Source: Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center on December 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
I’ll never forget where I was and what I was doing the morning of Jan. 26, 2020, nearly five years ago now. That Sunday started out like any other in college for me, which at the time involved heading over to my newspaper’s office, the Northern Star , to layout and design the sports section pages for Monday’s edition, since I was sports editor. While waiting for one of my pages to be approved, I scrolled through my timeline and stopped in my tracks when I happened upon TMZ’s article: Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.
I couldn’t comprehend what I read. I felt numb. Kobe at the time was still one of the biggest names in all of sports – he felt larger than life – “there’s no way Kobe Bryant is dead.” Our newsroom froze. The news got worse and worse as more major news outlets confirmed the news and elaborated on the details. His young daughter, Gianna Bryant , along with two of her basketball teammates, three other parents and the pilot died in the crash as well…