Kobe Bryant’s Death

If you’re a basketball fan like me, the death of Kobe Bryant probably hit you like a pile of bricks! On January 26th, 2020 the sports world would change forever when a private helicopter carrying Lakers star Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others brutally crashed into a hill in the Hollywood area. I remember I was at work when I read the news on Twitter and it didn’t seem real. I conversed with my fellow co-workers and everyone was completely shocked when they heard this information. I still haven’t internalized the totality of it sitting here on my bed typing over a week later. Kobe was my entire childhood and although I was usually rooting against his teams he shaped so many of my great sports memories as a kid and contributed a great deal to the American culture as a whole. Even disregarding the sports world, Kobe was a great father to his kids and a father figure for kids who grew up without a dad in their life.

The crash happened on a route his family had flown many times before: from the Southern Los Angeles area to the Northern Los Angeles suburbs. They were flying to a basketball game for Kobe’s daughter Gianna under very foggy conditions that they needed special permission to fly in. The pilot was instructed to hold before landing by the air traffic controller because of the air traffic going around. The pilot told air traffic control he was “going to climb higher to avoid a cloud layer” and that was his last transmission. Furthermore, helicopter crashes are more difficult to investigate since they don’t have the same “black box” recorders that are prevalent in planes. This tragedy has people all over America utterly devastated and people have been showing their thanks for Kobe in a multitude of ways. Buildings in Los Angeles have been displaying his picture, along with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (the tallest building in the world). Fans gathered outside of the Staples Center to throw their Kobe’s shoes/jerseys in a pile in remembrance of the legend. Although it’s very sad that’s he’s gone, he left behind an iconic legacy that will be cherished for the rest of time.

Love you Kobe