re: Anyone else surprised at how upset they are personally by this Kobe news?

The daughter and the others are the ones that should or could really make people upset, but I turn on sports radio for the past 24 hrs and hosts are literally weeping on air... And I juts don't get it.

OK, the guy was a great entertainer, but did you know him personally? Most on these shows didn't..yet they're acting as if their own family member died. It's really and truly bizarre and strange.

Guys die every day in the military and on police forces and no one shows 1/100th of the remorse. Call me cynical, but I belive much of this is for show...hosts trying to outdo each other with "emotion" and "seriousness"

Dan Patrick was extra nauseating this morning. He said his whole show was basically in mourning.

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I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. But this one was a punch in the gut.

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Yep. I’m with you and OP on this one.

Simmons and Chris Ryan mentioned it in their pod - we basically watched this guy’s entire life. I remember being 10 years old and rooting against him, I remember being 27 and watching his last game. That’s a long time.

Being able to feel for someone you never met isn’t strange, it shows a human empathy and compassion and awareness.

Not everybody thinks like that, and those among us who are less emotional don’t really connect with the story. Nothing wrong with it, but I definitely could have predicted who in my life and on this board would take this particular stance.

To each their own. It was a really sad day for me.

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So many of us can relate to the hustle and bustle of getting kids from home to practice/game

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It’s obviously sad but my biggest takeaway is some people are so rich they can take a helicopter to basketball practice

He is my favorite athlete of all time, so I am biased but I think a lot has to do with how he changed the narrative of his career and the idea of the person he is (was )

Somewhere along the way, Kobe went from being viewed as this cyborg loner who had no interests in anyone or anything other than basketball and being the GOAT. Initially he was blamed for the falling out with Shaq and was maybe the most hated superstar athlete in the country from 2003-2006ish.

The back half of his career he became a great teammate that guys like Gasol, Odom, Fisher, Artest etc would literally do anything for. People from all aspects of life began to admire the inhuman work ethic he had. Once he was washed up and finally let his wall down, people got to see just what an incredible father he was and how much his children meant to him.

The incredible amount of respect that his peers had for him, along with the younger generation of basketball players, was telling. They viewed him like guys in the 80s-90s viewed Jordan. Elite athletes from other sports adopted the mamba mentality and used him as a measuring stick.

Kobe used that same work ethic that he poured into basketball dating back to the mid-80’s when he was this leper growing up in Italy and redirected it to his family and entrepreneurship once basketball was gone. There’s no doubt he would’ve continued doing amazing things if the world wasn’t robbed of him. :(

Tldr but I’m still shook up about this

Yeah, I never was much of a fan of his but it hit me hard when I heard. Just assumed that even after retirement he would always be around basketball and would continue to have a big public presence.

The most surreal thing is seeing older legends like Kareem and Bill Russell eulogizing him. These are legends Kobe probably grew up idolizing and he is gone before them

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Someone said he was the equivalent to Princess Diana to the sports world and I spit my water out.

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His death is easily equal to that "to the sports world"

Weird that you'd spit your water out over a very spot on take.

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His death is easily equal to that "to the sports world"

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No it isnt, at least not how I took his post

I took his post as not talking about a persons popularity, but talking about each individuals humanitarian efforts


While Kobe seemed like a good guy, I think he pales compared to the humanitarian outreach of Diana

I was surprised. Now i wasn't the type crying and falling all over myself but a genuine type hurt I guess. My conclusion as to why is that Kobe, Griffey and Randy Moss were the sports heroes I grew up with and watched the entirety of their careers. Sports have always been the outlet that frees my mind in a sense and those 3 have been a major part of that over the years. Losing one of those heroes just hit home because it makes me remember back to years where I was still finding myself as a young man. Like a trip back in time and some of those times not good at all.

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You played tennis, right?

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Yes

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Did you not have a certain tennis player growing up that you looked towards? Tried to emulate?

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of course

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If so, and that person died suddenly and tragically, you don't think you would possibly more upset than a normal news death?

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No

But to be clear I get touched about random deaths when I actually take the time to read about a random death