It has now been a few days since reading that TMZ headline that Kobe Bryant has died and I still have that sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn’t personally know the guy; I cheered against him most of his career. I was so anti Kobe “the athlete” that I made a bet to shave my head if the Lakers won the championship that year and guess what, I lost. I wanted to believe Chauncey Billups was a better player than Kobe. I am a Jordan guy, always have and will be and it irked me when people tried to compare the two. So why has Kobe’s death given me this feeling that I can’t shake off?
As I have been reading and listening to celebrities and athletes talk about Kobe the player, you can clearly see the impact that his focus and Mamba mentality has had. While I too have great appreciation for the mamba mentality, what makes my eyes well up is thinking about “Kobe the dad”. He was a guys guy, playing basketball, the alpha dog, the take no prisoner/never back down type of guy when watching him play. Conversely, the pictures and videos of him as Kobe the dad to his girls show the love, pride and relatable side he never could show on the basketball court.
Having two young girls of my own, I always wonder if my passion for sports will be adopted by my daughters. Yes, its an old way of thinking, but I think majority of dads with girls have that feeling. Will I be able to sit and watch a basketball game by my daughters side with them asking me questions about pick and roll? Will we debate who the best player in the league is or want to shoot hoops on the driveway?. Initially, I really thought my passion for sports would never align with my girls, but those thoughts started to evolve watching the way Kobe embraced his role as a #girldad.
Kobe said he left basketball behind him after he retired. It was only until Gigi was interested in his passion that he truly began to reinvest in the game he loved. We started seeing pictures and videos of both of them together at basketball games where we saw them talk about plays teams were running. We saw vidoes of Gigi shooting a patented Kobe fadeaway and Kobe beaming with pride watching his girl take the game as serious as he did. Kobe did not just take coaching his daughter seriously, but started making women's sports mainstream. He was there at WNBA games, women's college games, US Women's Soccer game, giving these sports the visibility they deserve. Intentionally or unintentionally, he was helping push women's sports forward.
And that is why I have this sinking feeling in my stomach. His second act in life was going to have a far greater impact on this world. He was helping dads understand the importance of not pushing your dreams on your kids , rather let them come up with their own and then be involved as much as you can. He was helping bring more visibility to women's sports and giving hope to young girls. He ingrained in their heads that they are and will be taken seriously. We were robbed of the chance to see Gigi live up to her potential with her dad by her side. Kobe was ready to make a far greater impact as Kobe the dad than Kobe the player. His reach was crossing well beyond sports and basketball, and he was inspiring everyone in this world to be better in everything they do.
We should take solace in the fact that in their last moments, they were together doing what they loved to do. Gigi was thinking about basketball and Kobe was just being her dad.
#RipKobe #RipGigi #Mambaout #MambacitaOut