Kobe Bryant RIP

Its amazing to me that in 2020, we can’t even allow people to grieve anymore.

People have lost a father, a husband, a son, a friend, a mentor, a teammate, an example, a hero.

We can all dissect someone’s life after they have passed away and learn from it, both in what they did well, and where they possibly went wrong. That discussion is important.

But I find it sickening that people are so keen to provoke and argue that they can’t even let one small thread stand as a mark of respect to someone’s life. One that has been lost so tragically.

It’s hard to be honest with ourselves but some people need to take a step back and look at their motives behind certain actions.

In any case, RIP to the deceased and my thoughts are with their friends and families.
 
Man of Leisure said:
So from early reports, it appears that the helicopter was in good maintenance and the pilot was experienced and VFR rated (meaning he was cleared to fly in low visibility situations), hope this makes others think twice about flying in poor conditions to prevent this type of tragedy from happening in the future.
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Early evidence does seem to point in the way of this being an accident as a result of flying through low clouds.

It‘s like driving through weather in a car, you can never take it lightly despite your experience.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
It's seen as disrespectful to the dead and their family. This guy is very admired it seems. If he was less popular you'd be able to go in with two feet though.
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It's a fair point though, why is it ok to go in with two feet on some but not point out the flaws of another? You should be able to point to both good and bad in a person's life in threads like these.

Infra-red said:
I haven't seen the video you refer to, but that sounds reminiscent of the Leicester crash. These things are bloody dangerous.
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I find it crazy how many people use helicopters that really have no need to.
 
Maluco said:
Its amazing to me that in 2020, we can’t even allow people to grieve anymore.

People have lost a father, a husband, a son, a friend, a mentor, a teammate, an example, a hero.

We can all dissect someone’s life after they have passed away and learn from it, both in what they did well, and where they possibly went wrong. That discussion is important.

But I find it sickening that people are so keen to provoke and argue that they can’t even let one small thread stand as a mark of respect to someone’s life. One that has been lost so tragically.

It’s hard to be honest with ourselves but some people need to take a step back and look at their motives behind certain actions.

In any case, RIP to the deceased and my thoughts are with their friends and families.
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Are people on here that never met kobe really grieving, or are they just a bit saddened about a sportsman passing?
 
The Cat said:
A time and a place surely?
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Just for perspective, the NBA couldn't give a feck less and didn't cancel any games yesterday. Talking about grief or giving people space. These are players who played with him, knew him and his family personally. More than any of the posters on here or his fans.
 
Oldyella said:
It's a fair point though, why is it ok to go in with two feet on some but not point out the flaws of another? You should be able to point to both good and bad in a person's life in threads like these.
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I don't disagree but he's seemingly very popular on this site so people want him held to different standards.
 
entropy said:
Just for perspective, the NBA couldn't give a feck less and didn't cancel any games yesterday. Talking about grief or giving people space. These are players who played with him, knew him and his family personally. More than any of the posters on here or his fans.
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Because it would've been a logistical nightmare to do so. Those who knew him well also stated that he would've wanted them to compete and play hard, e.g. Leonard and Melo.
 
The news coming out in the past few hours confirms this tragedy could so easily have been prevented. LAPD & LA Sheriffs Dept had grounded their planes yesterday morning due to the bad weather.

All you can do is just shake your head. Just a needless loss of life which would have been prevented if the pilot did the right thing and called of the flight.
 
TheReligion said:
That's why I asked? Why wasn't he convicted?
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Because in the end the accuser refused to testify, after receiving hate mail, death threats and had her character and reputation questioned in public by Bryant's legal team.
 
Absolutely gutting to think about Gianna as well being with him. Not just an innocent 13 year old kid who had her whole life ahead of her but also what seemed to be talented woman athlete who could have made a big name in the sport especially given she'd have a great like Kobe mentoring her. After seeing both of them at games so often especially recently it looked like it was building up towards something. Absolutely heartbreaking to see that coming to such an unfortunate end.

Can't begin to imagine what Venessa and the other girls are going through. Losing her spouse who she had known for almost 25 years and her little girl at the same time.

Massive respect for the players who played yesterday. Most would have known him and possibly played with or against him. But like Kawhi said, if theres something an athlete can do to honor the great man it is getting on with the game and putting in his best on the court, which is what Kobe always believed in. Appreciate those guys for being able to give the fans a proper game and show respect to Kobe in the way it should be.

He's left us physically but it won't stop people idolizing him just like the past many years as a role model on how to be a model professional and give everything you've got, whether inside or outside basketball. There's so much to take from his career that can and will keep on motivating millions and his influence will stay as strong as it has always been.
 
TheReligion said:
So basically no evidence was put forward and the matter never reached the courts? Yet everyone seems happy to assume he was guilty?
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Who said no evidence was put forward? All I said was that the victim refused to testify and later filed a civil suit that got settled out of court.

