Mamba
On Sunday January 26th, the sports world experienced one of the most devastating losses in the history of the NBA. Former All-Star and 5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant passed away along with his daughter Gigi and 7 others as his helicopter, which was traveling to his daughters AAU basketball game, crashed in Calabasas California. Bryants’ stunning death sent shock waves felt across the world as we had never lost such an iconic figure during the prime of his life. Kobe was more than a beloved NBA star he was a philanthropist and even more saddening, only focusing on being a good dad. Ironically this tragedy was one of the largest and best examples of this course, “sports and society”. Gianna, Bryants’ daughter was 13 at the time of the accident and a budding basketball star in her own right. The most moving part of his passing was the effect it seemed to have on the world. People far and wide basketball fans or not felt this shock and depression upon learning of Bryants’ death. From athletes across all sports, to actors and actresses, musicians and politicians this loss was felt on a grand scale. It is losses like these that teach us the true meaning of sports. Though we all find great joy in those 3 hour escapes to catch a game or those Sundays where we spend 8 hours on the couch enjoying football, we need to always remember that as much joy we are getting from the games we are viewing, we must always appreciate the people we are watching them with or the company we are keeping. Sports teach us valuable life lessons. How to win, how to lose, how to handle adversity, how to be a team, how to pick yourself up when you fall down. This incident reminded us all how to be the most important thing, Human. This awful tragedy was a strong reminder that our time here isn’t bought, its borrowed and no matter the stature of the person or unfair situation, it can be taken from us at any moment. A moment I’m sure we have all shared with our parents or children of laughing and having fun on the way to a game, was turned into the tragic end for Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 other innocent souls that will never be able to experience that family bonding and learning again.
