The world was in shock and denial when the news broke that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi Bryant, and seven other people died in a helicopter crash.
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But it is a truth that we, who love Kobe and the family of the victims, have to realize is real whenever we think of them.
The darning incident happened on January 26, 2020, when COVID-19 had yet to be taken seriously as a pandemic. And it shook even the legendary serial-knockout boxer, Mike Tyson, as much as it did Damian Lillard and us all.
When Damian Lillard sat down with Mike Tyson after the passing of Kobe Bryant
One of the NBA’s greatest-ever shooters and Top-75 player of all time, Lillard, while growing up in California idolized The Mamba.
The Portland Trail Blazers star guard appeared on the Hotboxin podcast, hosted by one of the greatest Heavyweight Boxers of all time, Mike Tyson, just a week after the Lakers star’s tragic demise.
Lillard started with how Bryant inspired him since his childhood and how after growing up Dame realized his dream of meeting the 5x Champ in a game against him which was also his NBA debut.
And then talked about how depressing it was for him to wake up to this news one day, much like Tyson who realized life is too unpredictable and said, “I am a different person since that happened.”
If it changed Tyson it changed everybody who knew Kobe, for good!
When reality hits, it hits the same for everyone. Even the once most feared man on the planet, who despite being 5ft 9” tall, ruled the world of boxing, saw himself changing with The Mamba’s demise. Even Michael Jordan died a bit that day.
If that 220 lbs beast’s gratitude grew after that incident, along with some of the coldest players in the NBA, the world must have changed a lot by the passing of one of its grittiest men ever.
