J-Speaks: Remembering An NBA Legend Lost In January

 

It is hard to fathom that it has been seven months since the National Basketball Association (NBA) said goodbye way too soon to one of its iconic legends. Someone who was an incredible talent and champion both on the hardwood as well as off of it. He had a successful career individually and helped to deliver five Larry O’Brien trophies to the city of L.A. More than anything he became an inspiration and motivation to not just those that he inspired to dream of playing in the NBA but he also became an inspiration to those in Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Sunday would have been the 42^nd birthday of Kobe Bryant, who along with his second oldest daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles, CA on Jan 26.

When the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that Bryant played his entire 20-year career for from 1996-2016 take on the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of their First-Round playoff series on Monday night at 9 p.m. on TNT, they will wear their special “Black Mamba” uniforms on Aug. 24 in paying respects to the two numbers Bryant wore as a Laker No. 8 and No. 24.

Bryant was in the early part of his second act as a storyteller and businessman when he and Gianna, 13, and the seven other aforementioned individuals with close ties to Bryant and basketball lost their lives, leaving behind his wife of 19 years Vanessa and their three other daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.

On Sunday, Mrs. Bryant, who met her husband when she was 17 years old and he was 21 years old delivered a heartfelt and personal birthday message to her late husband saying, “To my baby—Happy Birthday. I love you and miss you more than I can ever explain. I wish you and Gigi were here to celebrate YOU! I wish I could make you your fav food or a birthday cake with my Gigi. I miss your big hugs, your kisses, your smile, your loud ass deep laugh. I miss teasing you, making you laugh and bursting your bubble. I miss you sitting on my lap like my big baby that you are. I think about your tenderness and patience all the time. I think about everything you would do in situations to help me deal with everything thrown my way. Thank you for growing up with me and teaching me how to be strong. How to try to see the best in people but cutout the bs. Your thoughtful gestures and the amazing way you made us all feel is extremely missed. I picture your smile and wide big welcoming hugs daily. God, I miss you both so much Our lives feel so empty without you and Gigi. I’ve been completely broken inside. As much as I want to cry, I put a smile on my face to make our daughters days shine a little brighter. I’m not the strong one, they are. They’re strong and resilient. I’m sure you’re proud of them. They put a smile on my face every day.”

“I wish I could wake up from this horrible nightmare. I wish I could surprise our girls and welcome you and Gigi home to us. I’m mad I didn’t go first. I always wanted to go first so that I selfishly didn’t have to feel this heartache. You were supposed to miss me. Gigi was supposed to be here with her sisters. It should’ve been me. There’s so much I wish I could tell you and show you and Gigi. So many things you would both be happy to see and be a part of. So many milestones for our girls. So many things you would be proud of. I’m so thankful I have pieces of heaven here on earth to wake up for-thanks to YOU. Thank you for loving me enough to last several lifetimes. In every lifetime I would choose YOU. Thank you for showing me what real love is. Thank YOU for everything. I know my Gigi is celebrating you like she always has on our special days. I miss my thoughtful princess so much! Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, Capri and I wish you a happy birthday my love. I love you know, forever, and always. #amoreterno #42.”

As much devotion he gave to being one of the absolute best to ever play in the NBA, those close to Bryant said he loved being a father to his daughters.

“He just loved his girls, and there was nothing in the world that meant more to him,” Lakers President Rob Pelinka said at Bryant’s memorial service at Staples Center in February.

Four-time Kia MVP and three-time NBA champion LeBron James, who passed Bryant on the NBA’s all-time scoring list the day before his passing has led the Lakers back into the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and they are up 2-1 in the series against the Trail Blazers heading into as previously mentioned Game 4 of their opening-round series.

Before the Lakers 111-88 win versus the boys from “Rip City” in Orlando last Thursday in Game 2 on ESPN, their last postseason win came in 2012.

“A day does not go by where I don’t think about him,” James said before the league’s restart back on July 30. “A day doesn’t go by where our organization does not remember him and think about not only Koby and ‘Gigi’ and Vanessa and the girls…We still wear 24 and 8 and the No. 2 (Gianna’s basketball jersey number) with pride and remember how great they were.”

