Before diving into Kobe, RIP to these people as well in this tragic event.

Gianna Bryant- Kobe Bryant’s 12-year old daughter who was going to be a baller at whatever she did. Gone way too soon.

John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli- It sucks that I had to learn about Altobelli after he passed because he sounded like an amazing human being who was the manager of the Orange Coast College baseball team.

Keri, John’s wife and Alyssa’s mother, also passed in the crash. Alyssa was only 13, and was travelling with her parents to play in a basketball game for Kobe’s travelling team.

Christina Mauser- A girl’s basketball coach, and a mother and wife.

Sarah and Payton Chester- Sarah and her daughter Payton were flying to the basketball game as well, where Payton was a player.

Ara Zobayan- The pilot of the helicopter that crashed.

All these people are gone way too soon, RIP.

Growing up watching the Sonics play in my parents basement was always a treat. Unless Kobe Bryant was torching us, which happened often. But then the Sonics moved (stolen?) because of odd reasons which I won’t get into and I was a basketball fan nomad. I had no team to root for, so I started really attaching myself to players.

At 15 years old as the Sonics departed I got caught up in the LeBron James hype and instantly became a fan of his wherever he went (which was quite a few teams…). But the one person almost always standing in between LeBron and championships during that time was Kobe Bryant.

Kobe was like Derek Jeter to me. I respected his game, but I didn’t root for him or the Lakers. That would be like rooting for the Yankees, Notre Dame or the Cowboys. I just wasn’t raised to root for these teams.

So I chose the LeBron side in Kobe vs. LeBron and boy did that debate really spur my love for debate in sports. I was constantly battling the Kobe stan’s during class, and I even remember with my friend Brandon who I’m still close with to this day, not talking to him for a day or two because our LeBron and Kobe debates would get so heated.

If you know me sports is one of my biggest passions. They can bring so many people together from different backgrounds to form a team or coalition to achieve as much success as possible. Sports encourage teamwork and competitiveness, which in turn can produce successful people.

Kobe was one of the first sports figures in my life to really bring me closer to a lot of people, even if I didn’t agree with them. He also seriously encouraged me to embrace sports debate. It sounds ridiculous, but Kobe vs. LeBron was one of the most influential sports debate for a while. It was for fun, and Kobe seemed to embrace it.

I don’t write professionally anymore, but honestly sports debates like Kobe vs. LeBron were a huge part in why I started to want to write about sports. Kobe was really a factor in that.

As time went on and I graduated from high school, I think I became a bit smarter (probably not but I hope a maybe a tiny bit) and started to really respect Kobe just that much more. Not just because he was a top 5 basketball player of all time, but what he did off the court as well.

The Mamba Mentality was different, and you could tell that Kobe really put everything he had into basketball. But then when basketball ended he started using that Mamba Mentality coaching his daughter Gianna, or writing a short story that won an Oscar, or any of his business ventures.

I recommend listening to the interview with Kobe, Alex Rodriguez and Big Cat (From Barstool). Here’s a link for it-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndGZU2BwAVY. I know that’s an odd trio, but at one point Kobe talks about winning an Oscar for his short film “Dear Basketball”. Kobe talks about how at the end of his career he’s reading some of the most distinguished authors and writing textbooks to improve his writing skills. I recommend watching the entire thing. But you can see hear it in Kobe’s voice, basketball wasn’t the only thing in his life that he attacked with ferocity.

That’s the true Mamba Mentality.

RIP Kobe.