Longtime Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday.
The 41-year-old was one of nine people killed in the crash, including his 13-year-old daughter. For a 13-year-old girl to lose her life and for her siblings to lose their father is tragic, as are the other seven deaths. From a basketball perspective, Bryant’s death is a major loss — he was one of the greatest players to have ever played the game.
Bryant spent 20 years in the NBA, earned 18 All-Star Game appearances, and was the league’s MVP in 2008. Both of his numbers (8 and 24) were retired by the Lakers, making him the only player in NBA history to have two numbers retired by the same team. In major part thanks to Bryant, the Lakers were the team to beat in the 2000s. He helped the Lakers to five championships, including four from 2000 to 2009, the most of any team in that decade.
Bryant is fourth on the NBA’s all-time point scoring list (33,643). A day before the crash, LeBron James passed Bryant on the NBA’s all-time points list. As a result of this performance, Bryant’s final tweet celebrated James’s achievement.
Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother ?? #33644
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 26, 2020
Even so, Bryant still has the second-most points scored in an individual NBA game. He put up 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006, second only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point performance in 1962.
With the numbers Bryant had when he retired at the end of the 2015-16 season, he is a lock to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Outside of the NBA, Bryant even has a small place in American Olympic history. He was a member of Team USA’s gold medal-winning men’s basketball teams in 2008 and 2012. In 2008, Bryant put up 20 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as Team USA topped Spain 118-107 in the championship game.
The helicopter crash is a tragedy, with everyone involved dying way younger than they should have. Keep an eye out for the Lakers and the NBA to soon do something to honor Bryant’s life and family in the near future — as they should. Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest basketball players of all time and deserves to be honored as such.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
