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We all bleed purple and gold… for you, Kobe.

It’s still difficult to process and accept the fact that he’s gone. My news feed has been flooded by posts and articles about his death, and yet, the feeling seems unreal. We just saw LeBron James passing Kobe Bryant in career points the other night and Kobe congratulating him for that amazing achievement, and now we have this tragic news that shocked the whole world.

I woke up earlier with a news from my sister telling me that Kobe had just died from a helicopter accident. I had a hard time fully grasping what she meant right away. “That can’t be real”, I keep thinking to myself. Kobe was still young. He was healthy and still physically fit. He just retired from basketball a few years ago and just starting to enjoy his new chapter in his life. I had to go to social media and Google to see for myself if the accident really happened. But even then, I still had a hard time accepting it. No one had known when things like this would happen and to whom it would happen to.

I’ve been cheering for him ever since I started watching NBA, and he’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with basketball. Watching him on court as he goes all out, gives an exciting feeling, as he electrifies the game with his remarkable intensity and focus. I started getting really into basketball around 2004, and that was the time the Los Angeles Lakers was still in a rebuilding stage, still I followed him and has been his fan since then. I watched him struggled to bring his team back to the playoffs, that is why those two championships in 2009 and 2010 meant so much for us. I still remember the time when the world celebrated one of his greatest achievements, making 81 points in a single game in 2006. I heard that from our local news, and the young me was greatly astonished and was thinking, “Wow! This guy is really amazing. 81 points!” Kobe is and will always be a legend.

I wear Kobe IX Elite Team Showtime when I play basketball. Los Angeles Lakers has always been my go to team when I play NBA Live and NBA 2K because of him. I even have a poster of him, the NBA 2K17 Legend Edition Gold one. He got kids out there yelling “Kobe!” every time they throw a crumbled paper into the thrash can. I was even doing that myself just yesterday when I was cleaning out my room.

He inspires people. Not just basketball players, but he inspires people to focus and succeed in whatever they are passionate about, whatever they set their minds to. And he will continue to inspire them... us. He constantly improved himself and that is what Mamba Mentality is. That is what he is leaving us, to constantly aim to be the very best version of yourself. Be better than you are yesterday.

Still can’t believe it. Watching his final NBA game. Him making all those 60 points for his farewell game. That was too emotional already. I never met him, not even watched him play live or just see a glimpse of him in person, and it hurts that I won’t be able to anymore. Still can’t believe that he is gone. I was thinking of what he would become next after his NBA career as a player. Whenever someone says that maybe he would become a head coach in NBA, I would always say that he wouldn’t because I know he looked up to Jordan and probably have done the same thing and buys his own NBA team and be an owner instead of being a head coach. But whatever he would have wanted, I was always ready to continue on giving him my support.

It's also terrible to hear that his daughter, Gianna, died with him. I’ve seen her highlight plays, I’ve seen her watching NBA games with her dad. She was an amazing athlete just like her father. And I know she could have made it to the WNBA. She was his legacy. I wish we could have seen more from her.

Artwork by BossLogic

It still seems unreal. Still hard to believe. No one expected this. It feels like it was just yesterday when we first watched your “Dear Basketball” video. You even got your haters and rivals' fans emotional on your farewell tour. And now this happened. Every thing is just heartbreaking.

To Kobe Bryant…

To Gianna Bryant…

And to the other poor souls in the tragic accident…

May you rest in peace.

Thank you for all the excitement, all the entertainment, the inspiration, and the five championships. Continue playing basketball in Heaven, Kobe “Black Mamba” Bryant.

You will always be my idol and favorite athlete in the world.

Mamba Forever.