Remembering Kobe Now Means Remembering All of Him
A year later, it’s time to contend with the man’s whole self — his growth and wrongs in equal measure
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
A year after Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s sudden death, it still feels like an open wound. Some people are able to remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. That’s not the case for me. What I remember is the feeling: first apprehension, then a visceral pang as my heart sank into the soles of my feet. I do remember, quite clearly, a gap in both time and information when news filtered out about the helicopter crash. In that weird temporal displacement, we faced possibilities that ranged from dubious (that this whole thing was a TMZ farce) to utterly heartbreaking (that both Kobe and his daughter were indeed on the aircraft).
Once the news was confirmed, his colleagues were, like the rest of us, stunned. Shaq immediately posted a photo of the big man newlywed-carrying Bean during their dynasty run. On court, NBA players committed intentional turnovers in honor of Kobe’s retired jersey numbers: eight-second violations for not advancing the ball across half-court, 24-second shot clock violations. “I know you said keep…
