NBA Stories: Kobe Bryant 1978-2020

I've been listening to Ryen Russilo for years and I can say he is my favorite (ex)ESPN analyst apart from the master of all, Bill Simmons. Ryen's newest podcast dedicated to Kobe Bryant (https://youtu.be/80Nrj_p7CBc) was still informative but it started with a wrong assumption about human psychology that gives absolute power to the media and their news devourers, the ignorant and self-entitled masses. I told him that he should go back and study some Anthropology and Psychology before lecturing youngsters on the internet about human feelings. They have the tendency to gulp on the media news without filtering the information or even thinking...and later start a war based on opinions about it. 

I have to contradict Ryen Russilo. We are NOT compassionate by default! Compassion takes years or even a lifetime to master. That's why Buddhism has so many ancient texts about it and its devotees still struggle with acquiring it , not to mention most religions say almost nothing about compassion (Christian pity is not the same as it has a selfish individual goal in mind when the believer expects to be granted access to heaven based on his dees!). Our first human reaction to other's death - in this case Kobe's - is...fear of our own death which is 100% selfish. When celebrities and media anchormen saw it happened they instantly (and subconsciously) thought about the possibility of their own death which indeed is imminent. So yeah, let's stop pounding our chests for a second, stop crying about our own insecurities and talk in a NEUTRAL and OPEN and HONEST manner about the loss of a great athlete who only recently got to full maturity and had become a better person.

It is astonishing to me that media still can't deal with news in a proper, natural manner. When something terrible happens the first thing they do is run to the books and look what the best recipe for reacting to the news is. Why do people always need scripts and props in their life? Is it that difficult for them to be human?! When interviewed about Kobe's death news, some NBA players were asked what was their reaction the moment they found out and what were they doing as the media's expectation and politically correct view on those is you to be devastated and unable to go on with your everyday life. This is how humans are made into robots! 

Jerry West gave the only declaration (or interview or whatever you want to call it: https://youtu.be/-yYyT6DhMxU) I could listen to related to Kobe's basketball legacy. The rest are just fabricated, pretentious reports. Stephen A. was speaking like he was reading off a script but at least he is the only one who said Kobe was changing and planning to accomplish more after his basketball life. Unfortunately he focused on the "Mamba mentality" of Kobe Bryant - which of course everybody knows was his signature - and described it as the right tool to "not listen to anybody and conquer the world for yourself". 

It is sad the society needs more examples of extreme selfish attitude and the main lesson people learn is to force their way into the world instead of taking things naturally and adapt to the infinite situations life offers to all of us. In Alan Watts words, we are not brought into this world the way parents think when giving birth to children - which in their opinion entitles them to get the whole credit - because "we don't come into this world, we come out of it as every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe."

I took Kobe's death news very naturally: luckily it happened in the first 30 minutes since the helicopter accident had happened so there was no filtering and no censorship or other P.C. bullshit. I watched Kobe Bryant's career since he made it to the NBA following the 1996 draft (the best in the NBA history) but I never liked his extreme selfish and psychotic mentality on the basketball court (which by definition is a team sport) but I always respected his talent and impact on the game. So when I got the news, I must say I was shocked and saddened for Kobe and his daughter who both died in that crash. I was thinking he could have done so much for sports in general and the public in the future because of the way he was recently involved in business deals, either personal or just lobbying for others. Only since reaching the age of 40 (probably the last chance to get to full maturity for most people), he decided to change his approach completely and become open to others.

It is really not much to be said anymore. When life fails bringing people together, death is left to do it all. Ironically, Kobe became a better person only recently. In his own words, he just started understanding that there is more to life than just selfishness. None of the media anchormen mentioned this most important aspect! Therefore  I will add this: maybe when people change - which rarely happen - they deserve to go to a better place. R.I.P. Kobe

Then I got a reply, the typical trolling reply we all get on social media nowadays thanks to technology and the easy way for everyone to intrude in everyone's life. Here is how it went:

- It's never natural to die unnaturally.  Is me stomping on a flower or running a red light at an intersection and killing a baby considered natural?  And the Mamba mentality everyone speaks of is why Kobe is even talked about, why he had the success/fame he had and the driving force behind his championships. Otherwise this would've been just another helicopter crash we never heard about.  Kobe didn't just RECENTLY better himself...he's been growing and maturing as a person and it's common for people, especially men, to "grow up" and be wiser aka more mature as they age, particularly as they go into their 40s. You went on this judgmental rant that made no sense really.  Quick to point fingers and find supposed flaws in others...I guess that's the "natural" thing to do huh.

