RIP Kobe Bryant

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by MtOread, Jan 26, 2020.

  1. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    jesus christ wapo
     
    devine likes this.
  2. Paddy Murphy

    Paddy Murphy Well-Known Member
    Atlanta BravesCarolina PanthersUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamLiverpoolCharlotte FC

    Also if you are into podcasts, todays episode of Mickstape is phenomenal, for most guys 28-35 it is an absolute trip down memory lane eulogizing Kobe.

    they cold open with the audio of all his made baskets from his final game, which was already a singular performance of greatness, but will be elevated into the pantheon of all time sports performances now.
     
    CornrowVell likes this.
  3. Pelican

    Pelican COOL huh
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati RedsNew Orleans PelicansNew Orleans SaintsOhio State Buckeyes

  4. CF3234

    CF3234 Fan of: Bandwagons
    Donor TMB OG
    Miami HurricanesMiami MarlinsMiami DolphinsFlorida PanthersTiger WoodsInter Miami CFGame of ThronesMiami Heat

    Heat doing their tribute now. Hitting all sorts of feels.
     
  5. TrustyPatches

    TrustyPatches Life is is a bunch of ups and Caleb Downs
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideChicago CubsNew Orleans PelicansWu-tang

  6. Detlef Schrempf

    Detlef Schrempf Back to Back to Back AAU National Champs
    Donor

    been a lot of cool tributes, I don’t think this qualifies as one
     
  7. skrouse

    skrouse Well-Known Member
    Donor
    UCF KnightsOrlando MagicOrlando CityTottenham HotspurGame of ThronesUnited States Men's National Soccer Team

    Cool enough, 2 gamers just doing their own form of paying respect. Counts in my book.
     
    ARCO, Barves2125, Ric Flair and 8 others like this.
  8. MG2

    MG2 I like to give away joy for free
    Donor

    Never noticed this before

     
    JBF76, hudson, WolverineJack and 72 others like this.
  9. TrustyPatches

    TrustyPatches Life is is a bunch of ups and Caleb Downs
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideChicago CubsNew Orleans PelicansWu-tang

    I just saw it as an example of something that’s probably happening in every game of 2k that loads up.
     
    One Two, Tiffin, Boo MFer! and 2 others like this.
  10. dblplay1212

    dblplay1212 Well-Known Member
    Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideNew York YankeesJacksonville Jaguars2pacSneakersFormula 1

  11. momux

    momux AFAM Scholar
    Donor
    North Carolina TarheelsCarolina PanthersChelseaFormula 1

    No idea how this will c/p in, but this piece from the athletic did a great job summing up how I feel about the whole thing.

    Thompson: Kobe Bryant’s death hit me hard, and even worse because of what we had in common

    Marcus Thompson II Jan 27, 2020[​IMG] 172 [​IMG]
    Standing outside the gym of Granada High in Livermore on Sunday, my prayers having been lifted and my psyche still rattled, I tried meditating to get myself together. When it became clear to me the news of Kobe Bryant’s death was indeed true, I had to leave the gym where my daughter was playing in her first AAU tournament, her first ever volleyball matches. I was reorganizing my daughter’s volleyball bag. She changed shoes after the second game and left them out. Fixing it was almost an involuntary reaction to the shock, me hoping being busy would allow the emotions to peak and peter out, like an allergic reaction. But it wasn’t working.

    I stood as still as possible, closed my eyes, took some deep breaths. Focused on the brisk cold air on my face, the scent of the light rain. Meditating outside in the cold always calms my spirit. I laser focused on the whispers of thoughts racing to my brain, trying to corral them, slow them down enough so I could hear them. One at a time.

    Your daughter is probably looking for you.

    Get it together.

    The Lord is sovereign and righteous.

    Go be a volleyball dad.

    Stay off social media.

    Stay in this moment.

    The burning in my nose stopped. The intensity subsided. I went back into the gym. Almost as soon as I sat down, she looked back at my seat. She waved with a huge grin. She was on the bench, standing with her team as the action went on. I pointed for her to focus on the court. She nodded and focused her eyes on the court. Then she looked down, noticed her shoes were untied.

    She knelt down to tie them. I wondered what she was doing. That’s when I remembered she changed her shoes. She was wearing her white Kobes. Those feelings flooded back instantly.

