The "Mamba spirit" will live on

Kobe Bryant, 41, is gone, and even a day later, the news still seems unreal, as if in a dream.

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash at 10 a.m. local time Thursday. According to the analysis of Los Angeles authorities, the cause of the crash may be the day's fog.

Heroes fall, but legends live on. On and off the court, Kobe has inspired countless people with his "Mamba spirit", showing us how to do everything with love.

A few hours ago, when Kobe Bryant's death was reported, the entire NBA league immediately plunged into a deep grief.

When the tragedy came out, the entire Lakers team was on a special plane from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, and someone found the news online. After landing, media photographed lebron James walking off the plane alone, wiping tears as he walked. Just a day earlier, he had surpassed Kobe Bryant in total points, making him the most recorded moment of the season. Bryant's last message on Instagram was to congratulate the little brother for surpassing himself, "Keep chasing No.2!" At this moment, such words are extremely tearful.

All games in the league that day began with a 24-second offensive violation and an 8-second half-court violation (Bryant had worn No. 8 and No. 24), as did the Blazers and Pacers. Before the whistle blew, Blazers player Carmelo Anthony could not hide his sadness and walked alone to his own half with his head down. During the post-match interview, "Melo" almost broke down emotionally and his voice broke several times. "It was the toughest game I've ever played, but knowing Kobe, he would have wanted me to play." He and I are family and friends, and that comes before basketball."

Michael Jordan, the god of basketball, said: "I love Kobe, he's like my little brother. He was a strong competitor, one of the game's greatest players, and extremely creative. He is also an amazing father who deeply loves his family and supports his daughter's love of basketball. I want to send my deepest condolences to Vanessa, the Lakers organization and Lakers fans around the world. "

The Lakers' home Staples Center was holding the annual Grammy music Awards on the same day, but there was no joy outside the arena. The crowd that mourned Bryant swarms outside Staples with jerseys, bouquets and candles until late at night local time. At the 62nd annual Grammy Awards ceremony, honoring Kobe Bryant also became the most important theme.

Landmarks across the United States, including the Empire State Building in New York, Los Angeles City Hall and the Guitar Hotel in Miami, lit up in purple and yellow to commemorate the loss of the great player. Outside the basketball field, the sports and entertainment circles have also used action to remember Kobe Bryant. During a match for Paris Saint-Germain, Brazilian star Neymar learned of Bryant's death at half-time, and after scoring in the second half, he flashed Bryant's number "24" to the courtside camera to mourn. Australian Open men's singles Kyrgios vs. Nadal tonight, Kyrgios walked out of the tunnel wearing Kobe Bryant Lakers No. 8 jersey.

Not everyone liked Kobe when he was still on the court. To put it bluntly, there were probably more people who hated him at the time, and that statement was even a compliment in Bryant's own eyes. For a long time, Kobe Bryant represented a very extreme and even extreme image. This extreme is reflected in his almost paranoid competitive heart, strong self-control and self-discipline, and crazy love for basketball itself.

"Have you ever seen Los Angeles at 4 a.m.?" Bryant left for practice at 4 a.m. every day, and this phrase has gradually become an Internet meme among fans.

In a TED talk after his retirement, Kobe said that getting up early made the gap between his opponents and himself bigger and bigger. "If you're a regular player, you can sleep until 10am, get up, train for two hours, eat, relax, nap, practice for two hours at 6-8pm, then have dinner, sleep... This is repeated and you only have two training sessions a day." "I start training at 4am every day, so I can get more training time, and I can practice four times a day." So over time, the gap between me and my competitors will become bigger and bigger. In five or six years, no matter what special training they do in the summer, they will never be able to catch up with me." "I've trained five years longer than they have."

The story of Kobe's devil training has been numerous in the past 20 years, even if it is not a Kobe fan, as long as it is familiar with the NBA can name a few. While torturing themselves, Kobe's trainers are living in hell. In 2012, the US men's basketball Dream Team was training in Las Vegas, and Robert, the trainer of the team, received a phone call from Bryant at 4:15 one morning, "Are you asleep?" Come and help me with some physical training." By the time Robert arrived at the gym 20 minutes later, Kobe was soaking wet like he had just been fished out of the water. After two hours of physical training and strength training, Bryant said to continue to practice shooting, Robert went to sleep in the room. In the morning, all the members of the dream team gathered at the gym, and Robert saw Bryant alone working on his jump shot.

