Month: February 2020

Even 3,000 miles away from Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant’s impact as a basketball player will be felt for years to come.

HAMDEN, Conn.— 2,878 miles. That is the distance that separates Newport Beach, California, the home of the late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, from Hamden, Connecticut, where Notre Dame High School boys basketball plays Hamden High School. 

Over the course of the afternoon, the freshman teams, junior varsity teams and varsity teams from these schools will play each other on the hardwood at the Hamden High School Gymnasium. 

Nine hours by flight from New Haven, 42 hours by car, 69 hours by bus. The man who donned the gold-and-purple for two decades, and the young athletes who are playing today, seem to have little connection to one another besides playing basketball. 

However, the connection and impact that Bryant has left in the basketball world can be felt today in this gymnasium, nearly 3,000 miles away from where the Los Angeles Lakers play.

That ‘Mamba mentality’ that Bryant oozed and trademarked will live on with basketball players no matter where they live of all ages, as Hamden junior varsity basketball player Miles Anderson says, “Kobe is a legend.”

“He inspired a lot of people to play basketball, including me partly,” Anderson said. “I would not say he’s like  (Michael Jordan), you know, because he is Kobe. To me, he is a role model, which makes it kind of sad that he is no longer with us.” 

Bryant and eight other passengers on his Sikorsky S-76 helicopter died in an accident on their way to Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. In the aftermath, Millions of sports fans around the globe instantly felt a sense of both loss and devastation.

An athlete of Bryant’s status passing away so young and in such a tragic manner is something that so rarely occurs in sports. Roberto Clemente, Emiliano Sala, Roy Halladay, Thurman Munson and Rocky Marciano are other names that come to mind. 

When athletes of such a high caliber die in such a way, two schools of thought can occur: one of them is sadness from the sense of grief, confusion and loss. The other is the inspiration to take what they preached and apply it to yourself. 

Elijah Holder, a freshman on the Hamden basketball team and an avid fan of Bryant, will use his sadness as inspiration to apply Bryant’s, ‘mamba mentality’ into his own life.

“He’s in a better place, balling upstairs,” Holder said. “I try to be happy knowing that he is in a better place now. I wanted to (in basketball), do something for him. He taught me to have fun, be there for my family, and do what you love.” 

Even with Bryant’s passing, his memory and competitive desire to always be the best will be a message that resonates not just with basketball players, but with people of all walks of life for generations to come. 

When Bryant stood in front of the tearful crowd at the Staples Center and proclaimed, “Mamba Out,” the reality is that the lessons and examples set by Bryant on and off the hardwood will never be forgotten. From Los Angeles to Hamden, Bryant’s legacy will not only be remembered, but live on.