On Sunday, the newly named Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation-formerly the Mamba Sports Academy-shared a teaser for a Nike-produced video honoring the legacy of Bryant and the dedicated, no-nonsense, undeniable devotion that made him the legend and Hall of Famer to be that he became. The foundation specifically supports youth sports and charitable actions and carries the nicknames of Bryant and Gianna.

Nike is also launching Mamba Week, which began on Sunday and promises to include Bryant themed jerseys and shoes. They also pledged to donate $1 million to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.

Bryant was supposed to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame after being voted in his first time on the ballot back in April. But because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, that has affected the entire world, his induction along with two of his longtime rivals on the hardwood and NBA champions themselves in Kevin Garnett and five-time champion Tim Duncan is postponed until May 15, 2021.

In a tweet from Herb J. Wesson, Jr., the President of the Los Angeles City Council @HerbJWesson, Figueroa Street between Olympic and Martin Luther King Boulevard will be renamed Kobe Bryant Boulevard. This is the street that not only the Staples Center is on but the Los Angeles studio for ESPN is on.

“I cannot think of a better tribute and a better way for us to drive into work every day,” Rachel Nichols said in the opening of Monday’s edition of ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump.”

As much of an inspiration Bryant was to a number of players in the NBA, he was as much of an inspiration to the current players of the WNBA.

Many of that league’s star players like future Hall of Famer and three-time WNBA champion Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury; All-Star and fellow WNBA champion Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm; Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings and rookie Sabrina Ionescu, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft out of the University of Oregon have said that Bryant was their biggest idol growing up and when they became professionals became a major influence and consider him a friend and mentor. Bryant and Gianna often were seen attending women’s college basketball games, particularly University of Connecticut Lady Huskies contest and Los Angeles Sparks games.

Many women of the WNBA considered Bryant and huge advocate for their league and women’s basketball overall.

“Kobe meant a lot, and still means so much to me,” Sparks All-Star, two-time NCAA champion at Tennessee and WNBA champion forward, and Turner Sports basketball analyst Candace Parker said. “He was a part of the women’s game, and definitely pushing it forward. But also bringing awareness to it. Bring respect to it and allowing us to respect ourselves.”

Loyd said that she and Bryant talked a lot, and a lot of their conversations were not about basketball but how to pass information to the next generation.

“The one thing he always told me was create forever and to be epic. Those were the two things we always talked about,” she said. “And overall, it was just always keep it simple.”

Loyd added that this year has been tough because she has never began a WNBA season without him around and while she has had good days and bad days she admires the friendship, and will never forget the times they spent together and the conversations they had.

Parker’s teammate Nneka Ogwumike said that Bryant was an “incredible” example of the type of figure that young women need in their lives to believe that they can do the things anyone can do with the right mindset.

Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx said how Bryant fighting so hard to have women’s basketball players “recognized” and make things more equal between men’s and women’s basketball.

“Just the way by giving everything he had to perfecting everything that it took to accomplish his goals is something that admire, and that’s something I learned from him. Is just that desire to be the absolute best.”

The WNBA got a jump start in celebrating Bryant’s birthday by hanging his jersey courtside and players like 2018 WNBA MVP Brianna Stewart of the Storm wore bracelets that had the initials and jersey numbers of Bryant (No. 8 and No. 24) and Gianna’s (No. 2).

A 24-second moment of silence was held before each WNBA game held at the site of their 2020 season IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL over the weekend in honor of Bryant.

On Sunday, the WNBA continued to honor Bryant for his birthday by putting a No. 8 and No. 24 on the courts  

All-Star Kayla McBride of the Las Vegas Aces to pay tribute to Bryant wore Kobe-inspired Nike kicks throughout last week, and as she was coming off the team bus before their tilt against the Storm on Saturday wore a hoodie with Bryant jersey number of No. 8 and No. 24 as well as the number of his daughter’s jersey No. 2.