I don't know if he's guilty or not.
 
Reports are that the helicopter (the same 13 million dollar model as Coast Guard rescue copters) was in heavy fog from Long Beach where it took off, then circled around near the LA Zoo outside Burbank airport and was apparently flying too low for radar to track attempting to follow the freeway out to Camarillo airport Reportedly heavy fog . 9 people were on board and died in total.
 
Sarni said:
Not necessarily. News broke when Nuggets and Rockets were already preparing for the game and all other teams would have traveled for their games as well. NBA teams play tight calendar already, including significant amount of travel. All of them have another game in the upcoming 3 days, this would derail season a bit. And how long would you actually cancel games for? Surely 1 day of grievance over something like this would not make a whole lot of difference.
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Actually, yes it does. NBA doesn't give a feck about "logistics". They'd much rather have players on the court or giving press conferences instead of taking time to grieve. At the risk of being called overly cynical, they also stand to make a lot of money from such situations.
 
entropy said:
You do realize how naive this sounds, right?
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What's naive is thinking the NBA could or would just cancel 8 games out of the blue without thinking of the consequences.

Players were free to not play if they didn't feel like it, such as Irving who had a deep personal relationship with Kobe. Those who did play, used it as a platform to honour him, e.g. Young.
 
There’s a CE thread to discuss his legacy. Please use it and leave this one for RIPs, basketball, and discussion of the crash itself.
 
Raoul said:
There’s a CE thread to discuss his legacy. Please use it and leave this one for RIPs, basketball, and discussion of the crash itself.
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I thought this thread discussed all of his legacy but you mean his positive legacy of course.
 
Oldyella said:
It's a fair point though, why is it ok to go in with two feet on some but not point out the flaws of another? You should be able to point to both good and bad in a person's life in threads like these.



I find it crazy how many people use helicopters that really have no need to.
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I've hear others say this? Do you have any examples?
 
For those wondering why he started using helicopters


edit: private IG account. Pretty much says he missed a school play once because of traffic and he was like “never again”
 
Still expecting someone to tell me it's all a hoax
 
Mourinhonista said:
It's good to see that the other people involved finally get a mention. It's been all about Kobe and his daughter, found it quite disrespectful.
Furthermore the condolences all over the web seem a bit pretended, but maybe that's just me. It has always been like this when a celebrity dies these days...
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It was all about Kobe because he was the only name released by the press. The police didnt annouce any named until they notified the families. Kobes family found out from the media
 
Why is the ‘Kobe Bryant rape allegations’ thread in Current Events forum despite being a decade old story yet the ‘Kobe Bryant RIP’ thread is in the Other Sports forum and that story is barely 24 hours old...

Bit weird, that.
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
Reports are that the helicopter (the same 13 million dollar model as Coast Guard rescue copters) was in heavy fog from Long Beach where it took off, then circled around near the LA Zoo outside Burbank airport and was apparently flying too low for radar to track attempting to follow the freeway out to Camarillo airport Reportedly heavy fog . 9 people were on board and died in total.
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It was also forced to wait for other traffic, maybe time pressure after that forced the pilot to take risks. Wouldn't be the first time.
 
11101 said:
It was also forced to wait for other traffic, maybe time pressure after that forced the pilot to take risks. Wouldn't be the first time.
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Yeah it definitely seems like the pilot was pressured into taking risks that shouldn't have been taken whether that pressure was internal or external or a bit of both.
 
adexkola said:
I'm not distraught, just stunned and sad.
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The thing is that the whole incident isn't just about Kobe and a lot more than that, and the manner in which it occurred makes it a devastating news in general even if you completely take out the basketball fans side of it. It isn't like Kobe died in his 60s of natural causes or even a disease, it was a horrible air crash which involved 9 people, including two little girls. There are people left behind these families and it is a huge tragedy same as any air crash would be and the fact that most people know one of the victims so distinctly, as well as Gianna who has been familiar to the fans over time, makes it a lot harder to digest as compared to what would have been if it was just a normal death.

I can't speak for others but for me the accident taking lives of 9 people and especially knowing that two of them were little kids, makes it absolutely heartbreaking similar to how it is when you happen to listen to a school shooting and the likes and evokes a similar emotion watching kids who had their whole lives in front of them losing their lives in such a horrible manner. I was massively stunned knowing it was Kobe in the chopper, but once the news of the kids came out and having their pictures and videos getting posted everywhere, it went to a different level where it was hard to not be absolutely heartbroken over the tragedy that occurred and the consequences for their families.

I know this thread is made for Kobe but the whole incident with everyone else included is what is really hard to take for a lot of people, myself included, and has left them in a really devastated and shattered state. Even if someone isn't the biggest fan of Kobe the fact that a) this is no way for anyone to go and b) there were 8 other people on board including kids should enable some sort of compassion and sympathy, but to each his own. I can't say I'm surprised with the insensitive and untimely responses, for what's it's worth it's far worse on broader platforms like Twitter. It's the internet after all.
 
