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It now says one daughter was on the helicopter with him. I believe that she was a budding basketball star.

" 12:35 PM PT -- Kobe's daughter Gianna Maria Onore -- aka GiGi -- was also on board the helicopter and died in the crash ... reps for Kobe tell TMZ Sports. She was 13.

We're told they were on their way to the Mamba Academy for a basketball practice when the crash occurred. The Academy is in nearby Thousand Oaks."

https://www.tmz.com/2020/01/26...-crash-in-calabasas/

Last edited by excalibur
Geaux-Packers posted:

The fog looks like itโ€™s to the ground.  I fly an airplane as a hobby.  Unless youโ€™re a professional pilot, landing and flying in that weather is EXTREMELY dangerous.  Without a horizon as reference it is exceedingly easy to lose all spatial orientation and put it into the ground.

This is the same weather conditions that JFK junior flew into and killed him.....

 

sad

My guess is they realized they lacked altitude too late and tried to gain it over and above what the Sikorsky could handle, stressing the machine. Some people say that they heard breaking up prior to the crash, of course, that could be incorrect

Wasn't JFK Jr. not instrument rated and flew into darkness?

 

Last edited by excalibur

Kobe was one of the most complicated professional athletes in my lifetime. Probably the only guy at this level of complication is Tiger Woods. 

Kobe had great academic test scores coming out of high school. With his drive and intelligence, he could have gone to law school or been the CEO of a big company. Maybe a surgeon. He would have been good at whatever profession he decided to pursue. He was intelligent, articulate, and driven. He was thoughtful in the manner of Kareem or Bill Russell. He was A LOT more intelligent than the other superstars right before his era - guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. 

He had a net worth of over 500 million at age 41 and was on his way to being a billionaire. He was probably going to be successful in the second half of his life. He appeared to be a great father and and seemed to mature into a good husband after being a lousy one for most of his marriage. 

Contrast all this with the fact that he was very likely guilty of a brutal sexual assault. If you have any doubt about this, read Kobe in his own words about this.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/...-the-half-confession

As I said, Tiger Woods is very similar - a lot more intelligent, insightful, driven, and talented than his contemporaries with the same type of faults. Only, to anyone's knowledge, Tiger never sexually assaulted anyone. 

If they are going to change the logo, I'd like to see them go to a "Mt. Rushmore" style logo. Put the silhouettes of 4-5 guys on it. 

Keep Jerry West and add Kareem doing a sky hook, MJ flying through the air from the FT line, etc. Have the fans vote on it. 

Kobe was a top 10 player all-time, but if he wouldn't have died tragically, he wouldn't even be in the conversation for the logo. 

Here's Bill Simmons' effort to rank the top players of all-time in 2010 (the last year Kobe won a title). If you redo the list 10 years later, LeBron probably moves up to about 9 or 10 and Durant and Curry are close to top 20.

1. Jordan

2. Bill Russell

3. Kareem

4. Magic

5. Bird

6. Chamberlain

7. Duncan

8. Kobe

9. Jerry West

10. Oscar Robertson

11. Hakeem

12. Shaq

13. Moses Malone

14. Havlicek

15. Elgin Baylor

16. Dr. J

17. Bob Pettit

18. Karl Malone

19. Barkley

20. LeBron

 

 

 
excalibur posted:
Geaux-Packers posted:

The fog looks like itโ€™s to the ground.  I fly an airplane as a hobby.  Unless youโ€™re a professional pilot, landing and flying in that weather is EXTREMELY dangerous.  Without a horizon as reference it is exceedingly easy to lose all spatial orientation and put it into the ground.

This is the same weather conditions that JFK junior flew into and killed him.....

 

sad

My guess is they realized they lacked altitude too late and tried to gain it over and above what the Sikorsky could handle, stressing the machine. Some people say that they heard breaking up prior to the crash, of course, that could be incorrect

Wasn't JFK Jr. not instrument rated and flew into darkness?

 

That is looking more and more likely.

MichiganPacker2 posted:

Kobe was one of the most complicated professional athletes in my lifetime. Probably the only guy at this level of complication is Tiger Woods. 

Kobe had great academic test scores coming out of high school. With his drive and intelligence, he could have gone to law school or been the CEO of a big company. Maybe a surgeon. He would have been good at whatever profession he decided to pursue. He was intelligent, articulate, and driven. He was thoughtful in the manner of Kareem or Bill Russell. He was A LOT more intelligent than the other superstars right before his era - guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. 

He had a net worth of over 500 million at age 41 and was on his way to being a billionaire. He was probably going to be successful in the second half of his life. He appeared to be a great father and and seemed to mature into a good husband after being a lousy one for most of his marriage. 

Contrast all this with the fact that he was very likely guilty of a brutal sexual assault. If you have any doubt about this, read Kobe in his own words about this.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/...-the-half-confession

As I said, Tiger Woods is very similar - a lot more intelligent, insightful, driven, and talented than his contemporaries with the same type of faults. Only, to anyone's knowledge, Tiger never sexually assaulted anyone. 

Brutal, and I believe her too. 

It's so conflicting how to feel about Kobe. One of the very, very best to ever play the game? Absolutely, no question. But he also sexually assaulted a woman and admitted to having at least one seemingly regular affair on the side as well. And then he called a ref a f**. However, in his later years -- as far as we know -- it appears he turned over a new leaf and was an exemplary father and family man. He also said he was wrong to call the ref what he did and called others out when they used that language. I believe in second chances and redemption, but...

People are so dang complex. 

I also don't put much stock in this narrative that the Lakers are "going to win one for Kobe." 

You know how many of the current Laker players actually played with Kobe? 
ZERO. He was a guy that occasionally went to games and hung around the Staples Center. 

Most of these Laker players are just basketball mercenaries. LeBron and AD aren't playing for the Lakers as much as they are for a grown-up AAU team they put together that allows LeBron to do Hollywood stuff. The "real" Lakers are Kobe, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and to a lesser extent Kareem. Not the guys that parachute in to win rings (Shaq). 

The upper management is obviously very close to him, but it's not like he was best buddies with LeBron, Anthony Davis, etc. He wasn't particular close to his teammates when he played either. Obviously, Shaq and him couldn't stand each other. If they could have gotten along, they'd have probably approached Bill Russell type title numbers as they were probably two of the top 5 players in the league for the better part of a decade. Kobe throwing Shaq under the bus when he was arrested was a typical move for him. 

Complicated guy to say the least. Michael Jordan was the same way. 

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