My Thoughts About Kobe Bryant

By: Brandon Carr

Yesterday, the world lost a legend. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna and 7 others were involved in a helicopter crash that killed everyone on board. The NBA community and many others were in a state of disbelief and are in grief for this tragic event. I wanted to give my thoughts about Kobe Bryant.

When I was first starting to get into sports, I remember watching my first Celtics game. They happened to be playing against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals. It was game 3 in the series and the game was played in Staples Center. I remember watching the game and I was wondering, who in the world is this number 24 for the Lakers? It seemed like he was scoring all of the points for the Lakers. His name was Kobe Bryant. He and his Lakers ended up winning that game 87-81 to make the series 2-1 Celtics. Kobe dropped 36 points that game. From there is where I became a fan of basketball.

Kobe was one of those guys who I continued to follow throughout the years. He was someone who whenever the Celtics played against the Lakers, I was afraid of Kobe single-handedly winning the game for the Lakers. He was that good of a basketball player. I remember when I first started watching YouTube, I would watch sports highlights. Kobe was one of the first athletes I looked searched. When I searched his name, I saw a video that was titled, “Watch All of Kobe’s 81 points in 3 minutes.” I could not believe what I saw. I was in total disbelief. This was the game where Kobe dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. I didn’t think that scoring that many points was possible. From there, I watched more of his highlights and saw how great Kobe was as a basketball player.

I will never forget what Kobe did the last game of his NBA career. The game itself was a spectacle to watch, with how they honored him in that game and with all of the people that showed up for that game, it truly was a special moment. Kobe decided to go out that game the way only Kobe would. Kobe dropped 60 points that game and won the game for the Lakers against the Utah Jazz. After the game when Kobe finished giving his speech, he ended the speech with one of the most infamous quotes in sports history, “mamba out.” Kobe would kiss the microphone and dropped the mic. A moment that would never be forgotten in the sports world.

Kobe was one of those guys who I always had a great deal of respect for. I hated when the Celtics would play him, but he was someone who got me into the game of basketball. I loved watching Kobe play the game of basketball. I was always so fond of how he inspired so many kids and other athletes to work hard. Mamba mentality is something that resonates with so many athletes because of that endless pursuit to perfect your sport. Even with anyone shoots a basketball or they roll up a piece of paper and shoot it into a trash can, everyone always says, “Kobe” before they shoot it. That is how much of an impact Kobe has made in our lives.

It still hasn’t set in for me yet that Kobe Bryant is no longer with us and he died in such a tragic and sudden accident. A message that I would give to those who are reading this, is to really be grateful for what you have in your life. Tell your family and friends that you love them and always give your support to others. You really never know when something like this could happen to anyone else.

To Kobe Bryant, thank you for all the memories that you gave to me and many others. He truly was one of the greatest players of our generation and was an amazing husband and father to his family. He will never be forgotten in the sports world.