What Kobe Bryant Taught Us All About Curiosity
The titanic basketball legend was just starting to expand his impact when he died. Curiosity drove it all.
It was a cool winter Sunday morning. I’d slept in. I was in the kitchen debating what to eat for breakfast. Suddenly, my phone buzzed and I saw this message from my brother:
“Did you hear about Kobe?”
I first assumed he was referring to LeBron James passing Kobe Bryant’s scoring record the previous night. And then I searched Kobe on Google. I couldn’t believe the news. Kobe had just died in a helicopter accident a few short miles away from where I was standing.
A time-saving practice that Kobe had used for years — navigating SoCal by helicopter rather than by car — ended up killing him. I couldn’t believe it. A year later, I still can’t believe that Kobe Bryant is gone.
Why? Anyone who knew Kobe or knew about Kobe admired him for something, like his championships, his competitiveness, or his clutchness.
Those three things comprise what most Kobe fans loved about him. But I loved something else about one of the best basketball players ever: Kobe was curious.
“The curiosity. Curiosity. Most players that play the game will just play it,” he…
