An Inspiration to the World: A tribute to Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was truly an inspiration to the world. His legacy will forever live on both inside and outside the NBA and sports

Legends never die. But when we heard the news, it damaged us inside. From there, the mourning process becomes questionable.

How long will this pain last?

Pain caused by tragedy. But this tragedy is a little deeper than previous ones we’ve confabulated about. When it comes to a father and his daughter losing their lives in a tragic accident; it’s a different type of pain. It’s indescribable. A feeling many parents felt after hearing about this.

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Millions across the world are affected by the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant. His ubiquitous influence on basketball is unmeasurable. No one can measure the amount of inspiration he provided to players, coaches, team executives, friends, family members, and business partners. He was polished. A polished basketball player; but more polished when it came to inspiring others.

Bryant was an inspiration. In terms of hard work, he was all for it. He never wanted to hear excuses and exasperating questions. All he wanted to do was manifest his vision. A vision that transcended his basketball royalty on the court. With Kobe, royalty and inspiration are inextricably linked.

Kobe is the epitome of basketball royalty. Four months ago, I wrote a column about Bryant’s 20-year basketball career. It was incumbent for me to embellish, and describe his career using royal vernacular. Now, that vernacular has turned inspirational.

He had an aptitude for inspiring others. It was more of a (you’re not gonna outwork me) type of mentality. A mentality that propelled him to greatness. As many know, hard work necessitates greatness. But Kobe’s temperament surpassed greatness. His character is more pivotal than any made basket.

Temperament. It’s something you can’t coach or teach. You must have it intrinsically. For Kobe, it was his character and willingness to think open-minded. Most of us, whether we’re basketball players or just regular nine to five workers, never think’ outside the box. That’s unfortunate. Bryant realized the importance of being open-minded once his 20-year career concluded. His open-minded thinking placed him in a different arena of athletes.

History and basketball are like a brother and sister relationship. There’s a multitude of memories on the hardwood that we’ve seen in the NBA. Several players throughout the league shared countless memories they had with the Black Mamba. Among those players LeBron James. James and Bryant had a great relationship. Bryant became LeBron’s mentor as James emerged into NBA’s best player.

Outside of mentorship, Bryant was also an author and a prosperous businessman. He released, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” in 2018, highlighting his career and life events. The book features an introduction from Phil Jackson with a foreword from Pau Gasol. He also owned KOBE Inc., a company to help sports brands grow and expand.

His character off the court exceeds any point-total, NBA title, or scoring title. As convoluted as it was to write this, I would like to send my deepest heartfelt condolences to Kobe’s wife, family, friends, and business colleagues.

No. 8 and No. 24. Two numbers that will be stored in the NBA Hall of Fame.

There will never be another Kobe Bryant. There will never be another BLACK MAMBA. And sadly, there will never be another Gianna Bryant. Like father, like daughter.

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A sad ending. He was an inspiration to the world. Not just basketball. Rest in paradise; Kobe and Gianna.

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