    [​IMG]

    Photo courtesy of Marcus Thompson II / The Athletic

    One of my favorite memories from writing “Golden” came in Toronto after the 2016 All-Star Game. Chronicling Stephen Curry’s movements led me to a staging area where players waited before and after their podium interviews. Kobe Bryant caught Curry before he went on for his interview.

    This All-Star Game was all about Kobe. It was his final appearance. Fellow All-Stars tripped over themselves to get one last moment with the legend. But in this moment, he wasn’t Kobe. He was just a dad, cashing in his clout to make his daughters smile. He asked Curry for a favor: a photo with Natalia and Gianna.

    “My girls love you,” Kobe told Curry.

    It was his weekend, a highlight in the season-long serenade of his final campaign. Yet, here he was, gracious and excited as he used his phone to capture this moment. The girls looked nervous as Curry put arms around them. Gianna, then 9, held a basketball with both hands. Kobe flashed that full pendulum swing of a smile he’s known for as he leaned back to get the framing perfect.

    My daughter was also 9 at the time. I remember thinking about her instantly, missing her. Players ask their peers for photos and jerseys all the time. But Kobe, as high as he was in the hierarchy of NBA grandeur, just seemed so giddy just being their old man. Seeing the daddy-daughter moments of others are like a blanket for my soul. This one was especially warming.

    That is why Sunday’s news hit me harder than any such news has in a long time.

    I’ll confess right now: I wrote this for me. I can count on my hands the number of times I’ve talked to Kobe. He was great every time, approachable and engaging. But I wouldn’t dare consider myself worthy of encapsulating him. Nor do I have the words or wisdom to make sense of the trauma Vanessa Bryant must be experiencing or the dad-sized hole in the hearts of their daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri. I normally shut my mouth and open my ears during these times.

    But writing helps me process. And I need to process this. I needed to grapple with why this hit me so hard. I have experienced so many deaths over the last three years. My sister passed. My best friend lost his son. Another close friend of mine lost his mother recently. Death was starting to numb me.

    But why did Kobe Bryant’s tragic helicopter crash spark more grief in me than deaths happening in my actual life? Why couldn’t I shake the sadness? Why was I even feeling it? I got texts from several friends, with similar queries, and it became clear why this bothered us so much. We are fathers. We all have daughters. The death of Kobe and Gianna was terrifying.

    I’ve never liked Kobe more than I did the last few years. First as he grew into the O.G. with no filter in his final years in the league, and more as he and Gianna barnstormed the sports world together. I loved this Kobe, the one who sat courtside with his daughter. The one who could have had any role he wanted in the NBA and yet prioritized being the biggest advocate for his daughters’ dreams. I watched every video. Listened to every interview. I couldn’t get enough of the two.

    Let me explain. I wasn’t a great father when my daughter was …

    Hold on. Let me get it together real quick.

    I was a selfish dad for the early years of my daughter’s life. I cared about my career as it started to take off. I figured providing for my wife and daughter was a job fulfilled. So I worked, to get better, to make more money. I left most everything else to my wife. I wasn’t present. I helped, but it was out of obligation, to relieve my wife because I did recognize the toll raising a child takes. Truth be told, I didn’t really like babies. Toddlers even less. Still don’t, really.

    After years of working on myself, I can say with confidence it was because they make sure every situation was about them, which meant it wasn’t about me. I would tell myself, and even my wife, when my daughter was like 7, 8, that’s when I’d step it up. Being valuable on my terms was most important to me. Just being honest.

    Plus, I’m so much better with teenagers. When I was a youth director at my church, I left the little kids to my capable co-laborers. Young adults and high school students were my specialties. So when my daughter got to be around that age, it was on.

    It really happened at like 9. She was more talkative. We could have conversations. She was old enough to come with me to places. I grew to love her being with me. No joke. If I were running to the store and it was her bed time, I’d irritate my wife by taking my daughter with me. We’d take too long to get back because we were playing tag in the aisle of Target. Or she wanted to sing a song together one more time before we went back into the house, and it ended up being three more times.

    The older she got, the closer we got, the more I just loved having her around. She’s been with me to late-night studio sessions, video shoots, Warriors practices, Starbucks writing sessions, any errand I’ve had to run, to do ministry work. It works the other way, too. I don’t miss anything. Plays. Musicals. Games. I’m at every one. She has to see me there. I know she is going to look for me, and I want to smile back at her.

