A Tribute to Kobe Bryant (1978–2020)

Today is a sad day… let’s remember the good times.

shaan chagan 🤠
kneelfyi
4 min readJan 27, 2020

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It’s safe to say that the majority of the world woke up with a heavy heart today. Kobe Bryant and his lovely daughter Gianna passed away in a helicopter crash, along with 7 others on Sunday, January 26th.

This is bigger than basketball. Kobe was a global activist, an Oscar winner, a preacher of all things hard work, and a transcendent human. He taught us what it meant to have no fear and to fight like there’s no tomorrow.

He was a hero. No. He was a superhero.

So it’s fitting for us to pay tribute to him today. We put together the best photos and quotes of Kobe Bryant to help us remember the good times and to celebrate his illustrious career.

Don’t hold back the tears.

“Everything negative — pressure, challenges — is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

“I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.”

“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”

“When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. My brain, it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I have to sit there and face myself and tell myself, ‘You’re a failure,’ I think that is worse, that is almost worse than death.”

“Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.”

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.”

“Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling.”

“Be sad. Be mad. Be frustrated. Scream. Cry. Sulk. When you wake up you will think it was just a nightmare only to realize it’s all too real. You will be angry and wish for the day back, the game back THAT play back. But reality gives nothing back and nor should you.”

“We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.”

“Mamba Out.”

Hug those you love extra today. I know we will.

RIP KOBE BEAN BYRANT

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Photo Credit: Sport’s Illustrated, Getty Images, and AP

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