Perspective: Our reaction to Kobe Bryant’s death says more about us than him
They were John Altobelli; his wife, Keri; their daughter Alyssa; Sarah Chester; her daughter, Payton; Christina Mauser; Ara Zobayan; and 13-year-old Gianna Bryant. But as news of a helicopter crash Sunday morning on a suburban Los Angeles hillside in which they perished wafted across the nation, they were redacted from humanity to a mere number.
It doesn’t matter that we may never have met them. And most of us, of course, never met Kobe. It only mattered that we felt like we knew him, which is why we were on a first-name basis with him, which is why even two days after that helicopter went down with nine victims who have left behind grieving family members and friends, we all say, “What horrible news about Kobe.”After all, we witnessed Kobe’s arrival as an athletic wunderkind, an 18-year-old NBA player.
Kobe admitted to an adulterous moment that he said was consensual. His accuser eventually refused to go on with the case, filed a civil suit and settled. Kobe eventually stated he didn’t realize his accuser saw their encounter as assault. Companies that contracted Kobe to endorse their products severed ties. But his wife, Vanessa, stayed with him and, we must surmise, forgave him.
We watched him step into the role of a retired athlete, not commentating on TV, but lending his energy, fame and wealth to foundations to help people in need — kids at risk, veterans struggling to transition to civilian life, and the homeless.Kobe isn’t the first celebrity or athletic star we have witnessed extinguished by an abrupt, tragic end. He won’t be the last. And unlike some others, we did see his full bloom for the reason we came to know him at all — his athletic virtuosity.
Kevin B. Blackistone, ESPN panelist and visiting professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, writes sports commentary for The Washington Post.
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