"So when did you finish?"
"End what?"
"Shootaround in the wee hours."
"Oh, right now. I want to hit 800 shots before I leave. I've been practicing until now."

Grove, Bryant's own personal trainer, was tortured even more. On Bryant's first night in Vegas, he had to accompany him on a 40-mile bike ride through the desert in the middle of the night.
"We finished riding around 2 a.m., and then started training again at 7:30 a.m.," Grove said. It's worth noting that all this happened in the summer of 2012, when Bryant was 34 years old, with five championships in his hands and entering the twilight of his career. He could have let himself relax and enjoyed his last days of basketball, but his soul wouldn't let him.

This is the "Mamba spirit".

Be strict with yourself and strict with others

In 2013, the 35-year-old "Black Mamba" collapsed on the field with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Everyone thought that Kobe's era was finally over, and Kobe wrote this paragraph on his Facebook page: "Do I still have the will to overcome this difficulty?" Maybe I should roll out my rocking chair and sit back and reflect on my career. Maybe Father Time really did beat me... It's the worst thing I've ever been through. It's great to let it out. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and keep fighting with the same belief."

Bryant chose to return to the game after surgery, "If you see me fighting a bear, pray for the bear." 'I've always liked that. This is the Mamba spirit - never give up, never back down, never run away. We persevered and overcame those difficulties."

For the "Mamba spirit", the official interpretation given by Kobe Bryant is five key words: enthusiasm, perseverance, stern, fight back, fearless. Among them, "stern" is both strict with oneself and strict with others. Kobe Bryant firmly implemented this point to his teammates. Lakers teammate Metta World Peace said they usually played cards when they got on the plane, but Bryant would come over and ask everyone to put their cards down so they could study video with him and instruct them on what to do in the next game.

"He doesn't care if you're sleeping or not, he'll shake you up and teach you some unexpected tricks." His commitment and passion for the game is unmatched."
In the last few years before retirement, the Lakers' record was not good, especially when Bryant was recovering from injury.

From lone Assassin to 'Big Brother'

It is also because of the strict around people, Kobe Bryant and a few do not love training big-name teammates are not very good, 2000-2002 after the three consecutive championships, Kobe and partner O 'Neal parted ways, became the master of the lake; At the end of his career, Kobe Bryant and "Warcraft" Howard were also very unhappy partners, and the two of them almost did a fight on the court after the latter transferred to the Rockets.

Bryant entered the league at 18 years old (17 years and 10 months at the time of the draft), making his name undisputed at a young age. But even at his peak, his aloof personality was always criticized. During the first half of his career, Bryant was notoriously difficult on and off the court. Other players play away to go to bars and nightclubs, he went back to the room to sleep early and get up in the morning to train, it seems quite unsociable.

In the NBA, Bryant is known for having "few friends." So in fan forums such as Hupu, you can always see such posts, discussing how many friends Kobe has in the league. Counted down, in addition to the younger Carmelo Anthony and childhood sweetheart McGrady, Kobe really has no star friends, popularity and limited.

Even Derek Fisher, the team's best friend, revealed after the Lakers won the championship in 2009 that he had never been to Bryant's house. But as he grew older, Kobe became a veteran on the court, especially in the years after the injury, and gradually had the taste of stepping on the altar and no longer asking about the conflict. In the eyes of fans, he has changed from a proud killer to a kind middle-aged man, and the future generation of stars such as James, Wade, Durant, etc., all regard him as a mentor and friend, and regard him as a real big brother.

"I accept the limitations of life."

Kobe himself is actually very comfortable with death. In an interview before retirement, when asked how to look down on death, Bryant once said: "There is death will have life, there is darkness will have light, I will accept death." "If you fight against death, you will always struggle inside. So I accept the limitations of life."

For this sudden tragedy, too many people can not accept, even if it has been nearly a day, the mobile phone brush this news will still feel so unreal, as if in a dream. If it is really a dream how good, but the reality is so cruel. "Tomorrow or the accident, I don't know which comes first." This phrase is always repeated, but when the accident comes, there is always nothing we can do.

A great basketball player and a great man left this world.