Opinion | My time with Kobe Bryant
When I got the word one morning that Kobe Bryant was going to be in the Hutton Sports Center at Chapman University, I couldn’t contain my excitement. Getting the chance to meet my childhood idol and favorite basketball player – it was like a dream come true. Having grown up in an area where you would often hear about him popping up at the local grocery store or mall, I was often discouraged and jealous of friends who would run into him. But on this day, this was my chance to get to know him on a deeper level than just a photo opportunity.
He walked in and I immediately greeted him and said I would be taking care of all site director roles, which meant making sure fans would allow Kobe to coach his daughter, Gianna and the rest of the team without outside distractions. This was the first year Gianna was playing, and to be quite honest she wasn’t very good. But as you saw the team warm up and you heard Kobe quietly call one of his players over after they made a mistake, you just knew they would all blossom into quality players.
Although our conversations were short, Kobe would always call me by name and made me feel as though he really valued the atmosphere we had at Chapman. I’ll never forget these interactions; I’ll never forget how he brought an overwhelming presence to each room we entered.
In my eyes, Kobe was becoming a person of community and more importantly, was becoming the father he always wanted to be, but his playing career prevented that from happening. Reflecting back, Kobe’s athleticism, jump shot and high-flying dunks aren’t what made him great basketball player. It was the meticulous footwork. It was how he broke down each opponent to the smallest detail on how to defend them. It was the tenacious approach he took to his daily training sessions. It was the obsession he brought to the game, it was the grit and toughness he showed when he sank two free throws with a ruptured Achilles and the game on the line, and it was the resilience he showed with each obstacle that was thrown his way.
Kobe showed us what it was to live the Mamba Mentality; he was blazing the trail with his daughter Gianna and the entire Mamba Sports Academy. His death seems surreal, almost like when a superhero dies, with no sequel. But we as a society must continue to carry the same vision he had for the youth and giving everything possible to influence the next generation of girls and boys through sport.
Although Kobe’s life and the eight other passenger’s lives were cut short, we all learned to hold onto our loved ones a little bit tighter that day – to express how much we truly care about one another and to live a life of passion and resilience with each waking day.