    When she performed her first rap, I was in the crowd hype. When she sang in the choir, I was up close recording. I saw every blow into her flute, every strum of her violin, every line she had in every play. I missed Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals because it conflicted with her graduation from Kaiser Elementary.

    I’m not saying this because I’m such a great dad. Mostly I am admitting I wasn’t. But my relationship with my daughter made me revere Kobe and the way he was so proud of his, specifically with Gianna. I didn’t know Kobe like many others in this NBA sphere, but I felt connected to him. He felt like one of us in the society of fathers with daughters who would rob Earth of its moon and ransom it to give our princess the stars.

    This is why I had to leave that gym. This is also why I had to go back in.


    Kobe made us cool. Us dads who are still cool to our young daughters are already cool enough. As long as that lasts, we’re straight. But it was still special for Kobe to take our way of life and splash it on the mainstream. I don’t have a son. And while it’s nice to see fathers and sons have their moments, it doesn’t hit me like fathers and daughters. Kobe was our celebrity rep.

    That made Sunday all the more devastating. To learn Gianna was on the flight with him turned this from a sad moment to a traumatic one. To think of what their final moments might have been, the terror he must have felt knowing he couldn’t protect his little girl, it rocked me. If all of Kobe’s wealth couldn’t save Gianna, what chance does my meager shekels have? We know he would have traded everything to make sure she wasn’t on that helicopter. Imagining his helplessness spurned my own. As mighty and as strong as my daughter thinks I am, I know that I am weak and powerless, really, and life’s cruelty can touch her at any moment.

    As morbid and depressing as that felt, Kobe helped me get back in that gym. Because if that is true, then I might as well cherish every second, make the most of every situation, be visible in her every memory. At least I can do my part to make her feel secure in a world, in a life, that often seems anything but.

    I am thankful for Kobe. His unabashed love of his daughters, his special bond with Gianna and related support of women athletes, is a legacy worth remembering. It’s a part of him that shouldn’t go overlooked. Perhaps it should even be preeminent over his championships, his scoring prowess, his magnetic aura.

    Mamba Mentality is about relentlessness. It is about putting in the work. It is about appreciating the sacrifice. It is about flexing back at the adversity that seeks to deter. It is about an aggressive and unwavering pursuit. It was how he approached basketball. It was how he approached business. But it was also how he approached fatherhood.

    Mamba Mentality is exactly what I needed to get back in that gym and lock-in on 13-and-under volleyball games.

    When the games were done, my daughter and her new teammates wanted to get ice cream. So we drove to Pleasanton and they ate soft serve in the cold. I answered texts and read stories, sharing every new detail I learned with my wife. When I started obsessing, I put my phone away and watched my daughter giggling with her teammates, who were still in their uniforms and completely unfazed by the three Ls they just took.

    I wasn’t going to tell her I was rattled, that I was hurting. My sadness had no business in her day. But when we left, and she said goodbye to her friends and got in the car, she broke the news to me.

    “Daddy,” she said, “Guess what? The man whose shoes I’m wearing, he died today.”

    I know, sweetheart. I know.
     
    ARCO, Tobias, webbi and 1 other person like this.
  12. jplaYa

    jplaYa CHAMPZY/SMOLTZY/CHELSEA
    Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideAtlanta BravesAtlanta FalconsChelseaAtlanta United

    Yeah that’s really hard. The Kobe tributes are rough but for a girl who didn’t get a chance to go to prom or a homecoming basketball game, it just hits you deep. TMac’s interview just about broke me.
     
    ARCO, Tobias, chase538 and 7 others like this.
  13. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    Was she committed there at 13?
     
  14. steamengine

    steamengine I don’t want to press one for English!
    Donor
    Duke Blue DevilsHouston AstrosKansas City ChiefsLiverpool

    UT’s baseball coach

     
    ARCO, jhooked, tjsblue and 7 others like this.
  15. portlandspartan

    portlandspartan Well-Known Member
    Donor

    No. Just was vocal about wanting to. Her and Kobe visited.
     
