Kobe Bryant Discussion, Part Two

[BKlutch]

When Great Trees Fall
By Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/when-great-trees-fall-by-maya-angelou

[Drygon]

Read on Twitter

https://streamable.com/kczg2

[LALifer49]

I think we all have to keep in mind- that often times pilots or anyone don’t just say no to high profile clients and often times high profile celebrity clients don’t let them tell them no. This is a terrible tragedy and could the pilot executed differently? absolutely but to just place blame on anyone or anything isn’t correct IMO.

Kobe one of the reasons we loved him was his intense personality- I’m not sure just telling him “hey you’re gonna miss the game today” wasn’t something he felt to be acceptable and the pilot whose commissioned by Kobe I’m sure didn’t wanna say it. In any tragedy there are so many what ifs or things we should have done differently with hindsight but in that moment you aren’t afforded that luxury.

Just a terrible terrible loss for everyone at stake and a real tragedy but I don’t think now is the time for blame at all- if ever.

As someone whose work puts other people's lives in their hands, I can tell you that there is no excuse for that type of behavior. If that was, in fact, the reasoning for the pilot's actions, and I'm not saying it was, then it is unacceptable. Yes, there may be pressures exerted on you, but this is your field and you know what acceptable protocol and actions are, and that is the bottom line.

[spikeslovechild]

There’s a condition In flying at night (or in no visibility) where some pilots can feel like they are climbing and it causes the, to not trust instruments. It makes people want to dip the nose down and drop altitude. I wonder if this can happen in a helicopter and is what happened if there was no/low visibility, and high mountains/hills.

Really wasn’t trying to blame the pilot dude. Just was told by a pilot that it’s a fairly common occurrence. Or more than we would know.

Witnesses reported hearing sputtering and the chopper experiencing mechanical problems before it crashed. I would hesitate to blame the pilot when you don't have all the facts especially posthumous it really makes you come across as an azz

I am not saying you are wrong. All I am saying is the dude has a family of his own who are dealing with their own stages of grief the last thing they need is a bunch of Lakers fans sullying his name posthumously by speculating that he is to blame on social media when we don't even have a complete picture of what happened.

I also don't want to be that guy because we all loved Mamba but it's important to remember 9 people died in that crash. They all have families and love ones too and their deaths matter.

[Pharmcat]

It was a special VFR flight which means they were the only aircraft allowed in that airspace. unfortunately in helicopters, there is no minimum flight visibility requirement, or a requirement for an IFR-equipped aircraft or an IFR-rated pilot in command. Therefore the pilot is allowed to make the decision to fly in bad conditions.

The reason they circled around for 15 mins was to wait for other aircraft to leave the airspace. After that they followed the freeways until the visibility got even worse and the pilot lost his way. Air traffic control couldn't help since he flew too low for the radar to see its location.

Watch on YouTube

There’s a condition In flying at night (or in no visibility) where some pilots can feel like they are climbing and it causes the, to not trust instruments. It makes people want to dip the nose down and drop altitude. I wonder if this can happen in a helicopter and is what happened if there was no/low visibility, and high mountains/hills.

Witnesses reported hearing sputtering and the chopper experiencing mechanical problems before it crashed. I would hesitate to blame the pilot when you don't have all the facts especially posthumous it really makes you come across as an azz

there is nothing in the radio communications from pilot saying anything about mechanical issues. There was fog so the witnesses couldnt see the chopper right before it crashed. The chances of last minute catastrophic mechanical error are very very low

[Jazzy13]

Just saw the footage of the helicopter going down and exploding. Man thats a **** way to go.
Terrible.

[Sgt Major]

Read on Twitter

[zimpy27]

Obviously very sad. More-so for the daughter, other daughters and wife who are left behind. It's always hardest for me when a truly seemingly random act takes someone, and the fact that it involved his 13 year old leaves me speechless.

