Kobe Bryant Dies in Helicopter crash

[NWIrish]

Whenever I go, although I pray it isn't under circumstances like these, for my children to know that I went out putting my love for them first... as tragic as this is and as heartbreaking for the surviving kids as it will be for the rest of their lives, they'll always know their Dad loved them with everything he had and nothing came before them and he'll be watching over them till they see each other again.

 

[ACamp1900]

For whatever reason I remember his draft moment (Hornets) so clearly, watched it with a close childhood friend... don’t believe I remember any other nba draft moment.

Life is crazy, very sad for his remaining family,..

 

[yankeehater]

Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli was also killed along with one of his daughters. What makes this truly hit home for me is I just found out last night one of my high school teammates and good friend's son just transferred from a D1 program and was now playing at OCC for Coach Altobelli. He was telling us how much his son loved him. OCC has traditionally been one of the top juco programs in the state. Truly shocking and saddening!

 

[yankeehater]

WTH!!!

Now reporting a total of nine killed in the crash!

 

[Irish YJ]

His youngest was an infant. That doesn’t seem possible.

Oh my God. Can’t even wrap my head around how sad this is

Thank goodness they (ABC) were wrong. Just read they are now saying a total of 9 people were on board. Not sure if true. It's on the TMZ site. I know... TMZ... but they've been out in front of all the reporting so far today.

 

[ulukinatme]

You know, his family will be fine financially, but I'm sure they'd trade it all to have him back. So sad, he spent so many years on the road traveling most of the year, he's only been retired a few years now. It's a shame he and his family didn't get to really enjoy it. RIP.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

His 13 year old daughter was onboard and killed, as well. This is the daughter he coached and was expected to be a top college prospect. They show the 2 of them at games on ESPN often. Just so sad. She was supposedly a really big Daddy's girl. At least they are together. All I can think of as comfort.

 

[Irishbounty28]

Absolutely devastating news! I cannot fathom what their family is going through in these moments and pray they are able to find a way to get through this tragedy. It wasn’t until hearing the news I realized how polarizing and impactful athletes can be in individuals lives who they have never met. Life is fragile and every second of every day should be cherished. RIP Kobe and Gianna, as well as the other 7 individuals who have lost their lives.

 

[Circa]

This is so sad for everyone involved.

I've been seeing reports about the weather being a factor.
This is the last few minutes of communication from the pilot.

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RIP to those souls aboard.

 

[calvegas04]

This was terrible, very emotional day. He was such a great player and even better father. Gonna take a while to get over this loss.

 

[Irishnuke]

Turns out that my friend who just lost her husband in a car crash right before Christmas was friends with Christina Mauser, one of the coaches that passed away in the crash. Such an awful tragedy all around. Living in Laker country this is hitting people especially hard.

 

[Irish#1]

RIP

 

[ulukinatme]

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[irishnd31]

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Class

 

[Luckylucci]

Blazers/Pacers did the same thing at the Rose Garden. Very classy move by these franchises.

 

[greyhammer90]

Blazers/Pacers did the same thing at the Rose Garden. Very classy move by these franchises.

As far as I know every team that played yesterday did it, with some purposefully doing a 24 shot clock violation and the other team doing an 8 second violation immediately after in reference to his two numbers.

Mike Breen yesterday was clearly having trouble yesterday keeping it together to call his game.

Mark Cuban stated that the number 24 will be retired for the Mavericks going forward, and I'd expect some other franchises to make the same move.

A really sad day all around.

 

[calvegas04]

Trying to think of another athlete that would be a loss this big, can really only think of maybe Tiger.

 

[GATTACA!]

Trying to think of another athlete that would be a loss this big, can really only think of maybe Tiger.

Yeah I think that's a good comp. I was going to say maybe Peyton, but the NBA is so much younger and more international so I think Kobe's impact was probably much greater on the rise of popularity of basketball vs what Peyton did for the NFL.

Tiger had probably even a bigger impact on golf.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Trying to think of another athlete that would be a loss this big, can really only think of maybe Tiger.

Jordan, Tiger, and Derek Jeter are pretty much it IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BobbyMac]

Walter Payton broke my heart. Have had two dogs named after him since, one of which I bought the day he died.

I fear the passing of Larry Bird. I spend hours watching old Celtics games and fan tributes to him. So much of my connection to basketball, which defined my life, happened from the time Bird came on the scene as a Soph at ISU until his retirement from the Celtics.

I will be crushed.

Others that would stop the world: Obama, Jordan, LBJ, Tiger & Tyson.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Walter Payton broke my heart. Have had two dogs named after him since, one of which I bought the day he died.

I fear the passing of Larry Bird. I spend hours watching old Celtics games and fan tributes to him. So much of my connection to basketball, which defined my life, happened from the time Bird came on the scene as a Soph at ISU until his retirement from the Celtics.

I will be crushed.

Others that would stop the world: Obama, Jordan, LBJ, Tiger & Tyson.

Paul McCartney

 

[fightingirish26]

Jordan, Tiger, and Derek Jeter are pretty much it IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jordan is 15 years older, so while it would be a massively huge deal, there's a whole nother generation of kids who never saw him play. I'm 22, I only very vaguely remember Wizards era MJ. Kobe is also universally known, tho his Italian roots, multilinguality and love of soccer have made him widely beloved overseas as well. Jordan is a huge brand so it would still be comparable.

