Raven Moore
I have not played basketball for a team in seven years. I never had any aspirations of playing basketball professionally or grew up spending hours in the gym trying to perfect my shot, but I idolized Kobe Bean Bryant.
He was responsible for my love for the game and his famed “Mamba Mentality”, would guide me through the many ups and downs of my life. I could write this from a journalistic and unattached standpoint, but I cannot do that, Kobe Bryant meant too much to be to just be a headline, he was and will always be an icon.
Whether or not you were a Lakers’ fan like I am, no one can deny that Bryant was in a class of his own and was an inspiration as to why the league has grown into what it has become today.
If you take away the plethora of accolades he amassed in his illustrious 20-year NBA career, you would still have a player who worked harder than everybody else, was more determined than his counterparts and would never let the odds keep him from reaching the indescribable heights of his success.
When he did retire in 2016, he began ventures in investing, writing a children’s book and most notably becoming an Emmy winner after his short film "Dear Basketball" was released in 2017.
One thing that I will always remember from Bryant and that film is when he said, “You asked for my hustle, I gave you my heart.”
Now that his untimely death has forced me to look back the memories and remember all the things that made me love Kobe, but the biggest reason was that he always gave his all. He gave it all to his teammates, his craft and most importantly his family.
The Mamba maybe be out, but that does not mean that he is just meant to be forgotten.
When you have trash, shoot it into the trash can and say “Kobe!”, when you are playing basketball with your friends, go for the game winner, love those around you and strive for greatness. That is how you repay Kobe and that is how you keep the Mamba Mentality alive.
Reggie Reed
Kobe Bryant was a guy that embodied the power of toughness and competitiveness. I first saw Kobe live when I was 11 or 12 years old.
He came to Memphis and dropped a 44 piece on the Grizzlies head. Even though Memphis won that game by two, Kobe was unstoppable.
The basketball community lost a great guy/idol. Millions of people looked up to him and adored him for his many moments on the court including me. I still to this day get a piece of trash and shoot a fadeaway jumper yelling “KOBE!” just as I did when I was in grade school.
Kobe was a dawg. He was a fighter. He also was a leader.
Thank you for the memories that you gave to us basketball lovers. I hope one day I will past down to my future kids. With that being said, I just want to end this with my favorite quote by him.
“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”
18x-NBA All-Star. 5x NBA Champion. 2x NBA Finals MVP. 8. 24. You will be missed Black Mamba. You truly are the only Kobe Bryant. Rest in Peace.
Zach Thompson
Growing up as a fan of basketball, Kobe Bryant was synonymous with success in the sport. For years, it was Bryant who starred in primetime and hit big shot after big shot.
Some of my best memories surrounding the sport include his 81-point day against Toronto and the iconic finals matchups with Boston years later. He truly was one of the most polarizing figures of my generation and his work ethic and passion for his craft are examples that I believe anyone can look to for motivation and inspiration in their everyday lives.
It feels surreal knowing that someone the entire world spent so much time watching and idolizing is so suddenly gone.
His daughter Gianna was well on her way to WNBA stardom, and my heart hurts knowing that they were taken from this earth in such a tragic and shocking manner. The impact the mamba had is one that will withstand the test of time. Ball in peace Kobe and Gigi.
Jacob Rice
Whether you remember him because of his Mamba Mentality, his incredible talent, his record-breaking career with the Lakers or the odd amount of luck you got from shouting his name before throwing something, you remember him.
All throughout my youth there were discussions of the best player in the NBA at the time.
Kobe or LeBron?
I would always never understand why they were compared. Kobe was the best shooting guard in the league and shot the ball better than anyone I have ever seen.
I admired the cold blood in his veins, his mind was never out of focus. When I saw Matt Barnes try to psych him out and pretend to inbound the ball into Bryant's face. There was not the slightest indication of a flinch. I thought that was the highlight of the game in Orlando.
He was a self made man, never blamed a failure on someone else or pretended his life was not out of his own control. He was the better man in countless situations, and it is awful he could not have enjoyed his retirement longer.
Frank Ramirez
I grew up not watching basketball as a kid, but I learned in elementary school I had to shout “Kobe!” whenever I shot waste into the trashcan. Whenever an iconic figure in any industry dies, it hits more in certain groups of people, but with Kobe Byrant and his daughter Gianna passing, it shocked the world at a high level.
Seeing the reactions of many athletes across all sports, artists, fans, and everyone else, it just makes it hard to believe.
It is tough to realize I had a childhood of not knowing who Kobe Bryant was, but always cherished his game when I started watching NBA in high school. He grew to be my favorite player because not only of his game, but how he expanded the game outside the U.S.
He grew up in Italy when his father played basketball there, he learned Spanish and had great connections with famous European soccer clubs and at one point in his career in 2011, he had the highest selling jersey in China, surpassing Yao Ming.
It is amazing what sports can do for an individual. It is even more amazing seeing the individual give back to millions, perhaps billions of people in various ways because they played the game they loved. Kobe Bryant is perhaps the best example of that.
Josh Rivera
First of all, my prayers and thoughts are for all nine passengers' family and loved ones. It has almost felt like as if Kobe Bryant has spent his 41 years trying to just teach us a lesson. His lesson was to always drive hard for your life goals, because you only have so much time before it's gone and too late. We saw it through his basketball career by how hard he worked to get where we was.
I don't want to focus on his basketball career, however. His career speaks for itself, it's the impact he left behind across the globe that matters the most. He was the poster in many young people's bedrooms. He was among many of the reasons many of us picked up a basketball and fell in the love with the game.
He stands out from other global icons who have died young by not having a self-inflicted downfalls like Michael Jackson, Prince, or Elvis Presley. His best days were ahead of him and it was gone in an instant, just when his life was about to enter its prime.
In all of our minds, we considered icons like Kobe invincible, with decades worth of stories left to give us. He left one final message for us. Through his passing, I have learned that nobody is exempt from the inevitable appointment with death, not even those we sometimes consider as gods.
In those 41 short years, Kobe has made more of his life than many could fathom and that is what he would want us to do as well with our goals. To always pursue, never question yourself, and out-perform your potential. That's Mamba Mentality.
