ICC Men’s Basketball’s Reactions to the Passing of Kobe Bryant
By Dane Poe (February 6th, 2020)
The unthinkable happened the morning of Sunday, Jan. 26. A legend was taken from us too early. Kobe Bryant along with 8 other passengers, including his second oldest daughter Gianna, all tragically passed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
Many people’s first reaction when they heard the news was disbelief. “I called my dad and he almost hung up on me because he thought it was fake,” ICC sophomore DJ Davis responded. As more and more sources started to report what had happened, many eventually found out the truth. “If this is true, we got a patriarch of the game of basketball that’s not going to be anymore,” ICC men’s basketball head coach Tony Wysinger responded.
To some people, Bryant was someone that they looked up to; a role model. “Kobe was my hero,” ICC sophomore Armoni Hall expressed. “One of my favorite players to ever play the game.” Bryant dazzled on the court and made some of us want to be just like him. “Myself as a basketball player, I look up to him and his moves,” ICC sophomore Damond Crosby responded. “He’s much similar to Michael Jordan.”
Bryant had tons of jaw dropping moments in his career but two stand out more than the others. “The 81 point game where he could have scored a hundred if he really wanted to,” Wysinger expressed. “He just shut it down. He didn’t play the last three, four, or five minutes of the last quarter.” The other happened during the final game of his historic career when Bryant went on to score 63 points. “Final game, to give all those people a show and to give them what they really wanted to see,” Hall responded.
As we move on, the game of basketball will always be affected whether it be because of younger athletes looking up to Bryant or his legacy being remembered. “I think that it’s going to stop all of the debates of who’s better between Michael, LeBron, or Kobe,” Davis expressed. “We never know when any of those guys could die. It just makes it precious to value them while they’re here.”
“His mindset was different than most,” Wysinger responded. “He wanted to be one of the greatest. I don’t know if we have a bunch that has that same mindset.” If there’s one thing that we can take away from Bryant’s legacy, it’s to push ourselves everyday no matter what. While also loving our families and making special memories everyday.
“Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.” -Kobe Bryant
Courtesy of People