Sunday, January 26th, 2020, is the latest in those days that you will have in your memory bank for as long as you are alive on this earth… and it's most especially true for those who follow sports and basketball as much as I do. On a foggy Sunday morning in Southern California, a low-lying helicopter carrying nine passengers en route to a kids' basketball camp crashed on a hillside in Calabasas west of Los Angeles and up the road from Santa Monica, killing all of those on board.
This accident cruelly cut short the life of Kobe Bryant, one of the most revered superstars in both the NBA and in all of sports, and one of those who represents a rarity in the world of money-driven professional athletics. He spent his entire 20-year career with one club in being the heart & soul of the Los Angeles Lakers, and who epitomized a consistent drive to win with five NBA titles, numerous league, All-Star & Finals MVP's, plus many records, honors and countless memories that will make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer when the Basketball Hall of Fame in New England inducts its class of 2020 next fall.
Following his retirement in 2016 - one that saw him score 60 points in his farewell game in front of a home crowd at the Staples Center, he had fast become an active businessman, an author of the book Mamba Motivation, an Oscar winner for his 2017 short film Dear Basketball, and father figure to his four daughters and his wife, Vanessa Bryant. Unfortunately, one of them, aspiring young basketball player Gianna "GiGi" Bryant, was with him during that doomed flight along with a respected college baseball coach and his wife & daughter... among the nine people who perished in that chopper crash that remains under investigation as authorities continue to figure out what happened.
As it was when on 9/11, when Michael Jackson and JFK died, when man stepped on the moon and every significant news event that's taken place in our lifetimes, you, me and everyone will know exactly where we were when the news broke of Kobe's death. Many of you were going about your Sunday activities, while others were anticipating the Grammy Awards being held at Staples Center last week... and like all of you, I found about this news from social media, but it wasn't until the TMZ scoop was confirmed by every media outlet that it really sunk in. And even now a week after this tragedy, his death is still so hard to take for a lot of us as the healing process continues.
During the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend in two weeks' time, all of basketball will gather in Chicago not just for a celebration of their sport as is always the case, but also a celebration of Kobe and his life. It will be quite an eventful three days of emotion when that takes place over the long President's Day holiday weekend, for which it will pay several tributes to him in where another legend, Michael Jordan, called home during the Bulls' dynasty... all as the Lakers, now led by LeBron James, have returned to action after a week of mourning following that fatal accident, and with the league's top record will later seek to win an emotional championship in Kobe's memory.
Whether it's from the basketball angle, in a general sporting sense or from the entertainment world, there have been countless tributes and remembrances of Kobe in the past few days. And we here at DCBLOG would like to share how those in the community for which we cover regularly in the MTV community have dealt with this loss, for which there have been a handful of connections, both on a personal level and on-air.
Following his retirement in 2016 - one that saw him score 60 points in his farewell game in front of a home crowd at the Staples Center, he had fast become an active businessman, an author of the book Mamba Motivation, an Oscar winner for his 2017 short film Dear Basketball, and father figure to his four daughters and his wife, Vanessa Bryant. Unfortunately, one of them, aspiring young basketball player Gianna "GiGi" Bryant, was with him during that doomed flight along with a respected college baseball coach and his wife & daughter... among the nine people who perished in that chopper crash that remains under investigation as authorities continue to figure out what happened.
As it was when on 9/11, when Michael Jackson and JFK died, when man stepped on the moon and every significant news event that's taken place in our lifetimes, you, me and everyone will know exactly where we were when the news broke of Kobe's death. Many of you were going about your Sunday activities, while others were anticipating the Grammy Awards being held at Staples Center last week... and like all of you, I found about this news from social media, but it wasn't until the TMZ scoop was confirmed by every media outlet that it really sunk in. And even now a week after this tragedy, his death is still so hard to take for a lot of us as the healing process continues.
During the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend in two weeks' time, all of basketball will gather in Chicago not just for a celebration of their sport as is always the case, but also a celebration of Kobe and his life. It will be quite an eventful three days of emotion when that takes place over the long President's Day holiday weekend, for which it will pay several tributes to him in where another legend, Michael Jordan, called home during the Bulls' dynasty... all as the Lakers, now led by LeBron James, have returned to action after a week of mourning following that fatal accident, and with the league's top record will later seek to win an emotional championship in Kobe's memory.
Whether it's from the basketball angle, in a general sporting sense or from the entertainment world, there have been countless tributes and remembrances of Kobe in the past few days. And we here at DCBLOG would like to share how those in the community for which we cover regularly in the MTV community have dealt with this loss, for which there have been a handful of connections, both on a personal level and on-air.
