THEE OFFICIAL 2019-2020 NBA OFFSEASON THREAD: VICTORY LAP

[mustbetheshoe58]

rip kobe and gigi, gone too soon

rip to also the people who also passed away on the helicopter crash

 

[Benny Hinn]

‘We all knew that we had to get Bean the ball’: Kobe’s competitiveness made an impression early in Philly

Dunk contests, grueling workouts in steamy gyms, and instructions in Italian. Kobe's legendary competitiveness was evident early.

theathletic.com

[/QUOTE]
FYI: all the articles on Kobe are free to read right now on the Athletic

 

[keko jones]

From tragedies like this .. people change, evolve and become better human beings, better fathers/mother and family members.

We will not hear everyone who was inspired to change their lives. However, i hope I live to hear some .... from all this BS something great will happen.

I know there are a lot of father out there that dont spend nearly enough times with their kids that will go home and change that around for the better.

I have to think about the positive **** because just drowning in sorrows is not healthy man.

 

[D StaXX]

 

[DCAllAfrican]

(from an old post a few years back)

Best Kobe story I've read, this was a few years ago but it stuck with me:

A story about Kobe Bryant, as told by a professional trainer who worked with Bryant this past Summer, for the Olympics:

I’ve been a professional athletic trainer for about 16 years and have been able to work with a range of athletes from the high school to professional level. Right now I run in a clinic in Cincinnati and have most recently been training with some players on the Bengals.

I activated my reddit account just a moment ago and because I’ve been seeing the videos of Kobe’s most recent dunks and the comments you guys have had to share I decided I might as well chime in what I know about the man. And let me just state by saying that this story doesn’t touch on anything we don’t know about Kobe but rather that he simply is not human when he is working on his craft.

I was invited to Las Vegas this past Summer to help Team USA with their conditioning before they head off to London, and as we know they would eventually bring home the Gold (USA). I’ve had the opportunity to work with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade in the past but this would be my first interaction with Kobe. We first met three days before the first scrimmage, on the day of the first practice, early July. It was a brief conversation where we talked about conditioning, where he would like to be by the end of the Summer, and we talked a little bit about the hustle of the Select Team. Then he got my number and I let him know that if he ever wanted some extra training he could hit me up any time.

The night before the first scrimmage I remember I was just watched “Casablanca” for the first time and it was about 3:30 AM. I lay in bed, slowly fading away when I hear my cell ring. It was Kobe. I nervously picked up.

“Hey, uhh Rob, I hope I’m not disturbing anything right?”

“Uhh no, what’s up Kob?”

“Just wondering if you could just help me out with some conditioning work, that’s all.”

I checked my clock. 4:15 AM.

“Yeah sure, I’ll see you in the facility in a bit.”

It took me about twenty minutes to get my gear and out of the hotel. When I arrived and opened the room to the main practice floor I saw Kobe. Alone. He was drenched in sweat as if he had just taken a swim. It wasn’t even 5AM.

We did some conditioning work for the next hour and fifteen minutes. Then we entered the weight room, where he would do a multitude of strength training exercises for the next 45 minutes. After that we parted ways and he went back to the practice floor to shoot. I went back to the hotel and crashed. Wow.

I was expected to be at the floor again at about 11 AM. I woke up feeling sleepy, drowsy, and almost pretty much every side effect of sleep deprivation. Thanks, Kobe. I had a bagel and headed to the practice facility.

This next part I remember very vividly. All the Team USA players were there, feeling good for the first scrimmage. LeBron was talking to Carmelo if I remember correctly and Coach Krzyzewski was trying to explain something to Kevin Durant. On the right side of the practice facility was Kobe by himself shooting jumpers. And this is how our next conversation went – I went over to him, patted him on the back and said, “Good work this morning.”

“Huh?”

“Like, the conditioning. Good work.”

“Oh. Yeah, thanks Rob. I really appreciate it.”

“So when did you finish?”

“Finish what?”

“Getting your shots up. What time did you leave the facility?”

“Oh just now. I wanted 800 makes so yeah, just now.”

My jaw dropped. Mother of holy God. It was then that I realized that there’s no surprise to why he’s been as effective as he was last season. Every story about his dedication, every quote that he’s said about hard work all came together and hit me like a train. It’s no surprise to me now that he’s dunking on players ten years younger than him and it wasn’t a surprise to me earlier this year when he led the league in scoring.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to share you my Kobe Bryant story. If anyone has any questions I can clarify. Sorry if the story was at all hard to follow as this is my first time on reddit.

Thanks.

I will share with my students and those close to me.

 

[art vandelay]

Trump actually sent a nice tweet and I’m shocked.

 

[the 718 truth]

Legendary toughness

 

[had pants]

 

[HIM]

Sounds corny but I woke up and rushed to my phone hoping it was a long/weird dream. Someone said to honor him by going as hard as you can at the gym. Im heading there now. I wish I owned some laker gear to wear

 

[pmatic]

We need some Kobe tall tales today. antidope

 

[bostoiah]

It's amazing how much of an impact Kobe had on non-basketball fans as well. Dude was literally bigger than basketball. My step dad who is not an NBA fan other than watching the finals here and there was pretty shaken up when he heard of Kobe's death. A lot of my homegirls literally broke down in tears and they don't know a lick about basketball. Truly shocking man...I always imagined Kob at 70-80 years old on the podium handing out NBA finals MVP trophies or something

 

[rolaholic]

Man somebody post some lighter stuff please......

 

[Air Pope]

It's amazing how much of an impact Kobe had on non-basketball fans as well. Dude was literally bigger than basketball. My step dad who is not an NBA fan other than watching the finals here and there was pretty shaken up when he heard of Kobe's death. A lot of my homegirls literally broke down in tears and they don't know a lick about basketball. Truly shocking man...I always imagined Kob at 70-80 years old on the podium handing out NBA finals MVP trophies or something

That last part is what bothers me. Feel like we were supposed to see him lookin like Bill Russell. We see death all the time but it’s crazy how ignorant we are to the fact that life really is precious

 

[trynafeelmink]

RIP to my fave ball player ever & to all who lost their lives on that plane.

 

[D StaXX]

We need some Kobe tall tales today. antidope

Never forget he was an underground Philly battle rapper.
Went bar for bar with Beans & Freeway.

 

[antidope]

We need some Kobe tall tales today. antidope

The tallest. As far as I'm concerned everything I hear today is true.

 

[mische]

I'm still shocked. I can't believe it and I don't want to believe it. So tragic and deeply saddening. I just feel drained. My prayers and thoughts are with the families and the loved ones. I can't imagine what they are going through now. May Kobe & Gigi Bryant and all those who lost their lives yesterday transition and rest peacefully...

 

[trynafeelmink]

Never forget he was an underground Philly battle rapper.
Went toe to toes with Beans & Freeway.

Bean really featured on a track With Beans straight out of Philly

 

[k3stacks]

I know swaggy P, kyrie, tmac, and AI going through it.

 

[getback]

 

[getback]

 

[xxpizzo]

 

[harlemtothebronx]

RIP Kobe and David Stern.

Less than a month into 2020.

 

[rolaholic]

 

[friscostylez]

I'm still sick