TRAGEDY STRIKES — The Weekly Opine

Still shocking. (Photo credit WGN screenshot, The Weekly Opine)

Black Mamba’s evolving legacy cut short

My phone vibrated. I looked down at the text. It simply read: “Kobe dead?”

The succinct question, from a friend who lives in New York City, momentarily pulled my attention away from a riveting college basketball game between my alma mater, Indiana University, and 17th-ranked Maryland. Indiana led, the home crowd was raucous, but the game was starting to slip away from IU. And now a distraction.

At the next commercial break, I tapped the HuffPost app on my iPhone. The headline was not a hoax. It blared, tabloid-like in big, bold letters, “KOBE BRYANT DEAD.” I skimmed the first paragraph, which said Kobe died in a helicopter accident. OMG!

In shocked and agitated disbelief, I turned my attention back to the Indiana-Maryland game, watching as IU completed the act of blowing a 6-point lead in the final 90 seconds. The phrase “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” was never more apropos.

When the final horn sounded, I flipped the channel to CNN, my stomach filled with butterflies as shock merged with reality. The news out of Calabasas, California was disturbing and surreal. Usually, Indiana losing the way they lost sends me over the edge. But the devastating news about Kobe Bryant rendered the game meaningless.

It was a typical summer day at the ballpark, until… (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Been here before

The last time I experienced this level of shock was in the summer of 2009. It was June 25. I was at a Chicago White Sox game with friends. An afternoon game on an unbearably hot, humid day.

About halfway through the game, a palpable buzz swept through the stadium. It was as if “the wave” emanated from 20,000 cell phones. Why the buzz? Reports from the West Coast, specifically Los Angeles, said Michael Jackson was dead. Ironically, the White Sox were playing the L.A. Dodgers that day.

A couple innings later, another bustle rolled through the ballpark. Reports from L.A. said Farrah Fawcett was dead.

As happened last Sunday, the White Sox game on that sultry summer day suddenly became unimportant. The wave everyone felt was a shockwave.

Brush with greatness

Kobe will receive posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame. Already nominated for 2020 induction, he will be placed in the Hall of Fame without the customary vote. Kobe is in, as he should be. He is among the greatest players in NBA history, certainly among the Top 12.

In 2002, I flew from Chicago to L.A. to meet with Kobe’s agent, Rob Pelinka. Pelinka is a Michigan grad who played basketball with the Fab Five in the early 1990s. He currently is the Lakers president of basketball operations.

Back then, Kobe had an endorsement deal with McDonald’s. We were in discussions about a promotion featuring Kobe. On a classic, sunny L.A. day, I met with Pelinka at his office. Things went smoothly so Pelinka suggested a 3-way conference call with Kobe.

The phone call with Kobe, Pelinka and me took place the next day. It lasted about 20 minutes. The thing I remember is Kobe was friendly but about the business, keeping things real. And he had creative juice. Shortly afterwards, Pelinka called back to let me know Kobe said that I “get it.” A compliment I gladly accepted.

The Intercontinental Hotel Century City/L.A., where I took a call from Kobe and his agent. (Photo credit IHG)

However, before details of the promotion were finalized McDonald’s relationship with Kobe ended, after a Colorado hotel employee accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault.

Global icon but no need to canonize

Kobe was maybe the most compelling NBA star ever. His dad, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, played in the NBA then finished his career in Italy. Kobe spent his formative years in Europe, where he became a soccer aficionado, as well as a budding basketball player.

Skipping college, Kobe’s intellect was informed by an upbringing that intertwined cultures; black culture and Italian and European culture. Kobe spoke three languages, English, Italian and Spanish. He was curious, soaking up knowledge and information.

When the family returned to the U.S., Kobe became a hoops phenom in Philadelphia, at suburban Lower Merion High School. He made the audacious jump from schoolboy hoops to the NBA and excelled. Five-time NBA champion. Two-time Olympic champion. Eighteen-time All-Star. Not one but two jerseys retired by the storied Lakers franchise. Called the “greatest Laker of all-time” by Magic Johnson, a great Laker himself.

