6 strangest things to happen in the NBA this season
By Duncan Smith
2. Kobe Bryant’s death
Even typing the words months later, this seems surreal. Personally, I first saw the news on TMZ, absentmindedly scrolling through Twitter while shopping for a washer and dryer. My own first reaction was, “This isn’t a funny joke and it’s pointless because nobody is going to believe Kobe Bryant, of all people, is dead.”
It wasn’t a joke.
The days and weeks that followed his death, the death of his daughter Gianna, and the deaths of seven others on that doomed helicopter have been a blend of pain and healing. Hopefully, something we can forever take away from this unbelievable tragedy is to appreciate greatness when it’s before us, because we never know when it will be taken away from us forever.
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In a way, we may need to relearn how to truly consider greatness without diminishing it, but in order to fully embrace it, that’s something that fans and media alike need to comprehend.
Anyway, Kobe’s passing still hurts and it doesn’t seem possible. Even now reading the words is a jarring experience and it will be a long time until it truly sinks in.
Most years, the death of one of the greatest legends the game has ever seen would be by far the most incredible story of the year. In 2019-20, well, this is a year unlike any other.