Tiger would probably be comparable, tho I think Kobe is more beloved. Kobe made mistakes but has owned up and repaired his image, Tiger has always been a pretty huge dick. Jeter I don't think would even be close. Baseball's global appeal is much weaker than basketball's, and his celebrity in general is not what Kobe's is.

LeBron, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo would definitely be even bigger deals, and there's probably another tier of soccer stars who you could make a case for.

 

[Circa]

Jordan is 15 years older, so while it would be a massively huge deal, there's a whole nother generation of kids who never saw him play. I'm 22, I only very vaguely remember Wizards era MJ. Kobe is also universally known, tho his Italian roots, multilinguality and love of soccer have made him widely beloved overseas as well. Jordan is a huge brand so it would still be comparable.

Tiger would probably be comparable, tho I think Kobe is more beloved. Kobe made mistakes but has owned up and repaired his image, Tiger has always been a pretty huge dick. Jeter I don't think would even be close. Baseball's global appeal is much weaker than basketball's, and his celebrity in general is not what Kobe's is.

LeBron, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo would definitely be even bigger deals, and there's probably another tier of soccer stars who you could make a case for.

I know this really isn't the place, but. Kobe was accused and If I remember correctly the person who accused him was looking for money...
Tiger was pretty well found out about and he sees It as a personal thing and I don't blame him. Both IMHO were about infidelity and it is wrong, but something some of us guys have to learn the hard way.

Now for Jordan. He was for my generation what Kobe Is for a lot of younger guys.
I would have been destroyed with a lot of what I was trying to go through as a young cat If the same thing happened with MJ.
It's why I feel so sad for everyone affected by this tragedy.
It's truly amazing how much these guys can be role models that we never really understand until we still can't really understand more...
Edit: Jordan had some very deep issues at his time too. Infidelity being 1.

 

[Circa]

Yeah I think that's a good comp. I was going to say maybe Peyton, but the NBA is so much younger and more international so I think Kobe's impact was probably much greater on the rise of popularity of basketball vs what Peyton did for the NFL.

Tiger had probably even a bigger impact on golf.

I would also say, Jordans Impact on everything basketball changed more about the game and the sports world than I feel like talking about. He had the WGN network out of Chicago before NBC had ND as far as I remember. I could watch him every night before we knew what the internet was. I was from Southern Ohio at the time.

I really appreciate the way Kobe was as a boy to man. He was able to overcome the 1st second coming of Jordan. He Is and always will be my 2nd favorite player. He stayed with the Lakers until they were good and stayed when they dropped. You can't possibly take that away from anyone.
I don't think we will see another basketball era that Kobe helped define.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

I know this really isn't the place, but. Kobe was accused and If I remember correctly the person who accused him was looking for money...
Tiger was pretty well found out about and he sees It as a personal thing and I don't blame him. Both IMHO were about infidelity and it is wrong, but something some of us guys have to learn the hard way.

Now for Jordan. He was for my generation what Kobe Is for a lot of younger guys.
I would have been destroyed with a lot of what I was trying to go through as a young cat If the same thing happened with MJ.
It's why I feel so sad for everyone affected by this tragedy.
It's truly amazing how much these guys can be role models that we never really understand until we still can't really understand more...

I agree on MJ. Maybe if he died today it wouldn't have the impact of Kobe's death. But had he died either during his playing days or not long after, the impact would have been very similar. For me, MJ was and still is the greatest player ever. And I'm not talking about stats or anything, just what he meant to me. He was my favorite player of any sport. I didn't really watch basketball as much after MJ left the Bulls. I couldn't. So though I'm extremely sad about Kobe and possibly even more so about Gigi, I know it doesn't compare to how I would have felt if the same had happened to MJ.

 

[greyhammer90]

ESPN airing his final game right now in case anyone wants to watch him drop sixty one last time.

 

[calvegas04]

LeBron, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo would definitely be even bigger deals, and there's probably another tier of soccer stars who you could make a case for.

I don't know if LBJ would as big as Kobe's passing. The others I believe may be bigger around the world just not in the US.

Jordan has lived a long life and for that I don't believe it would have the same impact.

With that said I hope we have a long long long time left with these game changing athletes.

RIP Kobe... #Mamba4life

 

[Circa]

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[GATTACA!]

I don't know if LBJ would as big as Kobe's passing. The others I believe may be bigger around the world just not in the US.

Jordan has lived a long life and for that I don't believe it would have the same impact.

With that said I hope we have a long long long time left with these game changing athletes.

RIP Kobe... #Mamba4life

LBJ absolutley would be.

I agree about Jordan though and that's why I didn't include him in my first post. While it certainly would still be tragic, Kobe was 41! Horrible.

This whole thing just feels so surreal.

 

[Irish#1]

Jordan is 15 years older, so while it would be a massively huge deal, there's a whole nother generation of kids who never saw him play. I'm 22, I only very vaguely remember Wizards era MJ. Kobe is also universally known, tho his Italian roots, multilinguality and love of soccer have made him widely beloved overseas as well. Jordan is a huge brand so it would still be comparable.

Tiger would probably be comparable, tho I think Kobe is more beloved. Kobe made mistakes but has owned up and repaired his image, Tiger has always been a pretty huge dick. Jeter I don't think would even be close. Baseball's global appeal is much weaker than basketball's, and his celebrity in general is not what Kobe's is.

LeBron, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo would definitely be even bigger deals, and there's probably another tier of soccer stars who you could make a case for.

It's all in your perspective and your preference in sports. I'm not a golf fan, but know about Tiger's records and infidelity. Even though I follow a lot of sports, I don't know who these people are.