By: Kylan Watson

Kobe Bryant was a great basketball player whose skills, passion for the game, and unrelenting work ethic made him an icon. His life was cut short yesterday in a helicopter crash that killed him and eight others. To many people he was an inspiration, but to this kid from Philadelphia, Pa he’s one of the reasons I fell in love with the game of basketball.

I am a rarity when it comes to my age group I lived through the Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Kobe eras of basketball. Most have not seen all three, let alone one of these legends play basketball. Watching each one of these players play the game was unbelievable. While Jordan and AI had the work ethic, their skills were almost untouchable nobody could match AI’s skills with the ball in his hands, or Jordan’s ability to make the impossible look possible.

Kobe though was special because he always would say I will just outwork you. He was in the gym relentlessly working on his craft and played for 20 years. His career stretched from 1996-2016.  For a kid who was not going pro to see how he approached becoming a great player was inspirational.

Watching Kobe taught me how to be passionate about what I do, and if I wasn’t good at something, to keep working at it, and eventually I would be able to do it.

Kobe helped me to see that there are more to athletes than just what they do on the court or field. Athletes are people too and Kobe was one of the reasons that I wanted to become a Sports Reporter. To tell the stories of the people behind the personas of these athletes.

Now unfortunately I will never get to interview Kobe Bryant and find out even more about what makes him tick. Watching from afar, one of his greatest accomplishments was being a father to his four daughters.

However, Kobe didn’t just inspire and help his daughters he inspired many kids all over the globe to seek and pursue their dreams with unrelenting passion.  That maybe his greatest legacy the fact that he was so untouchable on the court, but off it he was just a man who did his best to be the best man, father, and husband he could be.