Remembering Kobe Bryant, Basketball Star, Friend of Manny Pacquiao and Pro Boxing
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
*Photo Credit: Chris Farina, Top Rank
Kobe Bryant was more than just a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Lakers, with 18 all-star games, five world championship rings and two Olympic gold medal championships to his name. Bryant, 41, who died with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash. Bryant was one of nine passengers, including including Orange Coast College Baseball Coach John Altobelli, his wife and daughter, and helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan, riding in an S-76B helicopter on Sunday, January 26, 2020, when it crashed in heavy fog just before 10 A.M. into a hillside near Calabasas, California, around 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The flight manifest listed nine individuals, and there were no survivors. Weather observations from the crash area indicated low clouds and restricted visibility, which may have obscured high terrain.
The pilot had received clearance to fly in poor weather conditions, relying on special visual flight rules without instruments to guide him. The helicopter’s history indicated in previously was owned by the State of Illinois, and was used to transport the Illinois governor. The Sikursky S-76B helicopter has a good track record, and the pilot, who held a commercial pilot’s license since 2007, was qualified to fly in bad weather conditions known as instrument flight rules. A commercial pilot is ultimately responsible for determining whether or not it is safe to fly, and for determining visibility. Kobe’s helicopter, which crashed 40 minutes after takeoff, climbed to a top altitude of above 2500 feet before something went wrong, and it descended at a high rate of speed and crashed, causing a brush fire which had to be extinguished. The deceased were in the helicopter. After circling for around 15 minutes, while air traffic control at Burbank Airport cleared air space, Kobe’s S-76B helicopter, still in midair, set off for its final destination in thick fog.
The last airport tower communications attempt to the helicopter was the statement “Two echo x-ray, you’re still too low level for flight following (your current fight path) at this time.” It was too late, however, as Bryant’s helicopter pilot was off the radar and never got this message. A spatial disorientation was evident, but why the pilot suddenly chose to ascend and descend is still not known. While the cause of the tragedy remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the big question raised is why the helicopter was allowed to take off and embark on its flight path and destination in the first place. The weather at the time was so foggy where Bryant’s helicopter lost visibility the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had grounded their own choppers for safety reasons.
Bryant entered the NBA out of high school in 1996, much like Lebron James, the basketball superstar who followed him into the pros who now plays for the Lakers. Bryant is expected to be inducted to the Naismith Professional Basketball Hall of Fame posthumously on his first ballot appearance in the summer of 2020. Bryant operated the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kobe was also a true friend of boxing. The Nike Kobe IX high top sneaker design which Bryant endorsed was inspired by eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, who signed a deal with Nike in 2011. Kobe had seen Manny Pacquiao spar, and was intrigued by Pacquiao’s high top boxing shoes.
Bryant, who was a big fan of Pacquiao’s during his lifetime, changed his personal style from his usual low-cut basketball sneakers and switched to high top sneakers, similar to the hightop boxing shoes which Manny Pacquiao and other world-class professional boxers wear in the boxing ring. “Well, watching (Manny) Pacquiao spar one day. I noticed he was wearing really high [top boxing shoes]. He said it was for ankle stability and things of that nature.”
“The world lost a legend today. The impact and legacy he left behind will last forever,” noted Manny Pacquiao, Bryant’s friend, business associate, and fellow athlete. Bryant and Pacquiao had a relationship, business, professional and personal because they placed a high value on ankle stability.
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