ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
Sunday, January 26th was just a normal day. The news was focused on Super Bowl 54 between the Chiefs and the 49ers. Then, there was a report. Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash.
It didn’t seem like it was real. TMZ had reported the crash, and no other news outlet had put out any information on the subject.
But it was. The LA Times put out an article saying that there was a helicopter crash and they would be giving out more information as they got it, but it was believed that Kobe was one of the victims.
To make matters worse, it was reported that one of Kobe Bryant’s four daughters, 13 year old Gianna, was also a victim of the crash.
They were just going to a game at the Mamba Academy. A normal day in their lives, as Gianna was very invested in basketball and very talented. There was just too much fog in the Los Angeles skies that day.
A total of nine people died in that crash on January 26th. Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser, Alyssa ALtobelli, Joe Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Ara Zabayan, Gianna Bryant, and Kobe Bryant. All of their lives were cut short in the blink of an eye.
While everyone knew of how great Kobe was on the basketball court, with 33,643 points, 5 NBA Championships and 1 MVP, he was more than that. He was a husband and father, and a great one at that too. The reason he flew on helicopters so often was so he could spend more time with his kids, traveling from workouts back to his house in order to make it in time to pick up the kids from school, drive them to practices, and just spend as much time as he could with them.
In the wake of Kobe’s death, everyone was in a collective shock. The entire NBA community was turned upside down. He was such an inspiration for so many of the league’s current players. No one thought he would die so suddenly.
What the players did the following days showed just how much Kobe meant to the NBA. When each game started, the team that one the tip would take a 24 second shot clock violation, then the other team would take either another 24 second shot clock violation or an 8 second half court violation, since Kobe wore both 8 and 24 during his career.
Along with this, the All Star game is being heavily influenced in honoring Kobe and Gianna, as one team is wearing Gianna’s number 2 and the other is wearing Kobe’s number 8. The final quarter is played to 24 as well.
I guess all these things just back up the famous quote by Babe Ruth; “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” While he may be gone, the legacy that he left for the younger generation will always remain.