By Lindsey Reynolds | Contributor
On April 13, 2016, with a mic drop performance and a salutary fist in the air, Kobe Bryant, a 20-season Laker veteran, punctuated a legendary NBA career.
A graceful exit from the NBA signaled his entrance into a dutiful second act. Filled with purpose and the “Mamba Mentality,” Bryant focused his energy on inspiring the next generation of basketball greats, including his young daughters.
On Sunday, over three years later,a devastatingSikorsky S-76B helicopter crash leftBryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, along withsevenothers, dead. The helicopter was headed to Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif.