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Kobe Bryant Rumors
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Kobe Bryant
Position: -
Born: 08/23/78
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:220 lbs. / 99.8 kg.
Earnings: $328,237,108 ($400,241,994*)
Born: 08/23/78
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:220 lbs. / 99.8 kg.
Earnings: $328,237,108 ($400,241,994*)
Harris remains saddened by the loss of Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January. “We talked different times over the years, but he was focused mainly at first just on him and what he could do to be the best. And for a while, he wasn’t the best teammate because he was, you know, in it to be the best. And he didn’t have patience for other players who couldn’t do what he could do. But he developed maturity later in his career. And he became such a man and did things for others,” said Harris. “And the shame of it all is that, at age 41, he was going to make an impact for years. He had a program all set up. But it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to continue on for another 20, 30 years and show just what kind of a man he turned out to be.”
ESQ: Do you think greatness is really cemented in a specific moment? Or is it like Kobe says in Muse, that greatness is a true culmination of work? Gotham Chapra: I think to me, greatness is achieved in these moments. And it’s fleeting, it’s temporary—even when you’re the best. It’s not permanent. It’s there and then it’s gone. And its fleetingness is part of what makes it great. If it was achieved all the time or if you were perpetually in that state, then it wouldn’t be that great, because you would get used to it. And it wouldn’t be as amazing as it is.
Not long after that, he ended up seated next to Kobe Bryant at an L.A. charity event and the two struck up a conversation, which Chopra remembers mostly as friendly trash-talking between a Lakers star and a lifelong Celtics diehard. “I could trash talk on those teams and go deep with him, so we developed a friendship and chemistry,” Chopra said.
Bryant soon called him to talk basketball, with the “Black Mamba” breaking down film with him. Bryant showed him why he considered Larry Bird the sport’s greatest pump-faker – to the delight of the Celtics fan in Chopra. That would lead to a long and often arduous collaboration that would become the well-regarded “Kobe Bryant’s Muse” that debuted on Showtime in 2015. It recounted Bryant’s long journey back from injury while delving into his motivations and controversies. “That project over the course of two years, as it intensified, I got to know him and his family and his story,” Chopra said.
The declaration harkened back to a teenaged Kobe Bryant, Oakley shades resting on his shaved head, cocksurely announcing that he was skipping college to join the NBA. But it lacked all of the youthful charm, naivety replaced with narcissism in the eyes of many who watched the audacious spectacle unfold. James’s “Decision” remains one of the glaring blemishes on a relatively pristine career that has already reserved prime shelf space among the greatest to ever do it. The show became a Maury-Povich-style, made-for-TV breakup from a championship-starved city that adored and worshipped him in an unhealthy way. In dumping his frumpy long-time love for a prettier, sexier alternative offering rings and things, James immediately and reluctantly became the NBA’s resident villain.
Draymond Green said his championship Warriors would beat your Lakers. Any thoughts on that? Shaquille O’Neal: I have a hard time believing that the greatest coach of all time, plus me and Kobe, wouldn’t match up quite nicely against Steve Kerr and his gang. Kobe takes Steph and dominates him. Fisher takes Klay and manhandles him. Fox takes Draymond and makes him foul out in the first half. Horace would do his thing with K.D. But let’s be real, K.D., is a beast, and you can only do so much with him. And then I’d remind Pachulia why I am in the Hall of Fame and he is not.
What is your fondest memory of Kobe Bryant? Shaquille O’Neal: I really cherish the time I had with Kobe. We helped each other win the championship for the first time. That says it all. Without Kobe I would have never maximized my true potential. I like to think the same for him. But if I had to choose one moment it would be Kobe’s final game at the Staples Center. He looked so at peace while on the court. He was a free man with no pressure at all to score or deliver. He dropped 60 that game and I was there courtside to cheer him on.
Paul gave basketball fans some insight on what that hour was like for him in an interview with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles on the “Knuckleheads” podcast, and he revealed he spoke to Bryant during that small window of time: “I was on the phone with my brother and my agent, and all that. We figuring out a plane to get to New Orleans to get us to LA … let’s just say my agent clicked over, said hold on, clicked over and then he came back on and he was like, stuttering. And we was hot. We was hot. Me and Kobe had talked, you know what I’m saying? We had talked already and all that. And it was a lot. It was a lot.”
The next edition of the NBA 2K video game series already has two cover athletes in New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. A third iteration of the game will honor late Los Angeles Lakers legend and Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant. The new version, called the “Mamba Forever Edition” will be a special copy available for both current and next-generation consoles for $100. Bryant will be featured on the covers of both games, with him in his No. 8 jersey for current generation consoles and next-generation console editions will feature Bryant in his No. 24 jersey.
