig his whole life. not just a champ, then,but a great man, not forgetting of his sweet daughter and other people on that elicopter

[arelg]

Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans Pays Respect and Mourns Kobe Bryant’s Death During A Game ● "Kobe" Chants

[KeyserSoze]

Trying to find words
Only thing that comes to mind...
....
Dear basketball...

[DraxDomax]

Amare Stoudemire In total shock - LIVE Reaction to Kobe Bryant's death during his debut in Europe

The MC needs to be fired for playing stupid music in this hard time. Very distasteful. As an Israeli, I am ashamed of how badly mannered and ignorant we can get towards other people's feelings!

[Metec]

The MC needs to be fired for playing stupid music in this hard time. Very distasteful. As an Israeli, I am ashamed of how badly mannered and ignorant we can get towards other people's feelings!

Basketball is entertainment, 11000 people pay ticket price. The interview was during halftime. What do you expect? To put a weird silence or some depressing song for 11000 people because sports5 decided to interview Amare?

[CoachZ]

I find it hard to talk about basketball now, I am still fucked up about the whole thing. I will just drop a few lines about Kobe and what I personally remember.

I absolutely despised Michael Jordan when he was playing. He was for me an eternal enemy, guy that has everything going for him, a guy that you need to cheer against whenever he plays. I never wanted those Bulls teams to win. I did have a hell of a lot respect for him as a player, but something always rubbed me the wrong way. So, in the late nineties when I made it to the US as a high school exchange student, this kid out of Philly came out, started talking shit and saying he will be the greatest. Oh, he was so young, cocky and stupid. And he tried to mimic and copy everything Michael Jordan did, yet somehow I liked him. I can't explain it, the same shit I disliked about Mike, was what drew me to Kobe. The energy, the focus, the determination, the killer instinct and will to dominate and humiliate opponents.

Early 2000s were hard on me, seeing the Lakers win 3 rings in a row with him and Shaq, because I beleived that in a more fair word, without corrupt refereeing, the Kings teams from that era should've gotten at least a ring or two there. Yet, I was happy for Kobe. Summer of 2002, I was a senior in college and managed to save up some money for the season ticket for the Nuggets (I was living in Denver). The Nuggets sucked and won 20 something games, led by Juwan Howard, James Posey, Nene Hilario, Shammond Williams and the bunch. Truly a horror team to watch. To be honest I got the tickets for the experience more and to watch visiting teams that had my favorite players.

The first time I saw Kobe live was a few days after Christmas in 2002. I was flying home for the holidays on the 29th, the game was the day before. Lakers came in and Kobe dropped like 39 on 60% from the field and Shaq added 20 something. The Lakers had a total shit start to the season and were just getting warmed up. The Nuggets lost by 20 and I was in awe of Kobe who just controlled the game from the start to the end. I got a Lakers hat signed by Kobe after the game for my dad. The same season, in February of 2003, the Lakers and Nuggets played each other on back to back nights. The first one was played in LA, where Lakers destroyed the Nuggets by 30 or so, and Kobe dropped 42 again shooting 60% from the field. I was pissed, I was sure that the Lakers will come into Denver and just slack off and take it easy. Little did I know that Kobe is not made of that shit. He dropped on the second night in Denver 51pts, in 30 minutes or so, in a game where I think only Shaq was in double digits from the Lakers and the Lakers won by 10 or so. This is what this kid was. Tough, real grinder. Yes, a huge ego, selfish, not the best teammate and all that, but just pure heart and love for the game.

I watched Kobe play live another 5-6 times after that, and he was always the easiest guy to spot on the court. Constant yapping, always calling out opponents, telling teammates what to do, intense stares from the bench and getting people in line. He was a 60-year old grumpy dude in a body of a supreme athlete. The fact that he is gone, along with his daughter and 7 other people is just shit news. Life is very unfair and it is tough to see ironies like this. He bought the fucking helicopter to avoid LA traffic and get to the Staples Center and back quickly, so he can maximize the time he has with his family. Same applied when he retired, when he wanted to coach his daughter and give back to basketball. The same chopper that got him killed. True loss, especially seeing him how he adjusted to life after basketball, how happy he was and how he killed that Grinch that was inside him during his playing years.

[SaliH]

I have never been a fan of Him or the Lakers and for me He has always been one of the most overrated greats of the game (I don’t doubt his legendary work ethics and and impact on the game though) yet I still can’t believe he died in such a way. It just doesn’t seem right... like it’s just not real.

At first when I read the news I thought it’s some tasteless joke or dumb fake news but then page after a page started reporting it. The most I feel sad about his family, children and his wife (and those of all involved in the crash). I know what it is to lose someone important in your life so suddenly and I know how tragic and painful it is... It’s pure horror and pain that you get used to very slowly.

Let him and all who died Rest In Peace.

