It was nearly impossible not to be emotionally impacted by the tremendous outpouring of heartfelt tributes from old teammates, rivals, NBA executives and fans for Kobe Bryant. Tears were shed in households around the world.
Although, of course, I didn’t know it at the time, I moved to California a week after Kobe was born. The first time I heard of him was nearly 18 years later when I thought Jerry West, then the Lakers General Manager, was off his rocker for trading the Lakers starting center, Vlade Divac, for the rights to Bryant.