The life of the famous basketball player Kobe Bryant ended in 2020. Everyone, even those not related to sports, knew about the details of his death. His daughter also died with him. However, despite the terrible last hours of the athlete’s life, he had an eventful and bright path. Read more on iphiladelphia
Early years
The future ace of basketball was born on August 23, 1978 in the beautiful city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family was quite large. Bryant was the third and youngest child. It is not surprising that the boy turned out to be a good athlete. His father, Joe Bryant, was a former NBA player. Kobe’s maternal uncle was John ‘Chubby’ Cox, also an NBA player. According to some sources, the parents named their son after beef from Kobe, a city in Japan.
The child became interested in basketball at the age of 3. Then, he began to take his first steps in this sport. His favorite team, which he always supported in childhood and youth, was the Lakers.
The boy’s father decided to leave the NBA but had a desire to continue playing basketball professionally. Therefore, the whole family was forced to leave their homeland and move to unfamiliar Italy. Still, they did not stay in one city. Kobe moved very often. He adjusted to this rhythm of life and easily found new acquaintances. Considering that Bryant was only 6 years old when the family moved to Italy, the boy became fluent in Italian quite quickly.
Despite the large number of moves, the future basketball player considered the city of Reggio Emilia, Italy, to be his home. He had good childhood memories from there.
Interest in sports
Bryant began his career in Italy. His grandfather sent Kobe tapes of every NBA game from America. All this was done so that the boy could learn from the best players of the teams. In addition to getting pleasure from watching matches, Kobe was inspired by movies that were dedicated to sports.
When the boy was a little older and his father still played basketball, Bryant worked on games. Thanks to this, he had the opportunity to practice throwing the ball during breaks. After all, the boy understood that in order to be a professional and a good player, he must practice and improve his skills.
When the boy turned 13, the family moved back to Philadelphia. In his native city, Kobe went to the eighth grade. Then, the boy joined the school basketball team. Thanks to the acquired skills, Bryant led his team to the state championship. The basketball player showed such achievements four years in a row. Even at that age, Kobe knew that his dream was the NBA.
NBA career
Bryant had fairly good grades in school, which could help him get into a higher education institution. However, the boy decided to follow his dream. That is why, after graduating from school, he immediately went straight to the NBA.
From the first time, the basketball player was taken to the Charlotte Hornets team, where he played under number 13. He did not stay there for long because he was quickly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
His career began to rise rapidly. At the age of 19, he became the youngest star in the entire history of the NBA. Then, Bryant played only his second season as part of the Lakers. He managed to play in the same team with Shaquille O’Neal. In this composition, the Lakers won three championships. Kobe was recognized as the best player in the NBA.
Bryant became a well-known media personality. He was noticed by such large-scale brands as Adidas and Sprite, with which he signed contracts for more than one year.
The perseverance of the basketball player led him to his dream and he became a star known to the whole world. Because of his skills, Bryant was nicknamed the Black Mamba. For many years he beat opponents. In 2006, Kobe even managed to score 81 points. This became the second best indicator in the entire history of the NBA.
End of career
Even being a professional in their field, athletes are not immune to injuries, especially when they are in the sport for a very long time. This happened to Bryant. He suffered more than one injury in his career. In 2015, one of them became the last. After this, the basketball player announced that he would take a well-deserved rest after the end of the season.
No matter how difficult it was for him, he understood that the last year was all he had left, except for memories. But all the 20 years that Kobe gave to the sport were something that he could not have imagined as a child. His dream became a reality.
Death
On January 26, 2020, Bryant boarded a helicopter and took off on business. There were 9 passengers on board, including his daughter Gianna, who was only 13 years old. That day there was a little rain and fog. It interfered with the flight but the pilot did not pay attention to it. At that time, no one could know how a usual flight would end. At 9:45 AM, the helicopter collided with a mountain in Calabasas. The accident resulted in the deaths of all passengers on board.
No one could believe that this tragedy really happened to Bryant. On January 28, his identity was confirmed. The cause of death of each passenger in the helicopter was the collision.
The cause of the accident was investigated. However, it was quite difficult to do this because the helicopter did not have a black box that could shed light on the events of January 26, 2020. In 2021, a theory was put forward that the cause of the tragedy was the disorientation of the pilot, who flew through rather thick clouds.
A basketball legend and his daughter, who dreamed of repeating her father’s achievements, died that day. Kobe Bryant just began to live without daily training and spent more time with his family, especially with Gianna. However, fate had a completely different plan for him. He will neither play any more games, not even in his backyard, nor kiss his wife and children, experiencing the joy of life.