Chris Bosh: The moments when I was most inspired by Bron and D weren’t when we were on opposing teams but when we were on the same team—starting during The Olympics in 2008. That summer, Kobe set the tone for all of us, which meant nobody was messing around. And the intensity started on the day of our first practice in Beijing. That morning, I headed down to breakfast early, which made me feel good about myself—because I figured most of my teammates were still sleeping. And I was right. Basically no one else was down there… except for Kobe. Not only was he the first to breakfast, but he also had ice bags on his knees, which meant he’d already worked out.
Chris Bosh: Mind you, this was less than two weeks after the Lakers lost in the Finals to the Celtics. You couldn’t have blamed him for resting up and focusing on being healthy for the next season. But instead, the dude was pushing himself harder than any human being I had ever met— waking up at 4:00 a.m. to hit the gym. That meant all of us were gonna push ourselves, too. With Kobe as an inspiration, D and Bron elevated their games that summer, balling out at practices at a level I’d never seen before. And they, in turn, inspired me. Hell, we all inspired each other. Because we knew that if we didn’t step up, there was no way we’d get playing time. So I started hitting the gym earlier than I ever did before.
hotfreestyle: Shaq says he would decline a ‘Last Dance’ documentary because Kobe is no longer here and says he will never wear his championship rings. RIP Kobe (@complex)
There’s actual good news coming from Nike, though! We got some official pictures of some Kobe Protro 5’s. They look incredible. Nike has been trying to figure out how to continue to move Kobe’s since his untimely passing. People have been circling his shoes like vultures, trying to cop them up to surge prices on the secondary market. Seeing these might mean that we’ll have another shot at buying some new Kobes, which is what the people have been looking for for months now.
Nicole Yang: Jayson Tatum is getting a new puppy: a blue fawn French bulldog named Bean, after the late Kobe Bryant. The breeder, Humble Breed Bullies in Philly, says Bean is 4 weeks old and will be driven to Boston once he is 8 weeks. @LilWeezyDog might have a new friend.
On June 21, at the 2020 ESPYS, Snoop Dogg honored Kobe in an emotional performance and ESPN aired a touching video of Kobe’s career highlights. Following the annual show, HollywoodLife spoke with Shaq, who said he watched the heartfelt tribute. “I miss young fella, that’s what I used to call him. But, those memories will always be there, our names will always be attached to one another,” he said in an exclusive interview, in which he also discussed a new Krispy Kreme partnership. “Kobe was stolen from us too early, but those are good memories,” he said.
After a 12-year title drought for the Lakers, a 27-year-old Shaq and 21-year-old Kobe led the Lakers to a 116-111 comeback nail-biting win against the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Shaq remembered that day like it was yesterday. “I actually woke up that morning [June 20] and the great Andy Bernstein, who took a couple pictures of us at the parade (following the Lakers 2000 championship), sent me the photos,” he said, adding, “Those are good memories.”
Tommy Beer: Vince Carter retires as one of five players in NBA history to score more than 25,000 points, grab more than 5,000 rebounds, dish out more than 4,000 assists and make more than 500 made 3-pointers. The other four are: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and LeBron James.
You spent one summer at UCLA before your SAT score was invalidated and Baron Davis mentioned that you were dominating the UCLA pick-up games against Magic Johnson, Penny Hardaway and Hakeem Olajuwon. In the film, writers also talk about how you outplayed Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett in high school. These are NBA legends! What do you remember about those pick-up games? Schea Cotton: I was having fun! (laughs) It didn’t really matter who was in front of me, I had a killer mentality. These same legends that you talked about? I mean, I came out with guys like Kobe Bryant – rest in peace. Kobe couldn’t do nothing with me either when we played! I was a problem because I had a chip on my shoulder… I played against Kevin Garnett, and Kevin has talked about my legacy and my career and what it was like playing against me. These are guys that I came up with and made my name against. These guys were the best in their area and we all came up together. It was a magnificent experience. I don’t know if they’ll ever see basketball like that again, because we’re living in a different time.
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Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the estate of pilot Ara Zobayan and the helicopter company, Island Express Helicopters, on Feb. 24 — the day of Kobe and Gianna’s public memorial at the Staples Center. On Friday, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports, lawyers representing the Zobayan estate filed a motion to move the trial from Los Angeles to Orange County (or elsewhere), where the defense team believes a fairer trial can take place, despite its close proximity to LA. All of the victims of the crash resided in Orange County.