McBride’s teammate in fellow All-Star A’ja Wilson posted on her Twitter page @_ajawilson22 a photo of her and Bryant at last year’s WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas, with a photo of her also wearing a bracelet that Stewart had.

“Still doesn’t seem real (sad emoji) but forever thankful for how you changed the game happy birthday Kobe!” Wilson said in that same tweet.

She added that by Bryant truly “respecting” the WNBA as a league and the women that are players in it was “key” in the upward movement of the league.  

In helping the Mercury to an 88-87 win versus the Washington Mystics on Sunday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, Taurasi scored a season-high 34 points, hitting 7 for 13 from three-point range. While her performance was headline grabbing, it was her paying tribute to Bryant by wearing a No. 8 jersey (instead of her usual No. 3) with “Bryant” on the back.

“You know, I was hesitant because Kobe means so much to so many people,” Taurasi, who grew up a diehard Lakers fans said after the game about wearing Bryant’s number. “You still don’t think it happened. You still don’t want to believe. A lot of people are still in mourning.”  

“You know, this was more for his family, you know, for everyone who admired Kobe. For everyone who hated Kobe. It’s a bittersweet moment for me.”

Taurasi game-worn Bryant jersey will be signed and put up for auction, with the proceeds going to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.

During the last segment of ABC’s “NBA Countdown” on Sunday, Los Angeles Sparks All-Star forward and ESPN basketball analyst Chiney Ogwumike said Bryant attendance at WNBA games, specifically at Sparks home games at Staples Center brought “legitimacy to our game.”

“As a WNBA player, everyday we face so many stigmas and stereotypes, and that entire narrative that women are less than, women don’t deserve visibility-that was going away with Kobe simply walking into our arena and cheering us on,” Ogwumike said.

“It was just in his DNA to try to be great at everything. I think we only saw it through the lens of basketball for so long, he was like, ‘Okay. I’m transitioning from giving my all on the court to giving my all daughters.’ He’s always co-signed our game. But after he retired, we started piecing it together and we’re like, ‘This is our greatest male ally.’ Him coming to our games. Him bringing his daughter has truly helped our game grow in ways we didn’t even imagine. And it’s unfortunate that we recognized it once it’s gone. But the beautiful thing is that we now have so many people that should be warriors and people that want to carry on his legacy forever. And that’s the beauty and the tragedy.”

One of the greatest gifts in life is a life well lived. One of the greatest tragedies is a life cut short. Kobe Bryant’s life, along with his second oldest daughter Gianna’s was cut way too short at the ages of 41 and 13 respectably on Jan. 26.

In that short amount of time though, Bryant made his mark on the NBA by leading the Los Angeles Lakers to five titles, winning Finals MVP twice; finished No. 4 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list (33,643 points) earning 18 All-Star Game appearances, winning All-Star Game MVP four times; won Kia MVP in 2007-08; was a 15-time All-NBA selection; 12-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection; won two Olympic Gold medals for Team USA and a had both his No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys retired by the Lakers, the only player in NBA history to have that happen.

In his short second act, he won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for “Dear Basketball,” and lent all his basketball knowledge that made him the best to not just the next generation of NBA players but women’s basketball players that are in the WNBA or have dreams of being there after their collegiate career.

While Bryant is no longer with us from the physical sense, and that was felt on Sunday and will for sure be felt probably the rest of this week, the impact he had will be long lasting that the next generation of basketball players said they want to continue.

“Kobe has left a blueprint for all of us of what he was passionate about, and we have to definitely take that blueprint and do something with it,” Parker said.

Information and quotations are courtesy of 8/22/2020 www.usatoday.com story, “Remembering Kobe Bryant On What Would Have Been His 42^nd Birthday,” by Jeff Zillgitt and Heather Tucker; 8/23/2020 www.espn.com story “Players, Teams Pay Tribute To The Late Kobe Bryant On What Would Have Been His 42^nd Birthday;”  8/24/2020 www.espn.com story, “WNBA Players Pay Tribute to Kobe Bryant On His Birthday;”  8/24/2020 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Scottie Pippen, and Richard Jefferson; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant.