Remembering Kobe & My Favorite Kobe Shoes (Moments)

Kobe Bean Bryant. The legend on and off the court. The man who became synonymous with grit and hard work. The man who had people across the world screaming his name when shooting anything into any sort of basket or receptacle. The man who made at least 50% of the current NBA and WNBA community love basketball. I’ve always been a fan of LeBron and I’ve found myself in a multitude of arguments with Kobe and Jordan fans about who is the GOAT…and now I regret all those debates. Not that my opinion has changed, but the fact I took those moments to not fully appreciate the dominance and greatness that was Kobe Bryant. However, I’m blessed to have been able to work on a project with/for Kobe during my time in Los Angeles. I worked on the famous “Mamba Mentality Challenges” campaign (which has aged well since Giannis did win the MVP)

Hotline we created for fans to pose questions to Kobe

We did a live stream, the first one in Facebook history to be filmed in black & white, and to be behind the scenes and witness the global hype to Kobe’s presence and words was remarkable. I’ve been around and met many celebrities thus far, but I can’t think of one besides Barack Obama that could ever garner the type of love and attention that Kobe did. Children and senior citizens alike were tuned in and listening to what Kobe had to say on that hyped “Mamba Day” on 8.24.2017.

Fast forward to January 26, 2020, as a global community, we all felt a loss and mourned after the terrible news of Kobe’s early and tragic demise. I was sitting on my bed in my dorm room in England, when a friend called me on Facetime to deliver the heart crushing news of Kobe’s death. I sat in disbelief for hours; hoping that sleazy ass TMZ had it all wrong; maybe the crash was a hoax, maybe it was old news and it resurfaced for attention. But as the time went on, it became evident that it wasn’t a joke. My heart was restless as I feared that his daughter, Gianna would be on board the helicopter, because going back to 2017, as far as I could remember, Gigi was his shadow. Wherever he was, she was somewhere nearby and I broke down crying at the idea of them both perishing in that ball of fire. As we know now, my fears were true, baby Gigi was on the chopper and she left the world far too soon. I acknowledge and send condolences to the Bryant family as well as every other soul that was lost on that chopper, but for now I want to focus on Kobe.

Kobe impacted all of us, whether we acknowledge it or not. There aren’t many people in history with the influence and impact of that man and he caught our hearts and minds by what he did on a 94 foot long hardwood floor for 48 minutes, 82 times a year. He did it at the highest level for two decades. He showed us that hard work plus talent creates an unstoppable force. He took on challenges on the court, and after his NBA career, he took on challenges off the court. He was one of a kind, once in a lifetime, and I am so thankful I was able to watch him play and grow as I grew.

I want to thank Kobe for showing the world what greatness really looks like and motivating us all to pursue it in our respective walks of life and careers. I still feel sad when I think of Kobe passing, I still feel strange about wearing his sneakers, I still feel weird that I still say “Kobe” when throwing paper in the trash…I don’t know when this will shake, but if you feel sad or strange you are not alone. Grieving has no time limit or acceptable form; feel how you feel for as long as you feel it. Just live by Kobe’s Mamba Mentality and make sure you perform at your highest level at whatever your passion is…if you do that, life will begin to make more sense and purposeful. There are so many more things I would love to say about Kobe, but it is still painful to think about. I love sneakers, I loved Kobe’s game, and we all loved what he meant to the world of sport. So, in lieu of a longer post, I’m going to finish this post on a high note, remembering some memorable Kobe moments and iconic shoes with my eight favorite on-court sneaker moments from the Laker legend.

Mamba Forever.

1. Kobe 6. “Grinch”