The Death of a Legend

Why Kobe’s legend will never die.

I woke up from a nap on Sunday and checked my phone. “Kobe’s dead”, read a text from my friend. No way. Not Kobe. I didn’t believe it. There was no way the invincible Kobe, the “Black Mamba”, could ever die so young at age 41.

But it was true. Kobe Bryant, his young daughter Gianna, and seven others tragically perished in a helicopter accident. I wasn’t alive when the world heard that JFK died, but it felt like that level. At the very least, it felt unfair and inequitable. Whether you are a basketball fan or not, you will probably always remember where you were when you heard of Kobe’s passing.

The guy transcended the game. A generation of kids grew up shouting “Kobe!” whenever they threw up some ridiculous shot, whether on a basketball court or into a trash can, bucket, bin, whatever. What Michael Jordan was to Generation X, Kobe was to Millennials. He bridged the divide between Jordan and the modern era’s reign of LeBron. He was our basketball superhero.

In the Beginning

When Kobe went straight to the NBA from high school, it was almost unheard of at the time. Kevin Garnett had accomplished the feat the year before (1995), but KG was also almost 7'0″ tall. Kobe was a 6'6″ shooting guard who played on the perimeter. How the hell was he…