    TC likes this.
  16. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Texas Tech Red RaidersTexas RangersSan Antonio SpursDallas CowboysKansas City ChiefsAustin FCTexas Tech Red Raiders alt

    Shit, so two kids just lost their sister and both parents?
     
  17. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
    Donor
    Ohio State BuckeyesBoston Red SoxPhiladelphia EaglesKent State Golden FlashesCleveland Cavaliers

    His son is a scout for the Red Sox so I’d assume he’s at least in his 20’s. Not that it makes it any less traumatic, but at least he can help his sister who is still school aged I believe. Awful anyway you look at it.
     
    bigred77 and Talking Head like this.
  18. Gunners

    Gunners Nicking a living
    Donor
    Ohio State BuckeyesBaltimore OriolesWashington WizardsWashington Football TeamWashington CapitalsArsenal

    All these tributes and realize what a cool era of basketball to grow up in. Kobe, TMac, Vince, Iverson, Dirk, Duncan, Garnett, Allen, Shaq those crazy fun Kings teams. Kinda remember Jordan but I was 13 in his last championship year so not really. Those late 90s/early to mid 2000s western conference playoff series were the best.
     
    El_Pato, ARCO, Barves2125 and 18 others like this.
  19. Gunners

    Gunners Nicking a living
    Donor
    Ohio State BuckeyesBaltimore OriolesWashington WizardsWashington Football TeamWashington CapitalsArsenal

    Lebron/Wade definitely have a big place in there as well
     
    Tman12, buckwild and CornrowVell like this.
  20. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
    Donor
    Tennessee VolunteersLos Angeles DodgersBuffalo BillsBuffalo Sabres

    Really enjoyed Lowe Post. Rachel Nichols really did a great job describing her admiration of a person who had many flaws.


    Russillo pod was good too, mainly because of Tirico
     
    #1170 bro, Jan 27, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2020
    tjsblue likes this.
  21. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    those nash suns teams, yao, dwade
     
  22. TDCD

    TDCD Handling the Fisher account
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesConnecticut HuskiesBoston Red SoxNew England Patriots

    I was excited to watch this replay on ESPN but it might be too much

    This is so sad
     
    steamengine likes this.
  23. Tiffin

    Tiffin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideLos Angeles LakersNew Orleans SaintsGrateful DeadToolAEW

    I used to love to watch those Knicks teams with Sprewell, Houston, Camby, Ewing, Larry Johnson. And Reggie Miller Pacers were fun.
     
    ARCO, Talking Head, devine and 4 others like this.
  24. dblplay1212

    dblplay1212 Well-Known Member
    Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideNew York YankeesJacksonville Jaguars2pacSneakersFormula 1

    Welcome page on 2k right now

    PS_Messages_20200127_213303.jpg
     
    ARCO, Ric Flair, tjsblue and 4 others like this.
  25. TrustyPatches

    TrustyPatches Life is is a bunch of ups and Caleb Downs
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideChicago CubsNew Orleans PelicansWu-tang

  26. dblplay1212

    dblplay1212 Well-Known Member
    Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideNew York YankeesJacksonville Jaguars2pacSneakersFormula 1

    20k comments in 7 minutes. Damn.
     
    Tman12 and TC like this.
  27. Gunners

    Gunners Nicking a living
    Donor
    Ohio State BuckeyesBaltimore OriolesWashington WizardsWashington Football TeamWashington CapitalsArsenal

    So many others but Kobe, TMac, and Iverson tributes really hit me.

    Also kinda sucks that everyone needs to appease the public by saying something. It's like, you don't care unless you make a social media post.
     
    JBF76, ARCO, Barves2125 and 13 others like this.
  28. Tiffin

    Tiffin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideLos Angeles LakersNew Orleans SaintsGrateful DeadToolAEW

  29. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    damn.
     
  30. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    almost to 1 million
     
  31. steamengine

    steamengine I don’t want to press one for English!
    Donor
    Duke Blue DevilsHouston AstrosKansas City ChiefsLiverpool

    I was curious about this. Russ and Harden who both grew up in LA have been silent.
     
    Tiffin likes this.
  32. Big Ern McCracken

    Big Ern McCracken Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina TarheelsCoastal Carolina ChanticleersAvengers

    Social Media aspect is annoying to me. Understand basketball/Kobe fans and am not trying to take away anything from them.