 My answer was straightforward as I can hardly tolerate trolls anymore:

- You went in over your head into something you don't know much about. I recommend you go back and watch all those interviews Kobe did in the last 2 years on YT and see how much he changed. That of course if you watched his whole career as an NBA (selfish) player. And BTW, you trolling doesn't take away anything from what I wrote. Why trolling? Because I was talking about having a natural reaction to the news about someone passing away while you talk about dying naturally. Can you activate your brain before making assumptions and simply just read what people write before trolling? I guess not…

A few days later of painfully bad reporting and reacting to the news about Kobe's death we got the official report on CBS News (https://youtu.be/LK0uM5OIONA) . 

There is something fishy about this official report. Some comments seemed to notice it too.

- I feel as if everyone want to blame the pilot, which is unfair. They asked him to hold out for 12 minutes, but no one is batting an eye about that. We've all went to work in bad weather; ice, snow, sleet, rain, high winds, floods, fog and every other type of hazardous road conditions. Our emotions pushes us to pinpoint blame when in actuality blame is never solely based on one entity.

- I blame the FAA. They should have refused permission to continue. The pilot just got disoriented.

- ME: Of course nobody will blame the FAA! You can see the official version and the people commenting here they already decided to blame the dead. As always.

- Bryant should have never got in that chopper. Very irresponsible.

- ME: "Mamba mentality"...gets you killed, literally.

- I swear some of y'all have selective reading/understanding and I choose to believe that instead of y'all just being pure stupid. I said it's unfair to blame the pilot SOLELY... I believe y'all can be diagnosed with selective reasoning, look it up if you don't know what it is.... SMH. I said what I said I'm not responding to the narrow minded people.

The eyewitness interview (https://youtu.be/28QYy8lrww8) states the opposite - and that middle aged guy knew what he was talking about! Comments on the video with him got thousands of likes and replies like these:

- The reporter really lucked out with this witness. He was so thorough and detailed.

- This man is a great human being. He did not pull out his phone to take pictures, or record a video. The man pulled out his phone and called 911. Had he not done that, the first responders would not have been able to get there so quickly.

- For someone who didn't technically "see the helicopter" this is the greatest witness testimony in the history of the world.

- This might be the most intelligent witness interview ever done.

- 'll give this man respect where it is due. This is why you need to pay attention to your surroundings. He did that. He didn't do anything that any of us can't do. He knew something was wrong, and he paid attention to his surroundings. He didn't throw in drama to the situation. Simply provided facts the best he could.

So this eyewitness called 911 first and then when the cars went too far he called them back telling them they are in the wrong area. He has lived in that area for 17 years and that day was the worst ever in terms of fog, clouds and low visibility. Briefly, he explained the helicopter was coming down very SLOWLY with the speed of only about 5 miles/h and clearly hit the middle of that hill because the helicopter was flying too low (150 feet) and probably saw the ground at the last second which also means he had no radar and no help in navigation. So if you want to blame someone 1. blame the air traffic control and 2. whoever decided to fly that helicopter on that weather-wise atrocious day. Why always someone has to hide the truth and cover up for someone else who was in charge or at fault is mind boggling; it must be greed and the money because that's when people lie and act unnatural.

- You think the helicopter came down at 5mph with that destruction? Come on man!

- ME: Well, the eyewitness must be right because there was no explosion. So yeah, falling off the sky with minimal speed can still destroy a chopper. What would you expect, people getting off and walking into a bar? I guess that's how things in movies kids watch these days look like. No surprise indeed. Lower the standards Hollywood!

Less than a week after the accident, there was  an excellent simulation of the helicopter flight path (https://youtu.be/XSHpbGhy3Ko) made by a YouTuber who apparently is a helicopter pilot. Just before the impact, the pilot entered a very dangerous mountain area where the clouds were at a lower altitude than the hills and the path was narrowing while the only visual clue for the pilot was the mountain pass highway he was following. The disaster occurred when the pilot got scared of the mountains closing in from both sides and he decided to fly higher into the clouds and lose all visual contact. The next mistake was fatal when he realized now he couldn't see and was relying only on technology and what the instruments on board were telling him. Not happy with that he probably lost his grip and turned 180 degrees and left the clouds going straight towards the ground hoping he will be able to see clearly again but not thinking there might be a hill right next to them. This also proves the first eyewitness statement was correct about the pilot being confused because he had no idea where he was before the helicopter hit the ground.  

