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COLUMN: The loss of a sports icon

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On Jan. 26 we lost a sports icon. The entire situation is as tragic as it gets. Nine people in total including Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash.

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While my condolences are spread to all of the families grieving through this heart-breaking situation, one cannot forget the impact Bryant had on popular culture and the sporting world across the globe. Grasping the fact that a man who seemed immortal passing so young is a hard pill to swallow and a realization of how important each day we live is.

Bryant was a testament that hard work beats talent every time. The stories are legendary. One-night Bryant and Allen Iverson met for dinner before a game against each other and Iverson asked Bryant what he was doing after the game, because he was going to go to the club. Bryant’s response was, “I’m going back to the gym.”

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He was also known to show up early just to make 250 shots before every game so he knew he was warmed up.

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It was that competitive nature which spanned his entire life that won over an entire generation and then some. I was born in 1992. I was still very young when the great Michael Jordan was the face of basketball. I didn’t start paying attention until there was a new face. That face was Kobe Bryant.

For me and the millions like me, he was our Jordan. Seeing the way he and Shaq dominated was something that even the most surface of basketball fans could not look away from. The most dominate duo arguably in NBA history broke up in 2004 after winning three consecutive NBA Championships.

Most people hit that plateau in their career and cruise until the time comes to ride off into the proverbial retirement sunset. Not because they want to, but because the list of people who accomplish what Bryant had by 2004 is very small.

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Not Bryant though. His fierce nature saw him rebuild his game, change his number and start the process of rebuilding his beloved Lakers to do it all over again, without Shaq.

And he did.

Most of us still remember where we were when Bryant dropped 81 points on Canada’s beloved Toronto Raptors in 2006. It was a feat you could not ignore. Bryant went on to win two more championships. Back to back. Those who played Bryant knew that although he may be a great guy off the court, on the court you were his worst enemy and the only thing you were doing was standing in his way.

The league is so different now. While I hope I’m wrong, I just don’t think we’ll ever see another player with the tenacity, intensity and competitive nature of Bryant.

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In writing this article I wanted to cover one thing. That is his ability to connect to a generation on the basketball court. I am fully aware of his hiccups and controversies, but I will give no daylight to the darkness in his story given the way his life ended.

I could not even begin to imagine the sort of pain his family is going through. One morning, the entire world is at your grasp. Hours later, A wife and mother finds out she has to lay her husband and daughter to rest. The sort of pain involved with the cruelness of the world in situations like this, us mere mortals are not built to deal with.

I for one would have no idea how to carry on if one Saturday in January I got the news Vanessa Bryant and her family had to receive. I’m hoping the Bryant family sees the impact their father had on the world and sheds a positive light on their journey going forward.

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The Black Mamba impacted all of us in one way or another. Even if it is just yelling “Kobe” as you throw your garbage away. The sort of legacy he left is something all of us strive for in some sense. To be remembered as the greatest in what you do is something few people get the chance of hearing.

In the words of Charles Bukowski: “We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”

I post that quote from the late Bukowski to say be aware of how lucky you are, wherever you are at in your life. Just the fact you woke up today is a miracle. The families of the nine people who died in that crash will mourn their loved ones forever and now feel first-hand the unforgiving grip of death’s touch.

Every day above ground is a good day. Hold your loved ones close, call that person you’ve been meaning to call and tell them you love them, because you never know when they’ll be gone forever.

Jstricker@postmedia.com

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