FanPost

Kobe - A Hero We'll Always Remember

For most of us, our heroes, our role models are people we’re close to in life. Our fathers, our mothers, siblings, people who raised us, people we grew up with. However, our heroes also come from other places, far away from our day to day lives. Actors and actresses, musical performers, superheroes, and athletes. We may never have an actual conversation with these people, but in our minds, we develop a true bond with them. By watching them on TV, catching a live performance, or reading and rereading a book or comic, these people become larger than life to us. We marvel at their accomplishments, shake our heads in disbelief of their performances and imitate them as best we can when we’re throwing a piece of trash into the garbage bin. Beside my parents, Kobe Bryant was the biggest hero I had.

Coming from a family with immigrant parents, there was a struggle growing up to mesh my parent’s Asian values with the American culture my sister and I were living around. One thing that definitively brought us together was basketball. Whether it was weekends and nights filled with youth and high school basketball games, or cheering on our Lakers, our love for basketball was something we had in common. My fondest memories as a child involved the Lakers. I remember my father taking me to my first Laker game at the Great Western Forum. I remember being in awe of the size and speed of the players and the intensity of the fans donned in purple and gold. Who can forget Kobe throwing that lob to Shaq to put the Blazers away? Or Robert Horry being in just the right place to grab the tipped ball and hit the 3 at the buzzer to beat the Kings? My family would go crazy, jumping up and down high fiving together. Those moments feel like yesterday. Basketball and the Lakers were things we obsessed over; they were our tie to the community. By watching games together, and then recapping the games the next day with our friends and coworkers, felt like our family fit in when it came to being Laker fans. Basketball was how I met many of my lifelong friends, it was what I had in common with my classmates, it was how I could stop feeling awkward and be cool. For my parents, it was a needed break from the grind of life. The Lakers and Kobe were at the center of our basketball universe.

Kobe’s twenty-year career as a Laker was filled with too many memories to count. I remember him coming up as a young, fierce player. He was über athletic, winning the dunk contest with his swag on a million, with an appetite for more. He then became one of the best two-way players in the game, rivaling Shaq as team MVP. And at last, becoming the clear leader of the Lakers, ready to pull his team along for the win, even if it meant he had to score 62 in quarters, put up 81 points in a game, or grab 15 rebounds to beat that Celtic ass. As Laker fans, we were amazed at his tenacity -- his ability to hit the most difficult shots was out of this world -- and if the game was coming down to the wire, you knew Kobe was hitting the big shot (this is the one time where I don’t care what the data says)! My friends and I would gush over Kobe performances at school the next day, the next week. One of the clutch Kobe moments I’ll never forget was his game winner vs the Kings in 2010. You knew it was coming, but it wasn't any less exciting when he nailed that three at the buzzer. I’ll also never forget my last time watching Kobe in-person, a vintage clutch Black Mamba performance in DC, days after he announced it would be his farewell season. He was the MJ, the GOAT, of our generation.

Kobe never claimed to be and wasn’t perfect, and none of us are. We saw his flaws over the years, on and off the court, but damnit, he was our guy! You’d read an article or watch an interview and learn more about him, his struggle, and his journey, and somehow, you’d become an even bigger fan. The stories from his trainers, coaches and other players about his crazy work ethic, showing up several hours before anyone else, thousands of repetitions of shots and footwork. You started to see that his greatness was not an accident; it was the product of all the time he had dedicated. This would make you even more of a fan of the legend. He’d make you feel that you didn’t have to be the most talented because you could out-work your opponents. Preparation and dedication were the real keys to success.

Although my own basketball career was short lived, I tried to take some of Kobe’s principles and apply to them in my own life. I wasn’t getting shots up all the night, but I was studying in the library, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and trying to lead by example. If Kobe could play through all sorts of injuries, i.e. hit two free throws after tearing his Achilles, then I, too, should find a way to fight through the pain and win; my complaints of studying for another exam, following through with a difficult task, or dealing with an unruly co-worker paled in comparison. Kobe made me believe that I could control my destiny in life and achieve my goals by having perseverance, grit, and fierce intensity, better known to Laker fans as, Mamba mentality.

After his career ended, Kobe quickly got to work off the court and continued to amaze us. Writing children’s books, starting businesses, and even winning an Oscar. I’d dream that one day I would get my entrepreneurial act together and pitch my business idea to him and his associates. In recent years, he started to show us how great of a father he aspired to be. Even after his playing days, Kobe was still inspiring us to be better versions of ourselves.

Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and the seven other individuals’ deaths in the helicopter trash was an absolute tragedy. Too many lives cut short. The news was absolutely jarring. I, as am sure many others, are still processing it. As a fan it’s been hard to deal with, but I can only imagine what the family and friends of those affected are feeling.

Life is so unpredictable and unfair, people taken from us without a moment’s notice. Life is too short to be petty and rude to one another. We all have the power to positively impact the lives of others, like Kobe did for me, and many people around the world. Let’s all cherish life for tomorrow is not promised.