Kobe Bryant is dead
- Thread starter CycloneDaddy
- Start date
Not to be cruel or anything but, at least for me, this one has hit much worse. Robin Williams was a big loss but he committed suicide. I don’t think the shock is there in the same way.
I think the fact that Lebron passed him on the all time scoring list just before adds to the shock.
I agree with this. I definitely felt it when I heard the news of him dying. There are still times that I still need to remind myself that RW isn't alive, and I have a feeling Kobe is going to be the same way.
This one hit hard. I started watching basketball late in MJ's career and was tuned in for all of Kobe's great years. He was my favorite player to watch. I remember in middle school and high school buying the extended wristbands and wearing them on my bicep because Kobe did it (note: it looked alot cooler on him than on my scrawny biceps). In 2008 I was working as an intern in DC and spent money I didn't have to watch the Wizards play the Lakers. I'll never forget him hitting one of his patented turnaround jump shots with 20 or so seconds left to put the game away.
Losing someone like this so suddenly is what makes it hard. He wasn't sick, he didn't have any time to prepare for any of this. He and his family were just going through their day-to-day routine with no understanding they were spending their last moments together. Probably hurried out the door with quick goodbyes. No idea of what was coming.
It makes it all the more difficult when it's someone that just feels invincible to you. I think Lamar Odom said it best that even with the helicopter going down, you still think someone like Kobe would have parachuted out and landed on his feet or something like that. Just an absolute testament to how fleeting life is. But what separates this from other tragedies is the inclusion of his daughter. It's just unthinkably sad.
Part of me realizes there is a level of absurdity to allowing yourself to be emotionally impacted by the death of someone you didn't know and likely will never even meet. But for some reason this one just resonates.
Losing someone like this so suddenly is what makes it hard. He wasn't sick, he didn't have any time to prepare for any of this. He and his family were just going through their day-to-day routine with no understanding they were spending their last moments together. Probably hurried out the door with quick goodbyes. No idea of what was coming.
It makes it all the more difficult when it's someone that just feels invincible to you. I think Lamar Odom said it best that even with the helicopter going down, you still think someone like Kobe would have parachuted out and landed on his feet or something like that. Just an absolute testament to how fleeting life is. But what separates this from other tragedies is the inclusion of his daughter. It's just unthinkably sad.
Part of me realizes there is a level of absurdity to allowing yourself to be emotionally impacted by the death of someone you didn't know and likely will never even meet. But for some reason this one just resonates.
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I think the biggest difference for me is that Kobe was an icon and superstar. Icons aren't supposed to die, especially when they are so young. I still remember when he was getting ready to retire and my thought was, I can't believe it. His time is finally coming to an end. Now that he is truly gone from this world, it's complete and utter shock. I woke up this morning hoping yesterday was just a bad dream.
I (very) respectfully disagree! http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/meditation17.php
"any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind..."
And you certainly had a greater than average connection to him by virtue of your fandom.
Not absurd at all. He was a big time star and was a part of your life for a long time. Especially if you are an NBA fan.
Heck I get emotional on the last episode of shows like the Office and Parks and Rec because I feel like I am saying goodbye to really good friends.
I always kind of expected him to come back to basketball. I had this feeling he thought he wanted to be retired but would miss the competition such that he couldn't stay away. I could have seen him coming back in like February and joining a contender.
But as it turns out he really seemed happy in retirement and was finding other ways to be fulfilled.
I was coaching at my daughter's basketball tournament and it was surreal to see the news kind of make its way around the gym. Not sure I've ever been a part of anything quite like that.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Roberto Clemente was a shock to people, but that was around 1972.
Got hit #3000 to finish the season. Went home to the Dominican Republic to do some charity work, and his plane crashed.
You don't get this sudden sort of thing very often.
My wife and I noted that the fog Saturday night (we're in LA) was very out of the ordinary. It's typical to have morning fog especially near the ocean but it was much heavier than usual and very strange to have it in the early evening. I could barely see across the street from my front window when I went to bed Saturday night. My very uneducated armchair weatherman guess would be the pilot thought it was typical morning marine layer and it didn't burn off like usual.
Lot of Lakers gear out and about yesterday.
Lot of Lakers gear out and about yesterday.
Again I'm being armchair weatherman...but I often go surfing at around 7:30am leaving with it a little foggy, by the time I'm actually in the water at 8:30 it's gone from foggy to mostly sunny. Saturday and Sunday weren't like that. It was foggy everywhere all day and it lasted most of Sunday too. It's actually pretty rare to get fog other than those few hours every morning near the coast. Saturday night was about as foggy as I've seen it.
Why does suicide make it less shocking? Bith were sudden, both were a huge part of many people's lives, Robin Williams was the first celebrity death that hit me hard, Kobe's was the second. I know Im not the only one in that boat either.