Kobe was an icon - I get that - but these types of things happen almost daily to someone, somewhere in the world, which means almost daily there's a version of Kobe's wife and kids who have had their lives destroyed. Not trying to take anything away from Kobe himself and it is definitely tragic - but the far more gut-wrenching thought is that his wife and children's lives will never be the same again.

Well from my perspective, we all have lives and people close to us that are our world and mean more than a famous person we never met but only a few thousand people in the world truly achieve the great things that humanity collectively take pride in. 1 in a million built rockets and flew to the moon, built all the technology you use today, make all the medicines, make billions of people feel collective emotion and inspire the world. We all think "wow, us humans, we've done a lot" but in reality, it's only relatively few superhumans that make magic happen and we lost one yesterday.

We are all strangers connected by the shared story of these few people, this interaction for example.

[MagicBagley18]

I think we all have to keep in mind- that often times pilots or anyone don’t just say no to high profile clients and often times high profile celebrity clients don’t let them tell them no. This is a terrible tragedy and could the pilot executed differently? absolutely but to just place blame on anyone or anything isn’t correct IMO.

Kobe one of the reasons we loved him was his intense personality- I’m not sure just telling him “hey you’re gonna miss the game today” wasn’t something he felt to be acceptable and the pilot whose commissioned by Kobe I’m sure didn’t wanna say it. In any tragedy there are so many what ifs or things we should have done differently with hindsight but in that moment you aren’t afforded that luxury.

Just a terrible terrible loss for everyone at stake and a real tragedy but I don’t think now is the time for blame at all- if ever.

As someone whose work puts other people's lives in their hands, I can tell you that there is no excuse for that type of behavior. If that was, in fact, the reasoning for the pilot's actions, and I'm not saying it was, then it is unacceptable. Yes, there may be pressures exerted on you, but this is your field and you know what acceptable protocol and actions are, and that is the bottom line.

Never said it was acceptable but as someone who has worked with high profile people before- I see it happen routinely. People want to be the hero to their hero’s. People want to do favors for people. My main message was and is to not place blame on anyone for several reason mainly because all of the facts haven’t come out and because we don’t know what happened up there.

This hits everyone’s heart but sometimes we look for someone or something to place blame on when in reality it’s just a terrible tragedy that there’s no reasoning behind.

[Def Swami]

As a kid, I owned 2 posters and 2 jerseys. 1 was Tracy McGrady. And the other was Kobe Bryant. Simply as a hoops fan, I can't think of many more players as influential on the sport and helping young kids who love basketball create an identity on the court and in life as Kobe. I used to love those old T-Mac vs Kobe battles. It always felt like we were watching 2 superheroes go at each other.

This is probably one of my most favorite basketball memories ever. I practiced this move that T-Mac put on Kobe for years after I saw it on TV. But, nothing encapsulates Kobe more than Kobe coming right back at T-Mac the very next play and dunking on our entire team and slapping the backboard. He's just the ultimate competitor.

Watch on YouTube

Even in '09, when he just crushed us in the Finals, I didn't have any lasting animosity toward him like I did those mid-2000's Pistons teams or late 2000's Celtics teams. I just admired how good he was. He gave us so many memories over the last 20+ years.

The most crushing part is it felt like he was just getting started. He seemed like he had found an inner peace and happiness with his life through his daughters. I grew to admire the relationship he developed with his daughter. I don't have children, but I imagine nothing really brings more joy to a parent than watching their kids grow up in front of their eyes. He had so much more to give us and the world.

As a human who just happens to love basketball, for me, Kobe is an inspiration. He represents a way of life. And he left us with a world of memories and a blueprint to live your life every hour of the day to the fullest. #24

[Forte IV]

I still can't believe this happened man. I don't think I'll ever get over it.

