Basketball fans, and the entire nation came to a screeching halt on Sunday afternoon after discovering the news that NBA legend and former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant, and his daughter Gianna Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Seven other passengers were on board. The flight was en route to a youth basketball game of Gianna’s and one of her teammates, as well as her family.

Whether you were a fan of Kobe Bryant or the Lakers during his tenure or not, Bryant was one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. He won five NBA Championships, consecutive scoring titles, the 2008 league MVP and four finals MVP’s. He also dropped a career-high 81 points in a single game against the Toronto Raptors, and scored 60 points in his last career NBA game in 2017 against the Utah Jazz.

Kobe had an impact on the sport that was different than any other. Around Beaufort County and beyond, kids would shoot a basketball, a paper wad towards a trashcan, or a sock in the laundry basket while exclaiming, “KOBE!”

No other basketball player has had that same affect as far-reaching as Kobe, not even Michael Jordan.

Kobe wasn’t just a basketball player, either. After his retirement, he had a focus on building up many charities, including his own, while raising four daughters and being a husband to Vanessa Bryant.

Kobe was attending a Lakers game on Saturday night with his daughter Gianna, as Lebron James surpassed him at third-place on the All-Time leading scorers list.

This just goes to show, at any time, moment or blink of an eye, we can leave this Earth as quickly as we came into it. Three children lost their dad, a wife lost a husband and daughter, and the entire world lost a legend.

Hold your loved ones tightly. Don’t ever hesitate to let someone know how much they mean to you, because in an instant, that luxury can be taken away.

To many people, Kobe Bryant was superman. His legacy was built at first because kids saw what he did on a basketball court, and they wanted to emulate it. Years later, he became an ambassador for being a hard-worker, staying confident in one’s self, and pouring every ounce of love and passion into things that you cherish. For Kobe, that was the game of basketball, but as he grew older, that passion shifted into being a mentor, husband, coach, friend and most importantly, a father.

Don’t let Kobe be a memory. Use his same “Mamba mentality,” and apply it to every situation. Let it motivate you to be as confident and passionate about everything you do, because that’s how he would’ve wanted it to be.

Kobe once said, “The most important thing is to try and inspire people, so that they can be great in whatever it is they want to do.”

Mamba out.