On a foggy morning on Sunday,January 26th a helicopter crashed in the hills of Calabasas, California. There were nine people who died when the helicopter crashed, notably former NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter, Gianna.
Kobe Bryant is without a doubt one of the most accomplished players in the history of the NBA. He has: won the2008 MVP, an 18 time all star, 15 all NBA teams, 12 all defensive teams, five time NBA champion, two time finals MVP and many more individual accomplishments. Kobe Bryant has almost every type of hardware an NBA player could ever want,but his legacy is so much more. Kobe isn’t just a great basketball player, he was a cultural icon.Kobe meant so much to my genera-tion growing up.
A generation of young basketball fans who were never able to watch Michael Jordan in his prime, but it did not matter because Kobe was our MJ. Kobe’s impact was so great that every time someone took a shot, whether it was on an actual hoop or just throwing a paperball into a garbage can, they would shout“Kobe”.
The impact Kobe had on basketball could be seen all over the NBA on Sunday and Monday. Players all across the Association were taking both 24 second and 8 second violations, the two numbers worn by Kobe Bryant as a player, to honor all that he meant to them.
Trae Young, of the Atlanta Hawks, was so affected by the news of Kobe’s passing that he was seen crying in his mother’s arms before the start of his game on Sun-day night. He decided after this to honor Kobe by wearing his famous number 8 instead of his usual 11.
Kobe Bryant’s impact could be seen in more places than just North America too. Kobe grew the game of basketball glob-ally, perhaps more than any other player inits history. Kobe was even named a global ambassador for the game in 2018.
Joel Embiid, a Cameroonian basketball player on the Philadelphia 76ers, even said that without Kobe he would have never been interested in playing basketball to begin with. No where in the world do we see a greater effect of Kobe’s impact than that of China. NBA viewership in the largest country in the world has more than doubled in viewership since 2006. It is not in small part an effect of Kobe Bryant’s excellence.
Kobe’s jersey and shoe are far and away the highest selling of not only any NBA player, but any sports personality worldwide. Kobe even has 9,779,954 fans on his personal Weibo account, a Chinese social media website.All in all the lasting impact of Kobe will be those who follow his “Mamba Mentality”, which Kobe described as constantly trying to be the best version of yourself. Kobe’s legacy will live on for those who follow this mindset.
Rest in peace: Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant, John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chest, Ara Zobayan and Christian Mauser.