[JXL]

Our government as well as every government in the world should pass into law to declare August 24th (8/24) as Kobe Bryant Day. He was so much more than a basketball legend. He's a global icon. He directly and indirectly put a major impact on players, fans, everyone around the world. This is similar to Princess Diana (The People's Princess) and her tragic death in 1997, and Michael Jackson in 2009. The world and everyone in it lost an icon, but he will always be remembered. He is a legend forever.

Also, my heart goes out to GIgi who was going to carry on the "Mamba Mentality". I don't have children of my own, but I do have nieces and nephews whom I am very close to, so a young girl tragically killed before going through her life hurts me more than anything. Condolences to Vanessa Bryant, and Kobe's three daughters, as well as the other victims in this terrible accident.

#RIPMamba

[Forte IV]

Just saw the footage of the helicopter going down and exploding. Man thats a **** way to go.
Terrible.

That's fake. There is no footage unless it surfaced today. There was footage of a helicopter from 2017 crashing going around and people claiming it to be the helicopter that crashed yesterday.

[JXL]

Lakers should inscript his jersey numbers on the court for the rest of the season and beyond.

[clyde21]

ESPN LA really working in the commercials knowing people will be tuning in. What a bunch of scumbags

scum of the earth

[BeatDaCavs420]

I'm still crushed

Cried looking at tribute people have made...Just devastated for all the families involved

[spikeslovechild]

There’s a condition In flying at night (or in no visibility) where some pilots can feel like they are climbing and it causes the, to not trust instruments. It makes people want to dip the nose down and drop altitude. I wonder if this can happen in a helicopter and is what happened if there was no/low visibility, and high mountains/hills.

Witnesses reported hearing sputtering and the chopper experiencing mechanical problems before it crashed. I would hesitate to blame the pilot when you don't have all the facts especially posthumous it really makes you come across as an azz

there is nothing in the radio communications from pilot saying anything about mechanical issues. There was fog so the witnesses couldnt see the chopper right before it crashed. The chances of last minute catastrophic mechanical error are very very low

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28572984/helicopter-carrying-kobe-bryant-made-climbing-turn-rapid-dive

Like I said none of us have all the facts so before assigning blame on the tragedy to the pilot lets wait and see what actually happened instead of speculating.

As far as mechanical problems being a very, very, very low possibility it's one of the things the sheriff office and investigators are investigating so obviously they feel it warrants possible scrutiny

[zshawn10]

Bryant leaves a wife and three daughters behind
Altobelli leaves a daughter and son behind
Mauser leaves a husband, a son & two daughters behind
Chester leaves behind a husband and two sons

Ugh ugh ugh

[levon]

I hope this helps explain why Kobe fans were so religious, to the degree that other fanbases were annoyed by them and picked on them for fun. The story Kobe wrote went far, far, laughably beyond statistical efficiency. And we've celebrated and decried Kobe the Demigod because of the totality of his experience.

I first learned about the Greek hero arc in middle school, : how Greek heroes are blessed by gods in every way but a single central error that they try to redeem themselves from, and die trying. I immediately knew that Kobe Bryant embodied that role. Years later I watched him cry as he explained how Vanessa had miscarried during/following the events of the Eagle, Colorado trial.

The Black Mamba was born after that. For non-Kobe fans, it was a stupid nickname that you'd find in wrestling. He was a heel. He was arrogant. He was relentless. He was ruthless to his teammates.

But then we watched that same philosophy become the impetus for him to drag himself to the line after having torn his Achilles (note, Greek hero) tendon. We watched him drop 60 in his final game and win, and leave the world shaking its head. And most importantly, we watched that passion transform into an unending mission of making the world a better place for his children and their generation.

Not everyone is gifted from gods, and not everyone is afforded a second chance. But even fewer had his passion for life and his determination.

Thank you for every minute of the 20 years (most of my life, and half of yours) that I've watched more than once, Kobe.

[90sAllDecade]

A great soul and inspiration to others, regardless of sport, team and much bigger than basketball. My late mother's favorite player, he will be greatly missed. Rest in peace to all involved, prayers to all the families and fans.