We don’t talk politics or religion at LA Dodger Talk and it is extremely rare that we talk about… much less even feature, something other than Dodger Baseball, but today is one of those days (sadly). For those of us who are old enough, we will always remember where we were when people like JFK, Princess Diana, and Kobe Bryant died.
I was in Waikiki heading to the Airport when I heard the news. It was sad enough that it was Kobe who went down, but then when we heard that his thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna was also killed it became ever more so heartbreaking.
The Toronto Raptors won the tip at the start of the game just after Kobe was killed and waited out the 24-second clock, losing a possession out of respect to Kobe.
Today Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday), LA Dodger Talk will honor Kobe Bryant, one of the most fierce competitors the sport of basketball has ever known. He was known as the Black Mamba and NBA Assassin.
I will let this serve as a forum to honor Kobe, who scored 60 points in his last game… and retired!
Please share your memories and eulogize the life and times of Kobe Bryant who would be on the Mt. Rushmore of Basketball players (if there was such a thing). So sad! RIP Koby and GiGi!
There were a lot of pictures I could have selected for Kobe, but I chose one that showed what a fierce competitor he was. Basketball and Los Angeles has lost a legend and an icon. Kobe, we will never forget…
Please share your memories, LADT Family! You never know when your last breath on this earth might come. Make the best of it.
From Evan Bladh (who was going to post tomorrow)
Because of the raw emotion so many are feeling with the death of Kobe Bryant, it is probably best to postpone what I prepared today for another date, as it had a comedic slant. Words can’t express the sadness felt by many Los Angeles fans with the news of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash. We saw him grow into adulthood under the spotlight and it wasn’t easy for him. My thoughts and prayers to his surviving family. The enormity of the tragedy reaches unthinkable level when you consider that his daughter perished in the crash.
Kobe was about as big a sports figure in Los Angeles that there could be. The city will be in mourning for a while as they come to grips with the loss. Who would believe that Kobe would leave this earth before West, Baylor, Abdul Jabbar and Magic? 41 years is just too young. Such a tragedy.
The Dodgers brought out Kobe to announce the starting lineups at Game 4 of the 2018 Series. Most likely to bring them good karma as a Los Angeles athlete that had defeated a Boston team in a final. It didn’t work, but it was a try. Kobe had a sense of history. I recall him entering Arenas during NBA finals wearing jerseys of champions in other sports. A Namath 69 Jets jersey, a Koufax throwback Dodger jersey. He was making a statement that he wanted to win a championship as they had.
As I watch all the memorials and read the tweets of so many remembering his life. This is reminding me of New Year’s Day, 1973, Roberto Clemente but truthfully, this is different. I can’t ever remember such a superstar Los Angeles athlete that has ever died so young. The city is mourning.
There will remember his mistakes, and some disliked him because of that, but this isn’t the time to rehash. The man was a good father and he had a bright future in other endeavors. Rest in peace Kobe, your loss will be felt for many years to come.
I wrote this at the Airport in Honolulu while awaiting my flight to SF.
I have not always been a huge Laker fan, but this one hurts… a lot!
Wow Mark I truley am thankful for this post and I appreciate you for doing so, I’ve been a Kobe fan since he was in high school. I knew he was special and I love him as a player and person. He was the greatest basketball player to me! I am so sad today I havent cried like this since my mom passed away 3 years ago lol! Thank you Mark I appreciate ya
It’s late here in Iowa when the Dodgers and Lakers finish up so I’ve ended many a nights watching my two LA teams. I swear just about every game I watched Kobe would do something that would make my jaw drop.
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I remember being at a work conference in DC sitting in my hotel room watching a high school dunk contest on ESPN that Kobe dominated.
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Spent many a night listening to Chick Hearns put it in the fridge after Kobe and Shaq finished off another opponent.
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I watched a video today of all of Kobe’s game winning shots and it brought back memories of where I was at the time of many of those buckets.
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Check out the photo of Puig’s WS HR against Boston and look who’s behind home plate and who’s flexing to Puig and Belli when they score.
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Mamba brought me a lot of happy moments. I feel terrible for his wife and daughters.