    But some people on my social media that don’t even watch Basketball or know Kobe as a player/person are acting as a family member died. Maybe I am getting old, but the jaded part of me hates the fact that people use a celebrity death as a way to gain likes on social media. “LOOK HOW SAD I AM about this celebrities death.”
     
    941Gator and War Grundle like this.
  33. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    have a feeling russ is probably taking this super hard
     
    Tiffin likes this.
  34. Josey Wales

    Josey Wales Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Seeing more kobe content in the last 36 hours than I’ve seen in my whole life, and that dude really had an infectious smile and natural charisma to him. His presence could effect other people, and you can see it in interviews.
     
    Jax Teller, Tiffin and TrustyPatches like this.
  35. steamengine

    steamengine I don’t want to press one for English!
    Donor
    Duke Blue DevilsHouston AstrosKansas City ChiefsLiverpool

    I’ve never even met Kobe and cried like 5 times today. I can’t even imagine.....
     
    ARCO, SP1, Talking Head and 11 others like this.
  36. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
    Staff Donor
    Texas RangersDallas MavericksDallas CowboysDallas StarsOklahoma Sooners

    that lebron post got me good
     
    steamengine and TrustyPatches like this.
  37. TrustyPatches

    TrustyPatches Life is is a bunch of ups and Caleb Downs
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideChicago CubsNew Orleans PelicansWu-tang

    Yeah the Bron post has got me fucked up all over again
     
    ARCO, ZeroPointZero, K T and 4 others like this.
  38. Fuck this

    Fuck this Oh Hey
    Donor TMB OG
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesOrlando MagicTampa Bay BuccaneersTampa Bay LightningOrlando City

    Read the lebron post while watching this replay. Fucking hell
     
    ZeroPointZero likes this.
  39. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

  40. Tiffin

    Tiffin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideLos Angeles LakersNew Orleans SaintsGrateful DeadToolAEW

  41. Fuck this

    Fuck this Oh Hey
    Donor TMB OG
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesOrlando MagicTampa Bay BuccaneersTampa Bay LightningOrlando City

    Holy shit. Lebrons post is over 3 million likes in 35 minutes
     
  42. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
    Donor
    Tennessee VolunteersLos Angeles DodgersBuffalo BillsBuffalo Sabres

    One icon speaking on another
     
  43. Tiffin

    Tiffin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideLos Angeles LakersNew Orleans SaintsGrateful DeadToolAEW





    In the Phillipines


    In LA
     
    ARCO, Barves2125, Tobias and 18 others like this.
  44. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
    Donor
    Tennessee VolunteersLos Angeles DodgersBuffalo BillsBuffalo Sabres

    Hubie calls a perfect game in this final game
     
    War Grundle likes this.
  45. Tiffin

    Tiffin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideLos Angeles LakersNew Orleans SaintsGrateful DeadToolAEW

    Sorry, I'm over here having a really sad night. Starting to sink in more today. Seemed so unbelievable yesterday.

     
    JC, ARCO, blotter and 19 others like this.
  46. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
    Donor
    Tennessee VolunteersLos Angeles DodgersBuffalo BillsBuffalo Sabres

    It is alright man. Alright to be sad; he had such an impact on the game and so many players. Might seem silly to some, but shit in life hits ppl different. We love sports to an almost dumb degree. And it hits us in the feels.

    you do you
     
    marcus, K T, CornrowVell and 4 others like this.
  47. Pelican

    Pelican COOL huh
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati RedsNew Orleans PelicansNew Orleans SaintsOhio State Buckeyes

    That Bron tribute and the Philippines thing :tebow:
     
    TrustyPatches, Tiffin and bro like this.
  48. fuxstockings

    fuxstockings Wayne Tinkle and the Beavers
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta Braves

    That last one gets me because that’s exactly how he’d want to be memorialized as corny as that is
     
    Tiffin likes this.
  49. Buster Mahomes

    Buster Mahomes "Don't buy a Lincoln you'll look like a pimp."
    Donor
    Iowa HawkeyesChicago CubsLos Angeles LakersKansas City Chiefs

    Watching the replay of the 60 point finale and they just showed his daughters and wife smiling ear to ear as he hit 58. Fuck.
     
    ARCO, Tobias, Baron and 6 others like this.