Mamba Mentality

Competing 20 seasons in the NBA, United States professional basketball league, Kobe Bryant is the number 4 scorer in NBA history.

Basketball Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California, United States, Sunday (01/26/2020) afternoon local time.

The man who was born on August 23, 1978, died on his way to Mamba Sports Academy, his basketball training camp in Thousand Oaks, California.

Bryant’s second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, also died in the accident. Gigi, Gianna’s nickname, is known to have the intention, interest, and talent to follow in his father’s footsteps on the basketball court.

Retiring from professional basketball after the last match on April 13, 2016, Bryant is active as a writer and film producer.

With a work ethic that is recognized by his colleagues deserves thumbs up, Kobe Bryant also received recognition from this new field.

In fact, his Dear Basketball film in 2017 won a 2018 Oscar for a short animated film.

Bryant’s Childhood

Kobe Bryant is the son of Joseph Washington “Jelly Bean” Bryant, who was also a professional basketball player for eight seasons. Kobe’s father played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Bryant’s childhood had spent eight years in Italy since he was six years old. That was when his father left the NBA and continued playing professional basketball in Italy.

Bryant began playing basketball at the age of three. Of course, because of the father too. Remarkably, from the beginning, he was a fan of the LA Lakers, the only professional team that he then strengthened for 20 seasons since 1996.

Back in the United States, Bryant joined the Lower Merion High School basketball team in Ardmore, Philadelphia.

Throughout his amateur career, Bryant scored an average of 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists.

He has also been a Pennsylvania Player of the Year at both the junior and senior high school levels – the level of junior and senior high school here.

His achievements led him to be the target of hunters for talent scouts and recruiters from universities, and even plural reasons for fierce competition in school basketball games in America.

Speaking of the basketball scholarship provider, Bryant once made Duke University, Michigan, North Carolina, and Villanova a list of opportunities. However, Kevin Garnett’s offer to the 1995 NBA target list he chose.

Bryant’s choice on Garnett’s offer also led him to jump straight into a professional basketball career. His action from the beginning to join the LA Lakers was immediately in the spotlight.

Although this also means that he did not have the chance to feel the name of a college. Kobe Bryant is the 27th player in the NBA who was recruited directly from the high school level school team here.

Professional Career

Bryant’s professional career is a Los Angeles Lakers. This is the only team he has strengthened in his professional career.

Not surprisingly, then, the LA Lakers no longer allow other players to use numbers 8 and 24, which is Bryant’s back number.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of numbers and Bryant. Bryant’s career record with this team is indeed fantastic.

When he died, he was listed as the fourth-highest scorer in NBA history.

Bryant, who plays as a guard at the LA Lakers, outperformed the acquisition of points Shaquille Rashaun “Shaq” O’Neal, his teammate and contemporaries at the LA Lakers who played as a center.

Previously, Bryant was even recorded as the holder of the record for collecting the third-most points, before being shifted by LeBron James, his junior in the same team. This ranking order shifted less than 24 hours before Bryant died.

The saddest thing, especially for LeBron James, is Bryant’s last tweet about his congratulations, who has just shifted Bryant’s position.

Bryant’s achievements are not just personal points. Together with the LA Lakers, they won the NBA five times in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2010.

Bryant became the best NBA finals player in 2009 and 2010. He also became the best player (MVP) in 2008 and 2009.

Then, he is the record holder of playing in the All-Star Game MVP, which is four times in 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011. Bryant also recorded 18 times played in the NBA All-Stars match, namely in 1998 and 2000-2016.

Not only for the LA Lakers, but Bryant also became the backbone for the United States basketball team when they won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Olympics in London, England.

He set a personal point record in one match in 2006, precisely when the LA Lakers played against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. He scored 81 points in that match, becoming the second most recorded point in a single game in NBA history.

He also won the slam dunk contest in 1997. Then in 2006 and 2007, he became an NBA scoring champion.

Acting in Multimedia

Completed from a professional basketball career, the world of Kobe Bryant is not entirely separated from the world of sports that catapulted his name. Aside from continuing to train and own a basketball club, Bryant plays and makes films about basketball.

Besides Dear Basketball, who won the 2018 Oscars, Bryant also worked on Daddy’s Home (2015) and Detail (2018).

Bryant also founded Granity Studio, a multimedia company that he dedicated to presenting stories about the world of sports.

With all this progress and achievements, the world of sports — not just basketball — even laypeople experience deep sorrow and loss.

Although widely known as a helicopter user for daily transportation, Bryant was not described as an arrogant figure because of his choice.

Acknowledging the helicopter is an important tool for its activities, including maintaining fitness because time is not running out on the streets, Bryant is not stingy to use the helicopter for various purposes of others. One of them brought his colleague who needed a medical referral to the hospital.

The flow of expression of grief has not stopped since the first news of Bryant’s death broke. His teammate and contemporaries, Shaq, are among those who are clearly grieving.

Kobe Bryant married Vanessa Laine in 2001. From his marriage, they were blessed with four children, respectively Natalia Diamante Bryant (January 2003), Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant (May 2006 – 27 January 2020), Bianka Bella Bryant (December 2016), and Capri Kobe Bryant (June 2019).

Goodbye, Black Mamba …. So long ….