January 26, 2020. A date which will forever live in great sorrow, mourning the loss of one individual life that changed a million, billion more. Man. Father. Player. Legend. This is for you, Kobe.
It was a beautiful day. I was driving back from Aspen, Colorado following a riveting X-Games weekend. Mountains and road, music blasting with good people in the car. It was truly, a perfect day.
It was the day Kobe Bryant died.
There are moments you just don’t forget. This one, I truly wish I could.
“Kobe’s dead.”
The incredulity. The nervous laugh. The denial. The realization. Before long, I had confirmation Kobe was truly dead.
I fought back tears as I drove on – anything my friends were saying, I couldn’t hear. They wouldn’t understand, they weren’t basketball fans, or sports fans. They didn’t know what Kobe Bryant meant to me or so many other fans.
Kobe wasn’t just a celebrity, or just a basketball player. He was an icon, a unique benchmark that we can look at in history and say, “This was a special dude. This guy changed the world.” And that’s because Kobe stood for more than just playing basketball, or being famous. He stood for a cause that still resonates within the millions of people that knew him – put in work to be a good person.
On the court, Kobe created and represented a mindset we now know today as the “Mamba Mentality.” It can mean many different things, but primarily the mamba mentality stands for the determination, the never-give-up attitude, the endless effort one must give in living their life. For Kobe during his playing days, it was winning championships. It was picking yourself up after a hard loss and saying, “We need to go harder. We need to be better.” However, the mamba mentality wasn’t unique to just sports for Kobe. It also defined how Kobe lived his retirement. To Kobe, it meant to be a good man, a good husband, and most importantly of all, to be a good father.
The hallmark of Kobe’s retirement was his dedication to family life. His unerring love for his wife, and most famously, his four daughters. Kobe championed his daughters. When we saw Kobe, he was always with his daughters, whether it be at a Lakers game, a pickup court, or interviews. Kobe made sure the world knew how much he loved and rooted for the success of his offspring.
I think a story told by ESPN’s Elle Duncan best showcases just how much Kobe loved his daughters. Duncan had known Kobe for a while, and one day they were catching up. Kobe had just announced to the world the birth of his third daughter, Gianna. Duncan said to him jokingly, “Wow, three girls? That is crazy.” Kobe, not missing a beat, replied, “I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”
When I finally came back home from Aspen, I raced up the stairs and locked myself in my dorm room. Tears were flowing, and even though I knew Kobe had passed, it still wasn’t real. People like Kobe don’t just die. Kobe is a legend, a bigger-than-life figure. As far as I was concerned, Kobe was always there to encourage me, to push me forward.
Mired in my sorrow and frantically checking social media for any more news, to possibly be relieved of this surreal nightmare and know Kobe was alive and well, was when I found out the most tragic news of all: Kobe’s daughter, Gianna, was also in the helicopter that took Kobe’s life.
Mambacita. Gianna was only 13, and was the only one of Kobe’s four daughters that had taken up the challenge of following her father’s legacy. Gianna had proven herself to be an aspiring basketball player, and showed true talent. She was at every game Kobe was at. We watched her grow up in YouTube videos – Kobe teaching her to shoot free throws, layups, jumpers. We, like Kobe, knew Gianna was destined for greatness – it was in her genes. And tragically, we will never get to see the woman she would have become.
So what remains? What is the meaning of Kobe and Gianna’s legacy?
Say their names, remember them. Kobe Bryant. Gianna Bryant. They forever echo in the halls of history, and they rest alongside the legends of the greatest figures humanity has ever witnessed. Know the mamba mentality, and what it stands for. Live your life like mamba, finish the work he started. Strive not to be great, but the greatest. Nothing is impossible if you work. Hard. Outwork everybody in the gym, the office, the house. Just. Win. That is what Kobe stood for. That is his legacy.
So thank you Kobe, and rest easy.
This is for you.
Tenny Kim 