Just after I wrote this I found an official statement saying that "the helicopter was not equipped with a Terrain Awareness Warning System, or TAWS, which could have alerted the pilot that he was flying too close to the mountain. The NTSB recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration following a 2004 crash that all helicopters should be equipped with the system, but it was not implemented. It's unclear whether the system would've prevented the accident, which took place in heavy enough fog that the L.A. Sheriff's Department said it kept its choppers grounded."

Then the comments related to these facts started coming in:

- Time to reform FAA. Absolutely 100% Unacceptable that FAA has not implemented vital NTSB recommendations.
- I hope all nine families go after the FAA and sue them.
- Correct... FAA generates over a billion a year. I stated this on the 2nd day.
- ME: I stated on the 1st day they gave that official statement and sounded fishy because they were blaming the dead (as they always do!). They were obviously afraid people will find out it is their fault helicopters are not equipped with the proper technology for bad weather.

- I wish someone said “hey let’s just cancel everything, it’s too dangerous”.
- Unfortunately, having money is not always a blessing.
- The FAA’s helicopter flying handbook states that losing all visual references during a flight “can cause sensory overload” for a pilot, who can then lose the ability to think rationally.  This is most likely what happened. My family friend is a pilot and said that he once flew into fog and couldn’t tell that his plane was on a 40 degree angle . Up was down, down was up, fast seemed slow, etc. It was the worst experience of his life.  This is probably what happened.
      - Pilot error.  Sometimes you just have to say "I'm sorry Mr. Bryant, but right now isn't a good time to fly".

Well, people like maniacs and winners like Kobe and his signature "Mamba mentality". This is part of the bigger media and movie trend where if someone is a serial killer or does something incredibly fortunate or stupid, he or she will get recognition from the public for being special. Nobody cares about real heroes anymore, now it's all about super-heroes and villains!

We can only assume the pilot asked the "should we cancel this flight and go back?" question at least once during this flight. We all know Kobe's certain answer to that question. Unfortunately for the other passengers including his own daughter Gianna (please use the nickname Gigi ONLY if you knew her personally!), Kobe never in his life knew how to take things slowly, wisely and/or cautiously. You might hate me for saying this but then again, it is your loss for not accepting the truth and living a lie.

Someone finally agreed with me on YouTube and said this:

- It’s all about balance bro the mamba mentality is great but it can be obsessive at time and detrimental. Just like a person that’s obsessive at with the gym they’re addicted to it because they have some sort of trauma and the gym is their release but they’re still addicted no different than a drug addiction or food addiction although it’s healthier it’s still an addiction cause by a mental disorder and you should get to the root of it and stay at peace rather than go crazy doing things.
- ME: Absolutely! Now try to say this about Kobe and see if you can get out of here alive, haha!
 - It is his own Mamba mentality that killed him. Facts.
 - The thing is Kobe flew around the world to play basketball games in all sorts of weather for over half his life, there was no danger in his mind. No excuses not to get to basketball practice. He failed the no.1 rule as a parent to keep your kids safe.
 - Kobe's pilot in the past said that pilots can sometime feel intimidated because they have a VIP or Mega Star flying with them. They will try all attempts possible to get the job done. They don't want the person to feel like their incapable of doing the job. In this case I really wished he had said, "I'm sorry Mr. Bryant and other passengers but this trip can't be made at this present time due to dangerous weather situations". It could have been delayed until after the fog lifted. Or they could have just drove the 2 hours drive.

Five days later on the Inside The NBA ESPN show (https://youtu.be/NqJtsfXnvO0), Shaq was already making jokes about a pumped up Kobe in his rookie year when his Lakers teammates used to make fun of him because of his training routine without the basketball that made him look possessed by some weird unnatural force while he was practicing his dribbling moves on the court. I had to comment on their video saying this:

- ME: The hypocrisy is finally over. Now we can enjoy talking about Kobe again like real adults with good and bad, funny and silly and everything else life comes with. I'm so glad the media fabricated shit is over!

To make things funnier for us (unintentionally)  and proving how retarded the media can be, BBC England brought the news of Kobe's death to the population in the UK by showing the most recent picture of him and his daughter but then putting on LeBron James highlights thinking they must be one and the same person if the Lakers uniform they were in looks the same. Which reminded me of overpriced British Airways flights from London to USA and their English ladies employed at Heathrow Airport working behind the boarding desk who couldn't make the difference between LA (the state of Louisiana) and L.A. (the city of Los Angeles) while having the destination of our flight printed clearly on the boarding pass. Yeah, the future is bright...