Hello everyone,

Today was a sad day in the world of sports, as Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident in Los Angeles. He was taking his daughter to her basketball game, as well as another family. He was only 41 years old, and had recently retired from the NBA after playing for 20 years. I was still in high school when he started his career, so it feels like I have been watching him play for most of my life.

He is one of the rare athletes who only need one name. “Tiger”, “Ali”, “Messi”, and “Kobe”. He was actually named for Kobe beef, which his parents saw on a menu! As a child he lived in Italy because his father was a basketball player there. Later he jumped directly from high school into the NBA, something that was very uncommon. He is also a rare athlete that played for the same team his whole career.

However, that doesn’t mean he was only important in Los Angeles. He was a worldwide star in basketball, and yesterday showed that. After the news broke, there were many tributes from around the world.

He was famous for his focus and training. There is nothing that shows this better than the famous clip of Matt Barnes trying to make him flinch in a game.

He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. He won’t be able to make a speech, but he released this video a couple years ago that won an Oscar Award. It is probably the only speech he needs to make.