I’ve been a big Laker fan since I was a little kid living in Covina. Donna’s sister worked for Sprite when they were sponsoring Kobe early on, and she gave me a special #8 jersey signed by him as a gift. It’s always been a reminder of Kobe’s work ethic, which has been very inspiring over the years.
This quote came from Kobe when he was on stage accepting the ‘Icon Award’ at the ESPYS. He was addressing fellow athletes:
“We’re not on this stage just because of talent or ability,” Bryant said.
“We’re up here because of 4 a.m. We’re up here because of two-a-days or five-a-days.
We’re up here because we had a dream and let nothing stand in our way. If anything tried to bring us down, we used it to make us stronger.”
One example of his commitment:
Thank you Kobe for the inspiration!
listening to Jerry West this morning on The Dan Patrick show was gut wrenching.
People outside of the LA community don’t really understand or are unable to fully grasp the emotional impact his death has on all of us Lakers fans. The Lakers are a family run franchise and the players integrated like family in the community.
Chick Hearn passing…..Dr Buss passing……Magic retiring because he was HIV positive……these things hurt.
Only Laker” to have two numbers retired.
Only athlete
Around the world he was highly respected for his work ethic. Something many people aren’t aware of is that Kobe was a big soccer fan because of growing up in Italy. He also credits soccer with his vision on the basketball court.
Absolutely crushed man, felt sick since hearing the news.
Glad we got to go to a lakers game together and will always remember that!
That was the last game I’ve been to in person!