[Mindozas]

That's shocking. You know, when you are living your 4th decade, you are already got used to what death is, you lost some relatives, some friends, so since then every death of some celebrity, be it movie, music, sports star, it usually comes and goes, such momentary shocker and that's it, you forget about it in a day or few, but this one was different - it really hit harder and that's me - not a NBA fan, not Lakers one, not Kobe one. Simply cause Kobe was bigger than that. There are very few players who had such impact on the game like he did. RIP Kobe and the rest who were involved in this terrible accident

[Jazz]

I find it hard to talk about basketball now, I am still fucked up about the whole thing. I will just drop a few lines about Kobe and what I personally remember.

I absolutely despised Michael Jordan when he was playing. He was for me an eternal enemy, guy that has everything going for him, a guy that you need to cheer against whenever he plays. I never wanted those Bulls teams to win. I did have a hell of a lot respect for him as a player, but something always rubbed me the wrong way. So, in the late nineties when I made it to the US as a high school exchange student, this kid out of Philly came out, started talking shit and saying he will be the greatest. Oh, he was so young, cocky and stupid. And he tried to mimic and copy everything Michael Jordan did, yet somehow I liked him. I can't explain it, the same shit I disliked about Mike, was what drew me to Kobe. The energy, the focus, the determination, the killer instinct and will to dominate and humiliate opponents.

Early 2000s were hard on me, seeing the Lakers win 3 rings in a row with him and Shaq, because I beleived that in a more fair word, without corrupt refereeing, the Kings teams from that era should've gotten at least a ring or two there. Yet, I was happy for Kobe. Summer of 2002, I was a senior in college and managed to save up some money for the season ticket for the Nuggets (I was living in Denver). The Nuggets sucked and won 20 something games, led by Juwan Howard, James Posey, Nene Hilario, Shammond Williams and the bunch. Truly a horror team to watch. To be honest I got the tickets for the experience more and to watch visiting teams that had my favorite players.

The first time I saw Kobe live was a few days after Christmas in 2002. I was flying home for the holidays on the 29th, the game was the day before. Lakers came in and Kobe dropped like 39 on 60% from the field and Shaq added 20 something. The Lakers had a total shit start to the season and were just getting warmed up. The Nuggets lost by 20 and I was in awe of Kobe who just controlled the game from the start to the end. I got a Lakers hat signed by Kobe after the game for my dad. The same season, in February of 2003, the Lakers and Nuggets played each other on back to back nights. The first one was played in LA, where Lakers destroyed the Nuggets by 30 or so, and Kobe dropped 42 again shooting 60% from the field. I was pissed, I was sure that the Lakers will come into Denver and just slack off and take it easy. Little did I know that Kobe is not made of that shit. He dropped on the second night in Denver 51pts, in 30 minutes or so, in a game where I think only Shaq was in double digits from the Lakers and the Lakers won by 10 or so. This is what this kid was. Tough, real grinder. Yes, a huge ego, selfish, not the best teammate and all that, but just pure heart and love for the game.

I watched Kobe play live another 5-6 times after that, and he was always the easiest guy to spot on the court. Constant yapping, always calling out opponents, telling teammates what to do, intense stares from the bench and getting people in line. He was a 60-year old grumpy dude in a body of a supreme athlete. The fact that he is gone, along with his daughter and 7 other people is just shit news. Life is very unfair and it is tough to see ironies like this. He bought the fucking helicopter to avoid LA traffic and get to the Staples Center and back quickly, so he can maximize the time he has with his family. Same applied when he retired, when he wanted to coach his daughter and give back to basketball. The same chopper that got him killed. True loss, especially seeing him how he adjusted to life after basketball, how happy he was and how he killed that Grinch that was inside him during his playing years.

Amazing post Coach. Thanks for sharing those fantastic memories of Kobe with us.
It's still surreal trying to process such an awful tragedy.

[Alvertis4]

Complete shock when I heard the news of this tragedy. It will be almost impossible for all the families involved to cope with their losses. Such a shame.

As for Kobe, always rated him but never genuinely liked him until the 2010s. Maybe he had softened up a bit after beating Shaq's championships, maybe it was just me seeing how much better basketball was with guys like Kobe than the modern generation of superstars, maybe it was father time just like with Michael Jordan who I despised as a player forced me to respect him to the absolute level after a certain point.

But Kobe was more than just a great basketball player. What separates him in the superstar category is his character and personality. Just like Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller and several other guys that we see much more of these days due to television, you know and can feel that he was a real person. There's a complete contrast with several others who feel like a very forced image of something else because they lack this ingenuity. Kobe would have been immortal in the game of basketball either way, but his death has shaken the grounds of the sport. We don't see people with such drive and desire anymore in the NBA. From what I gather from Kobe, he probably would want kids to pick up this mentality and bring it to the game as a token of homage more than anything.

He's going to join the team of Pete Maravich, Drazen Petrovic, Reggie Lewis and Len Bias now.