Snoop Dogg rapped a tribute to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, tracing his life from high school to a career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in January.
Kobe Bryant’s time in high school will be showcased when about 22 hours of footage of the late basketball star playing games and giving interviews will be sold on July 23 by the auction house Profiles in History. The footage is from the media library of Stu Ross, who produced “High School Sports Show,” a syndicated weekly television series seen in 35 cities.
The family of Ara Zobayan is begging a judge to move Vanessa Bryant’s wrongful death case out of L.A. because Kobe Bryant is so popular there, it would be impossible to get a fair trial. Ara’s family spelled it out in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports … saying the trial would begin with “two strikes” already against him “due to the extreme level of popularity of plaintiff with the jury pool.” As we previously reported, Vanessa sued Zobayan along with Island Express Helicopters saying they should be held financially responsible for the crash that killed Kobe, Gianna and 6 other passengers.
“The notoriety and popularity of the late Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles County is detailed herein and reached a level that left no person in the county unaware of his role in branding Los Angeles as his city,” Zobayan’s family says in new court docs. “No other single individual in recent memory, sports figure or otherwise, has been considered by the people to be such a personification of their city of Los Angeles. ” “But with that unprecedented level of acclaim comes a lack of impartiality and objectivity by potential jurors about the merits under the law of the claims asserted in this lawsuit by the Bryant family.”
Isaiah Thomas: I would always text Kobe on Father’s Day and he would respond right back 😢 #RIP
Isaiah Thomas: I would always text Kobe on Father’s Day and he would respond right back 😢 #RIP
The L.A. Lakers 14k gold & diamond championship ring that Kobe Bryant gifted to his father just hit the auction block and it’s expected to bring in a QUARTER-MIL!! Here’s the deal … 20 years ago — following Los Angeles’ title-winning ’99-’00 season — Mamba bought 2 additional rings and gifted them to his parents, Pamela and Joe “Jellybean” Bryant. The rings are IDENTICAL to the bling Kobe, Shaq, and the rest of the Lakers squad received.
And, get this, there’s more awesome Kobe swag for sale: – Kobe Bryant worn and signed cast from when he broke his wrist during the preseason in 1999. Expected to bring in about $20k. – A 1996-1997 Topps Chrome Refractors Kobe Bryant rookie card (a very rare card). Expected to go for around $75k. – A Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant signed basketball. Expected to sell for $20k to $25k.
Green pointed to how the Lakers ran their business under late owner Jerry Buss. He noted that during his playing days both with the Showtime Lakers — with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — and the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant-led Lakers, ownership was all about the employees who made the organization great. “We understood that,” Green said. “It’s a family, and that’s what’s going on here. It makes it an easy decision to come out here with my whole crew and help.”
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For Jeanie Buss, the threat has never been spelled out more clearly — on a white page in black typewriter font. The Lakers’ owner and governor shared a letter on Instagram on Friday morning from a self-described fan of 60 years with a hateful message, addressing Buss with an epithet for women. “I now say to hell with the overpaid n—– traitors and the NBA,” the man wrote. “Go to hell and join (redacted) Kobe Bryant.”
Cate Brady, a personal assistant to Bryant, has told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the NBA legend asked for the doomed flight to be moved forward 45 minutes. Brady said the original flight time for Sunday was 9:45 am, but Bryant had it rescheduled to 9am because he wanted to see another team play before his daughter’s game at a youth basketball tournament. “That particular day, for Sunday, I actually changed the time the night before, probably around 6pm or 7pm,” Brady said. “Because Kobe had decided he wanted to go to watch another team play before his game. “So it was supposed to be a 9:45am departure, but the night before it was changed to a 9am departure.”
Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, is urging Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill named for her husband and daughter who were killed in a crash earlier this year. “I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country,” she said in statement. “I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation.”
Cate Brady, a personal assistant to Bryant, has told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the NBA legend asked for the doomed flight to be moved forward 45 minutes. Brady said the original flight time for Sunday was 9:45 am, but Bryant had it rescheduled to 9am because he wanted to see another team play before his daughter’s game at a youth basketball tournament. “That particular day, for Sunday, I actually changed the time the night before, probably around 6pm or 7pm,” Brady said. “Because Kobe had decided he wanted to go to watch another team play before his game. “So it was supposed to be a 9:45am departure, but the night before it was changed to a 9am departure.”
Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, is urging Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill named for her husband and daughter who were killed in a crash earlier this year. “I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country,” she said in statement. “I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation.”
Veteran hip-hop artist LL Cool J recently came on The Ringer Podcast with Bill Simmons and told a hilarious story about talking former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant out of releasing the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s own gangster rap album. According to LL Cool J, this happened in 1996 or 1997, during Bryant’s rookie career with the Lakers. A then-18/19-year-old Kobe asked for LL’s advice by letting the renowned rapper listen to his own rap track. Right then and there, LL knew that this was not the path Kobe needed to take. “So I’m sitting there, and I’m listening to these records, and it’s ‘MF this and ‘F that,’ and ‘I’m doing this, and I’m doing that,’ ‘blah, blah, blah,’” LL Cool J recalled. “And I’m juts like, ‘Yo, Kob, man. This ain’t what you need to be doing, baby.’”
LL then went on to share how the content of the lyric might have an adverse effect on Kobe’s very young career at that point. Thankfully, Bryant heeded his advice. “So I just was telling Kobe, ‘Yo, that’s gangster, that’s not what you wanna do,’” he added. “And ultimately, it seems like he took my advice. The album never came out.”
Kobe Bryant's helicopter pilot may have been disoriented at time of crash
The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he actually was descending, federal investigators said in documents released Wednesday. Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds on Jan. 26 when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles.
The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have “misperceived” the angles at which he was descending and banking, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. “Calculated apparent angles at this time show that the pilot could have misperceived both pitch and roll angles,” one report stated. “During the final descent the pilot, responding to (air traffic control), stated that they were climbing to four thousand.”
Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan was disoriented. The 1,700 pages of reports do not offer a conclusion of what caused the crash but compile factual reports. A final report on the cause is due later.
HBO removed a billboard that was seen covering up one of the many murals in Los Angeles dedicated to the late NBA star Kobe Bryant. The mural was located near The Grove in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district.
After TheWrap reached out to WarnerMedia about the billboard, the company then contacted the vendor to take down the billboard. According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, this was part of an overall outdoor buy that included a vendor called Great Outdoor, and the company was not aware that the mural would be obscured. The original mural has not been damaged in any way.
Matthews expressed similar sentiments. “When Rodney reached out to me, I took that as a compliment that the hard work that I put in to coming back on the court had paid off with my play and health,” said Matthews, whose surgery was performed by the same doctor who operated on Hood and Cousins. “It is an extremely tough injury, both mind and body. Kobe Bryant reached out to me after I tore mine, and it was unbelievable, so I felt like I had a chance to not only pass my wisdoms, but his, as well, through what I’ve learned.”
Bryant did take issue with one Butler’s habits, though, and that was Butler’s love for Mountain Dew. During a recent appearance on “The Lowe Post,” Butler told Zach Lowe about the encounter with Bryant that made him stop drinking Mountain Dew, at least while he was in Los Angeles: Did you really hide that you drank Mountain Dew from Kobe? “Oh 100%. Immediately. Because I started blackout sessions with Kobe right after he signed a contract, and he had signed a contract. We was working out every day … And fast-forward to our first game of the season, and he’s just like ‘man, you look good, your game is sharp, but you be like, getting winded sometimes. You’re huffing and puffing a little bit too much. You’re a Mercedes Benz, you’re a hybrid, you’re not supposed to be huffing and puffing like that. What type of fuel you using?’ “And I was like ‘fuel, what?’ And he was like ‘man, you gotta be premium. What are you putting in your body?’ I was just like ‘I eat good,’ like me thinking from the South, like ‘I eat good. Whatever I eat is good because it’s good to me.’ You know what I mean?
“So we was on the bus and he comes to the back and I literally had a Mountain Dew, one-liter or two-liter bottle, and I immediately tried to hide it and he was like ‘come on, man, you can’t be putting that in your body, what the hell you doing CB?’ And from that moment I was like [expletive], I’m gonna stop drinking Mountain Dew. And I just pivoted away from Mountain Dew for the remainder of the season … But the second I went to Washington I was back on that [expletive]. I couldn’t stop, man. But I held true to it, I only drunk it in the third and fourth quarters. “It was in all my Gatorade cups. Everybody else was asking for the Gatorade Tiger and all that [expletive], I was like ‘go in my locker.’ The ball kid was like ‘go in your locker?’ I said ‘put two ice cubes and put the Mountain Dew in a Gatorade cup.’ And hey. 20. Every time. Buckets … Hell yeah I tipped them. Mountain Dew and (chewing straws). Buckets.”