Kobe once said that challenging people, making them uncomfortable, leads to introspection. Brilliant. Transcendent. Applicable to teammates on the court and partners in the boardroom. Post-hoops career, he evolved into a formidable businessman, proving to be more than a superstar athlete.

In 2018, Kobe won an Animated Short Oscar for a 6-minute film based on his poem, “Dear Basketball.” He produced content for the ESPN series “Detail.” Granity Studios, his fledgling production company, searched for traction. He opened an athletic facility – the Mamba Sports Academy – that served the youth of SoCal. After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he set up the Kobe Bryant China Fund to assist Chinese youth.

Flashing business instincts, Kobe was an early investor in BodyArmor. His $6 million investment is valued at $200 million today.

Clearly, Kobe was loving life as the father of four daughters. He was an exemplary father, calling himself a “girl dad.” Kobe adored his wife Vanessa. He was an unabashed advocate of women’s sports, attending college and pro games with daughter Gianna “Gigi” in tow. In an interview just 11 days before his untimely death, Bryant opined that several WNBA stars could play in the NBA right now.

The tendency, when the untimely death of a celebrity icon occurs, is to canonize. Most often it is not warranted, certainly not with Kobe Bryant.

In 2003, while in Eagle, Colorado for knee surgery, 24-year-old Kobe allegedly raped a 19-year-old hotel employee. Kobe denied the accusation. Later, he publicly apologized, acknowledging what he thought was consensual was considered non-consensual by his accuser. Ultimately, she dropped the charges, filed a civil suit and they settled out of court.

Let’s be clear. It is entirely plausible Kobe committed sexual assault. If we’ve learned one thing from the #MeToo era it’s that rich men have gotten away with sexual assault, against vulnerable women, for a long, long time. Another thing we’ve known, like, forever, is that non-celebrity black men accused of sexual assault, sans Kobe’s financial resources, almost always land in prison.

We’ll probably never know with certainty what happened in Colorado. Fortunately for Kobe, he could afford the best legal representation money can buy.

Sunday morning calm fractured when Kobe’s chopper crashed in the Calabasas hills. (Photo credit Washington Times)

Serenity shattered

Sunday morning is the most special morning of the week. There is time to slow down, and room to spread out. It’s not as hectic as Saturday morning, when the entire world seems to run errands, grocery shop or tackle home projects. Sunday morning is velvety. Some folks go to church. Others enjoy a mellow brunch. Some luxuriate, accompanied by coffee and the newspaper. Still others take an extra long walk with the dog. A few do it all.

Last Sunday, regardless of where you were – you will likely never forget where you were – you learned that Southern California’s Sunday morning was disrupted by horrific news of Kobe Bryant’s death, along with his daughter Gigi and seven others.

Upon seeing initial reporting, one of the first things that struck me was the lingering fog. Even several hours after the crash the marine layer of low clouds had not fully dissipated. Earlier Sunday morning, L.A. police grounded their helicopters due to the immense fog, near 100-percent humidity and a storm front moving through the area.

Weather conditions did not meet the LAPD’s minimum standard for flying. To fly last Sunday required special VFR (visual flight rules) clearance. Only instrument-rated pilots are permitted to fly in those conditions. Kobe’s pilot was certified and highly qualified, but did he nonetheless suffer spatial disorientation? (That’s what happened to JFK, Jr. in 1999, when he crashed his small plane near Martha’s Vineyard.)

Reports say the pilot requested radar assistance known as “flight following.” When informed he was too low to be picked up by radar, the pilot radioed he was climbing above the thick marine layer. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said the helicopter made a climbing left turn, reaching an altitude of nearly 2,400 feet. Data shows the chopper then descended at 184 mph, a rate of 4,000 feet-per-minute, and crashed.

A witness who lives nearby says he heard sputtering engines prior to the hillside crash. Others say the fog was extremely dense. Eventually, the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA and FBI will determine what caused the accident.

What we know for sure is Kobe’s wife Vanessa, his three surviving daughters, and the families of everyone lost in this stunning accident face many tough days ahead.