On January 26, 2020, basketball and sports fans in general around the world were treated with a shocker, instead of just with the usual bet365 boonuskood. The news heard around the world was that Kobe Bryant accompanied by his daughter Gianna were involved in a helicopter accident alongside seven more people.
The statement that followed was unbelievable – Kobe Bryant died!
Most of the people who heard the news did not believe it. Twitter and the entire social media was buzzing with words – I don’t believe this! Is this a stunt? This news is fake! It is absolutely not true!
But then, the morning after when we woke up with a clear head we all had to accept the truth. Kobe Bryant has left us and went away to play a basketball game in the sky…
Kobe’s Career
Kobe Bryant was drafted immediately after graduating high-school as the 13th pick overall by Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was immediately traded to the LA Lakers where he spent the rest of his career.
Kobe spent 20 years in the league and during that time won five titles with the Lakers. He was selected to the NBA All-Star game 18 times and was a member of the All-NBA Team 15 times. He may have been known for his exceptional offense, but Brant was also a part of the All-NBA Defense team 12 times.
He was named the regular-season MVP in 2008 and has two NBA Finals MVP titles to his name.
Unfortunately, the latter part of his career was hampered with injuries, forcing him to eventually retire at the age of 38.
Off The Court
What most fans forget was that Kobe Bryant was a family man. Sure there were sexual allegation charges at one point of his career but what Kobe provides was that he could be an exceptional father.
He was married to Vanessa Laine Bryant and the two of them had five daughters: Gianna, Natalia, Bianka, Capri, and Natalie.
Unfortunately, his 13-year old daughter Gianna was in the same helicopter with Kobe that faithful day. Kobe was an immense supporter of the women’s basketball league and wanted to instill his hard-work ethic and mentality on his daughters. Gianna was most certainly a promising talent and was the one who was supposed to continue the Mamba legacy that Kobe instilled in her.
Not Just a Basketball Player
After finishing his career and hanging things up, Kobe pursued other ventures in his life. He was highly successful and was a devoted philanthropist. Helping underprivileged children and supporting various in order to bring a lot of good to people and especially children in the world.
At the time of his death, Bryant was actually working on a children’s book with none other than Paulo Coelho. However, Paulo decided not to continue on with the project as it didn’t make sense to pursue it without Kobe.
Kobe’s contribution to young talents and basketball also came in the form of a film. He was the first African-American to win an Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film, titled Dear Basketball.