The guy on BBC news just said Kobe is LeBron’s former Laker team mate. You’d have thought they’d be making sure everything in their stories were tight after yesterday.
 
Dan_F said:
The guy on BBC news just said Kobe is LeBron’s former Laker team mate. You’d have thought they’d be making sure everything in their stories were tight after yesterday.
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From what I've been reading, BBC have been dropping the ball on reporting accurately and not just with what you said here.
 
Probably the best dunk I've ever seen from Kobe. Just pure insanity how goes over then under two jumping seven footers and dunking literally on his way down.
 
Something I've been wondering, and maybe it's the cynical side of me, but at some point eventually this will turn litigious, who will be held liable? Assuming it's pilot error, as all signs point to, can the victims' families go after Kobe's estate? Insurance policies have limits after all. If the pilot at some point said something to the effect of "hey weather is poor, I'm not sure flying in these conditions is the best idea" or if one of the passengers raised concerns and Kobe said "nah, it's nothing let's press on". Kobe possibly had some obligation to show up to the Mamba Academy for the b-ball tourney. All conjecture obviously at this point, but this could and likely will turn contentious.
 
Man of Leisure said:
Something I've been wondering, and maybe it's the cynical side of me, but at some point eventually this will turn litigious, who will be held liable? Assuming it's pilot error, as all signs point to, can the victims' families go after Kobe's estate? Insurance policies have limits after all. If the pilot at some point said something to the effect of "hey weather is poor, I'm not sure flying in these conditions is the best idea" or if one of the passengers raised concerns and Kobe said "nah, it's nothing let's press on". Kobe possibly had some obligation to show up to the Mamba Academy for the b-ball tourney. All conjecture obviously at this point, but this could and likely will turn contentious.
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They’ve probably made that flight hundreds of times in poor weather with no problem. But I wouldn’t put it past anyone to try to make a lawsuit out of this.
 
Bill.s.preston said:
Are people on here that never met kobe really grieving, or are they just a bit saddened about a sportsman passing?
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It's that but a lot more. Kobe's career mirrored the rise of the internet and the explosion of basketball around the world. He also played for the team with the most fans and the greatest history and was a one team one city guy his whole career. He was cool beyond sports like ronaldo is now. When someone like that passes it's like you lose a thread connecting you to your childhood. As a lakers fan this guy gave me 20 years of amazing memories. It's like when fergie almost died. You feel involved even if you've never met cause in sports the fan is part of it all. And the greats give you so much joy. Everybody has different thresholds for grief or crying, to each their own. I guess i never realised it till he passed but he was kind of a hero to me. and no he was not perfect. I don't know the full details of the colorado case but whatever happened was at the very least wrong.
 
Kobe Bryant was one of the first basketball players I ever really remember rising from first round draft pick to superstar.

I first got in to watching basketball from the States in the mid 90s. I remember going on holiday with mum and dad in 1997 to Florida. On the plane dad cracked a tooth and we ended up at the emergency dentist. I can recall as if it was yesterday I wasn't bothered waiting around as long as I had something to read so I went and bought this basketball magazine.

The cover star was this new wonderkid Kobe Bryant and of course the rest including his 5 titles is history.

I read all about him that day and although in the early days I didn't really have a team to call my own (my first NBA game was in Washington in 2009 so the Wizards are my team nowadays) I always looked out for Kobe and the Lakers because of that day reading about him.

Still feels weird even thousands of miles away in a country where basketball probably isn't even in the top 10 sports played or watched to think that such a huge name has been taken so early.
 


Shaq was undeniably the main star during the Lakers' 3peat but Kobe was a premier guard in that era with many clutch perfomances in the SF/Conference finals
 
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Man of Leisure said:
Something I've been wondering, and maybe it's the cynical side of me, but at some point eventually this will turn litigious, who will be held liable? Assuming it's pilot error, as all signs point to, can the victims' families go after Kobe's estate? Insurance policies have limits after all. If the pilot at some point said something to the effect of "hey weather is poor, I'm not sure flying in these conditions is the best idea" or if one of the passengers raised concerns and Kobe said "nah, it's nothing let's press on". Kobe possibly had some obligation to show up to the Mamba Academy for the b-ball tourney. All conjecture obviously at this point, but this could and likely will turn contentious.
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It probably will turn litigious, because this is the way. But from what I have read so far, this looks like a case of VFR into IMC and loss of situational awareness. The pilot was commercial and instrument rated, but no idea what his currency/proficiency was. If this turns out to be the case, there is no one to blame here but the pilot. Pilot has ultimate authority, regardless of what pressures he is under to complete.
 
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