Kobe′s Life and His Death Experience

Kobe′s Life and His Death Experience

            Kobe Bryant was a basketball superstar who linked Michael Jordan and LeBron James in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States. This famous player had retired for three years from his basketball career, which he took part for 20 years before his demise. Kobe was the son of Jellybean Bryant, who played first at La Salle University in Philadelphia and later on NBA, and his mother Pamela Bryant, who was an actress. Kobe’s career started when he was 17 years of age at Lower Merion high school, Philadelphia, and by the time he was in his third year, he always took part in practice games against 76ers’ opponents. He led his teammates at Lower Merion to state championships and then decided to leave college and join the NBA. At the NBA draft, Kobe was the youngest and became the shooting guard, which made the team defeat bigger opponents.

Later on, Charlotte Hornets from North Carolina absorbed Kobe into the team as a scheme to trade him into the Lakers, where his parents signed the contract. Bryant did not participate in major leagues the Lakers played until the third season, where he joined the starting lineup.

Together with Shaquille O’Neil, whom the team acquired at the same time as Bryant, they led the Lakers to win three consecutive titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002, respectively. In 2002, Bryant married Vanessa Laine, whom he met as a dancer in a music video. In 2003, Kobe was accused of sexual assault to a 19-year-old woman, although the case was dropped after the complainant failed to testify to the accusations (Lazenby, 2016). In 2006, Kobe scored 81 points against Toronto Raptors, the highest number of points any player had scored since the 1962 Wilt Chamberlain’s score of 100 points.

Bryant later won the 2009 and 2010 NBA championships, and he was named the most valuable player in leading the team to win in the consecutive years. He wanted to attain Michael Jordan’s six championships but did not make it after numerous trials, and Lakers failed to win the title, however, in 2012, Bryant won the Olympic gold medals for the USA title. Throughout his career at the Lakers, Bryant suffered knee and shoulder injuries. In April 2006, he scored 60 points and became the oldest player, aged 37 years, to attain such a high score at the time. His jerseys, 8 and 24, were retired by the Lakers, and Bryant finished his career as one of the best players in basketball in sports all over the world. Soon after his retirement, Kobe could occasionally attend NBA games. In addition, he started his company, Granity Studios, which aimed at developing TV shows and movies. Besides, in his efforts, Kobe Bryant won an Oscar Award for the Best Animated Short film “Dear Basketball,” outside his basketball career. Also, Kobe was a fan of soccer teams within the US and Barcelona Football Club.

On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people were involved in a helicopter crash, which resulted in their death in Calabasas, California. At the time, Kobe was 41 years of age, and together with his daughter, they were flying to a basketball game in Thousand Oaks (Bailey, 2020). The emergency call from the helicopter expressed rapid descending of the plane due to a breakdown caused by unfavorable weather conditions, and further investigations are still being conducted.

In conclusion, Bryant’s achievements gave hope to many people that in life, one should not fear to fail because it is out of such failures that lessons are learned. When individuals give up, they let other people win, therefore despair is always not an option for people who need to succeed in life. Regularly described as the Mamba mentality, Kobe’s motive was straight, and he did not allow anyone to fall on his path to scoring in the court. Finally, developing a healthy mindset positively influences success and springs inspiration to other people who want to become the best out of themselves.

References

Bailey, J. (2020). The Death of Kobe Bryant: Fallen Icons and Heart of Popular Culture.

Harrison, C. K., Lawrence, S. M., Bukstein, S. J., Carr, K., & Lauren, B. (2016). Dear basketball (PS I Love You): a qualitative investigation of Kobe Bryant’s sports career termination             and retirement from the NBA. Kinesiologia Slovenica, 22(3).

Lazenby, R. (2016). Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant. Hachette UK.