True giants don’t live in fairy tales, they inhabit the real world and sometimes basketball courts. In this farewell to Kobe Bryant, we see that he was much more than one of the NBA’s most prominent stars. He will always be one of those figures who awaken the dreams of children and adults, a giant who brought millions of people together before television and made them love basketball.
The world was recently shocked by the news of his death: Kobe Bryant, 41, his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in a residential area of Los Angeles.
- A fatal accident that left the world of sport orphaned.
- In which the ‘black mamba’ has distinguished itself as one of the most appreciated icons.
Amateurs, athletes, politicians, celebrities and anonymous people who admired him have left their tributes to this legend, each in his own way, but many people spontaneously gathered on a basketball court to honor a man who never ceased to be a child in love with basketball. , with a ball and a basket to fulfill each of your dreams.
“The important thing is that your teammates know that they have your support and that you want them to succeed. “Kobe Bryant.
Was it called a black Mamba? Be the most dangerous on the court. Legend has it that he himself chose this nickname after seeing Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and this attitude of never giving up defined much of his professional life. “If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear, ” he said, “such was his need to outdo himself, to always give his best.
His winning career is the result of this mindset and that exceptional genius that defined him: five NBA championship rings, one league MVP, two Olympic gold medals, a record 18 consecutive All-Star appearances, four most valuable prizes?He even won an Oscar for an animated short film about his life.
It was this giant who wore the gold and purple of the Los Angeles Lakers, an almost hypnotic figure on the basketball court for his ability to add points and also for the personality that earned him the affection of the public and, above all, of the players who were part of his team. He did the right thing for them: encourage the bench to give water to the companions.
Kobe Bryant would have been born with a basketball. He had his passion in the genes, which was passed on to him by his father, Joe?Jellybean? Bryant, also a professional player, and those who unfortunately moved on to his daughter Gianna, who has already excelled in the world of sport.
Kobe spent much of her childhood in Italy, the country where her father played, it was in 1991, back in the United States, that she began to stand out as a young star of the basketball world, this happened in Philadelphia.
He had so much skill, maturity and playing ability that he didn’t have to go through college basketball, as most of the most important personalities in the basketball world, at just 18 years old already playing in the NBA. At the age of 21 he appeared in Forbes magazine and already had millionaire sponsorship contracts with Adidas, Sprite, Mattel, Spalding and Giorgio Armani.
Kobe Bryant said goodbye to his professional and Los Angeles Lakers career in 2016 and did so with a 20-year career behind him in an epic game: the team played against the Utah Jazz and scored 60 points in one night with the crowd. . scream your name over and over again.
It was a successful career, but obscured by controversial episodes, such as the rape charge of a 19-year-old girl working in a hotel, and the case ended with an out-of-court settlement and a public apology from the player.
Fulfilled lives not only leave wounds and voids, they also destroy personal dreams and projects. Kobe Bryant’s dream was women’s basketball, bringing recognition to this category at the height of the men’s basketball screening.
His effort focused on the second of his four daughters, Gianna Maria-Onore, who triumphed in the sport guided by his father. It was common to see them both in the bleachers of the gym when they played the Lakers wrapped in complicity, honey. , sharing the same passion for basketball.
On the day of the accident, the two were heading to a game Gianna would play that same afternoon, but neither did. Their lives and dreams were lost forever, leaving their life plans unful out.
The world of sport regrets this absence, even if no one doubts that Kobe Bryant’s legacy will keep him forever as one of the brightest stars in the basketball world.