You could tell his daughter, Gianna was the light of his life. Just devestatong! Our prayers go out to his wife Venessa and his other three daughters and the families of the other victims
This is truly a devastating day. Kobe will always be remembered for his clutch play. He was a HOF (soon to be official) basketball player, but after some early displays of immaturity, he became a great husband and father. I will forever remember the Lakers 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 NBA Championships because of how it infuriated the Sacramento community I was new too. After the Magic/Kareem/Worthy/Cooper/Green/Rambis championships, I became more of a fair weather Lakers fan until the 2000/2001 season with Kobe and Shaq.
This tragedy also has a baseball twist. One of the most revered Community College coaches was also on that flight; John Altobelli. Altobelli, his wife and daughter were on the helicopter. They leave behind another daughter and son (now a BoSox scout). Altobelli was named National Coach of the Year last year. He was entering his 28th year at Orange Coast Community College.
My deepest condolences go to Vanessa and the Bryant’s three daughters, to the Altobelli’s daughter and son, and to the other four passengers and their families. This is truly a tragic and sad day. It is absolutely heart breaking.
John Altobelli was a truly revered coach in the Southern California coaching ranks. Very saddened to hear that this tragedy included him, his wife and daughter.
I don’t post often. The T.O. in T.O.Dave stands for Thousand Oaks, which is where I live and where Kobe and the others were headed. It’s a beautiful area that has unfortunately been tragically linked to the Borderline massacre, the Woolsey Fire just days after (during which I was evacuated), and now sadly to Kobe.
Yesterday was one of those Chamber of Commerce days weather-wise here. It was even better in the afternoon in Newport Beach, where my wife and I met up with our daughter, a freshman engineering student at UC Irvine.
This morning I woke up to overcast, chilly beach weather. What a difference a day makes. My wife and I strolled from the parents’ beach house on 29th street to the Newport Pier area. I walked and thought about how Lebron had surpassed Kobe the night before. I thought about how Kobe was a resident of Newport Beach.
After watching the surfers tear up the overhead surf, reminding my wife that 30 plus years and 8 surgeries ago I used to do the same, my wife reminded me we needed to return to the beach house, wake up our daughter and get her back to UC Irvine.
I decided to take a little detour on the way to show my daughter where I spent my first year of college in 1983-84…Orange Coast College. Little did I know how gloomy the already overcast day was about to become.
Heading back to Thousand Oaks, I was on the 405 freeway near LAX when the terrible news broke. Not only will I remember where I was, but I will remember the entire weekend when I think back to Kobe passing.
This morning I was in Newport Beach; so was Kobe. Today I was heading to Thousand Oaks; so was Kobe. I made it. Sadly, he and 8 others didn’t.
Sorry it took such a sad event for you to post Dave. Hope we hear from you about more upbeat things in the future.
Life is so very fragile, even for those who seem to have super powers.
Thanks TOD,
Kobe and his daughter were someone everyone knew, but the 7 others who had their lives cut short makes this all the more an unspeakable tragedy!
I really am not a huge NBA fan , especially the Lakers, but I was always fully aware of the greatness of Kobe. More importantly than the loss of a basketball icon is the loss of a father and a husband in the prime of his life. Kobe retired on top to devote the rest of his life to his family who had devoted their lives to him as a player.
Also devastating is the loss to the Altobelli family and the families of the four others on the flight.
A sad day indeed.
I was there to watch Kobe’s first ever game in a Laker uniform. I was there to watch Kobe’s last ever game in a Laker uniform.
This still surreal. As most of you know, I’ve been a Lakers season ticket holder for over 15 years. (Not that it makes me any more of a fan than anyone else). But Staples Center has been home for a long time, and Kobe has been the top host for all of of us.
1996, the just drafted Kobe Bryant broke his arm in some pickup game shorty after the draft, causing him to miss training camp and even missed the first couple exhibition games. So his first ever appearance in a Laker uniform was on Wednesday, October 16, in preseason game vs Dallas in Fresno. And I, as a Fresno St student at the time, was there to watch it.
In between, I was at Staples Center for the 2000 Portland Game 7 comeback, the 2010 Boston game 7 title clinching game, and tons of regular season and playoff games in between. Due to a law school midterm the following morning, I decided to stay home on a January, 2006 Sunday evening instead of driving to Staples Center to the Raptor-Laker game. Whoops, my bad; he scored 81 points that night. The next morning I bought a 24 jersey.
