Kobe Bryant got knocked out the box today | He passed away

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

Yeah and wow.

[Cornfed]

Indeed.

https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... -calabasas

[gsjackson]

I'm a bit surprised at how profoundly sad this has made me. He was a vivid personality, seemed fully alive. Last time I saw him he was trash talking Luka Doncic in Slovenian from a courtside seat, and Luka turned around to shake his hand before throwing the ball in. Who else does that? It's rare to see an apparently charmed life snuffed out so suddenly and randomly. I can't think of an athlete anywhere close to his stature who has departed so abruptly in an accident. RIP.

[Cornfed]

It's interesting, because when I taught English in a Chinese high-school back in 2011-2012, everyone adored and worshiped Kobe Bryant. Funny that. RIP.

[hypermak]

The whole of Italy is in a state of shock. As you may know Kobe spent his youth in Italy with his Dad, who was playing basket for a few Italian teams. Not only Jobe spoke fluent Italian, he wanted all his kids to learn Italian. He will be sorely missed like the sports Legend he is, but also as one of Ours.

[gsjackson]

For some reason -- maybe because he was the public face of the NBA at a time of enormous basketball expansion worldwide -- Bryant may have been the most popular athlete internationally, especially in China (along with Yao Ming) and Europe. Perhaps Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and -- somebody who follows soccer help me out here, Ronaldo or Messi? -- had as high a profile internationally over the same time period.

I recall now there was an athlete of similar stature who died in an accident at peak popularity. Roberto Clemente was on top of the baseball world after the Pirates won the World Series in '71. A couple months later he died in a plane crash taking supplies to victims of a natural disaster. The impact was similar in the U.S. and Latin America -- the five-year waiting period was waived and Clemente was voted immediately into the Hall of Fame -- but baseball's popularity in the rest of the world (absent Japan where it's the national sport) was not what basketball's is today.

Clemente had a persona much like Bryant's -- a bit edgy and prickly, a bit of a maverick, but highly respected and regarded as extremely intelligent. Someone who was expected to remain in the public eye long after his playing career.