Five years ago today, NBA icon Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed when a helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas, California. He was 41 years ago.
Bryant’s legacy and influence are still felt across the sports and entertainment world to this day, made clear by a wave of tributes that poured in online to commemorate and celebrate Bryant’s achievements both on and off the court.
Dearica Hamby still smiles at the memory of Bryant sitting courtside at WNBA games.
She had met him years ago when he came to see her old team, the Las Vegas Aces, play all the time.
“I think one of the first things he told me was that I could play defense,” Hamby recalled. “And I was kind of like ‘Wha-at?’ … That’s something I’ll cherish with me forever.”
That epitomized the late NBA great’s relationship with the women’s game. After his 20-year playing career ended, Bryant turned his focus to the next generation, mentoring some of women’s basketball’s biggest stars, from WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi to former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu.
He worked out with them, analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of their game and pushed for them to reach the same heights in popularity that he and his NBA peers did.
For Hamby, now…