In 2016, I was at Staples Center for Kobe’s last game. That atmosphere as Kobe put on a show for his 60 point finale was like a Finals atmosphere. Everyone was in utter disbelief, just shaking their heads and laughing/screaming. The crowd was waiting in long lines waiting for Staples Center to open its doors at 6pm for a 7:30pm game, something that just does not happen in LA.
In December, 2017, I was at Staples Center when the Lakers retired 8 and 24. It was an honor to watch.
I’m in DC right now, so I won’t be able to be at the Laker game tomorrow night. I can’t imagine how emotional the night will be for those who will attend. I’ll go next Tuesday for sure now when I’m back.
Big respect Bobby
Proper sports fan – no armchair for you.
Out of respect for Kobe, his family, and the other victims of the crash, we will not resume our regular column until Tuesday. We arrived in Napa late last night. One more day here and it’s back to Indy on Tuesday.
We are staying at River Terrace Inn in Napa and headed to some wineries today before meeting some friends for dinner in Sonoma at https://www.lasaletterestaurant.com/
You always seem to know the best restaurants. I need to take notes…
Mark, if you like English muffins, Model Bakery in Napa has great ones. It a nice stop.
Thanks
Some baseball related news, because this is a baseball blog and we’re all baseball fans as well: Mark’s bff Nic Castellanos just signed a 4/64 deal with the Reds
Sooo, I get to watch him on local TV.
Cincy got a lot better over the winter.
Casty has an opt-out after 2020 and 2021…
Indianapolis writer, Bob Kravitz on Kobe in The Athletic:
https://theathletic.com/1563466/2020/01/27/indianas-love-hate-relationship-with-kobe-bryant-ended-in-the-highest-form-of-respect/
A couple of guys I usually don’t care for, Kravitz and Plaschke, have written good pieces about the loss of Kobe and Gianna.
Interesting that no one wants Puig.
I always thought we should’ve sold high on him in the early days, when he had some value.
I also wonder if having him at all was a distraction, and could we have done better without him?
Not sure he did much for team moral and chemistry.
To think that he’s in his prime (29) and has no suitors speaks volumes.
Not sure we would have got better than Downs and Gray. The Dodgers allowed him to repair his reputation. Puig just didn’t put up the numbers last year to get signed before the other free-agents.
Hawkeye you are right – in the end Downs and Gray is a good pick up.
I was referring more to the very early days of Puig – when he was one of the hottest properties in Baseball. He was heading for Superstardom, but to me, he was overhyped and carried a huge ego that did not sit well in a team environment.
It then transpired that he was hard to coach, had discipline issues and was a distraction.
All those things were evident from outset I thought.
We gave him a lot of rope when it would have been better to get him out of the team.
I think if they had their time with Puig again, they would get rid much earlier. We would have got a much bigger haul, probably some Elite talent.
With his talent and have no takers in his prime says it all.
Greinke new best.
Everyone knew Puig was a knucklehead. The question is: who would have traded for him?
Gray and Downs are both potentially excellent players.
The Dodgers chose Puig over Kemp. Kemp was pouting about playing LF and disparaging teammates when he was on the bench. Considering salary, age, and talent most would have done the same. The Dodgers knew they rushed him up in 2013 to try to save their season well before he got the seasoning in the minors that he needed.
According to MLBR, the Diamondbacks are working out a trade for Starling Marte. How much does that improve them?
It does improve them quite a bit. Starling Marte is a good CF, and this allows Ketel Marte to move back to his natural 2B position. They gave up a decent package, but they could afford to. 19 year old SS Liover Peguero (#7 Pittsburgh prospect), and 19 year old RHP Brennan Malone (#8 Pittsburgh prospect). I know Malone was on the Dodgers short list last year. He was the 33rd pick overall in last year’s draft. Neither are Top 100 prospects and both have an overall scouting grade of 50.
I’ve been a Lakers fan all my life, when I read that tragic news, it made me cry. Not only has sport lost one of the greats, his family is the one who lost the most. My condolences for the Bryant family