2K Joins The Rest Of The World In Tribute To Basketball Legend Kobe Bryant

Glad to see an article about this. I guess it's weird to associate someone like Kobe Bryant with Nintendo but he was the cover athlete for 3 Nintendo exclusive games. NBA Courtside 2002 was one of the first games I ever got for the GameCube. I used to play it a fair bit, might take it out for a spin again soon!

Please let any negative comments get banned for life. #RIPKobe

😭😭😭😭 R.I.P peace Legend together with your daughter 😭😭

Rest in Piece

RIP everyone on that flight

It’s a horrible needless accident. Thoughts are with all those families affected by the accident.

RIP Kobe. Man, what a tragedy.

RIP. My condolences to all the families involved.

I'm really sorry for this terrible tragedy. An umile champion which never stopped to fight for others. My toughts for you and for thousands of souls which are now scaried in china. Same souls you helped so much with Kobe Bryant China Fund.
Pls ... help them from your new home, flying angel.

Can't believe the Black Mamba is gone. And worse his little girl was with him. Glad to see this stuff. R.I.P

@Sac_instead where are the negative comments? I see nothing but support here.

What an awful tragedy...

@iammikegaines Go read the comments under the last tweet of Kobe, published yesterday before the crash. It's crazy how much people can be that unrespectful.
So yeah, I understand the fear of bad comments even here.

What a tragedy. Couldn’t believe it when I first heard, barely can still. R.I.P to Kobe, Gianna, and all other passengers. Thoughts & prayers with their families.

Legend. RIP. Heart goes out to everyone involved in the crash.

@iammikegaines,

He was saying if there did happen to be any negative comments the poster of the said negative comments should be banned for life.

@smashboy2000 wen it comes to bad comments about someone who died its alot worse on ign and youtube comment sections as well.

@smashboy2000,

Twitter is a cesspool, people are normally at their worst on there.

This was a stunner. I walk into my in-laws house and my phone vibrates with the alert. And its one of those moments where you aren't really sure you're reading what it actually says. I had to catch my breath for a second before.

And then to compound it with the news that his daughter was on that trip, along with another family. Any sudden death is tragic. But as a husband and father myself, news like this always hits an emotion

As for Kobe, he was a player I enjoyed watching. Even being a Boston native and a huge Celtics fan and having had lost an NBA Finals to a Kobe led Lakers team, I enjoy watching greatness when its on display. And its funny NBA Courtside for the N64 is mentioned. I had completely forgotten he was on the cover. I had the game and remember at one point, it was one of the handful games I played a ton of in my N64 days. It had a great franchise mode.

But that aside, my thoughts are with his family and the family of the other passengers. Just an awful tragedy

@johnvboy I understand Kobe has a lot of fans, and saying anything negative about him right after his death is tasteless, but acknowledging his imperfections is not ban-worthy.

I am no sports person. I am a Philadelphia native myself, and yet I never paid attention to his deep connections to my hometown to the point that I only learned he was from Philly after the news broke. I superfluously know of achievements. For me, the most heart-wrenching part of this is his daughter was with him at the time. Being a dad nearly his age and with a daughter of the same age, I can't even fathom this moment. It brings me to tears if I think about it too much.

My condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy.

Such sad news take care everyone x x x

@DrDaisy,

Could not agree with you more, I was only repeating what somebody posted, if someone want's to put a negative comment it's up to them, they should not be banned imho.

@iammikegaines I was the second person to comment I was Obviously talking about any comments to come.

@johnvboy thank you

As someone who grew up playing basketball daily and watching him grow up before our eyes this is absolutely heart breaking. I was literally driving home from taking my own son from his basketball game when I got the alert on my phone which made it even more real. He was only a few years older than me and Gianna only 2 years older than my oldest son. I'm still in a state of disbelief.

RIP Kobe I still had two of the NBA games on the N64 that feature him in it. My hopes and prayer goes to his family. It's sad losing both a husband and a daughter at the same time.

RIP Kobe, my idol growing up. And yes I loved nba courtside 2002

Horrible news. Both Kobe and his daughter, Gianna to have passed away like this...no words.

Beyond videogames, I am an ardent NBA fan, especially the 90s into early 2000s. I'm a Pacers fan, and in the 2000 NBA finals, we encountered Kobe, Shaq and the Lakers. We did the best to beat them, but Kobe's greatness shined through, especially in Game 4 in Indiana, when he returned from an ankle sprain and turned the series. A maniacal competitor, as an opponent, I despised him but respected the drive, and spirit to constantly compete. He never rested. He always showed up for fans from all cities to watch. An old school player cut from the cloth of old school players. Again, RIP to Kobe and Gianna.

I grew up obsessed with basketball. Me and my brother were massive lakers fans. Tragic news. I learned a bunch from Kobe. My first ever game console was a gameboy colour with Pokemon red and NBA 3on3 featuring Kobe Bryant. The game was so bad but I loved it

Last time I remember an NBA legend dying this young was Pistol Pete Maravich in the late 80s.

So sad, and I say that as a Laker hater who has mad respect for Kobe's game and ability, even if my team was creamed by L.A. all too often.

Thoughts to Kobe's family, friends, the Lakers and the NBA during this tragic time.

@smashboy2000 Social media is garbage. The only one I have left is Linkedin for work purposes.

@kingbk can't agree more.
Still it's a incredible tool. But parasited by morrons.

I don't really follow basketball but the photos of him with his daughter were clearly those of two people who loved each very much. It hit very close to home. The world lost a great sportsmen. His family lost a father and a husband.

@Judgedean Indeed. I can only imagine what it's like for the families of the other people who died. By their omission, from the headlines around the world, do they feel that their loss is forgotten?

@DrDaisy no it didn't

@sixrings exactly! We should not be defined by the mistakes that we make in life, but how adjust or redeem ourselves from our mistakes.

@Littlemac905, sure, ok. Don't be defined by them, but do not forget which is what so many are doing.

@sixrings, @NIN10DOXD If someone kills a bunch people they are a murderer. If someone kills ONE person, they are a murderer. Same goes for rape. The amount doesn't change the label. Don't try and justify what Kobe did to make yourself feel better. He admitted the encounter wasn't consensual.

@antdickens, yeah, I could've left out the "justify" remark, but this is a public discussion. Things have been said by others, but why am I the one being singled out?

Sick of people glazing over the very important fact that he did some bad stuff.

@antdickens so back on topic that he was a great human being? Ok. I'll take my comments somewhere else were they won't be censored.

Most certainly a (mods: alleged) rapist so no love lost here. The accusation, which wayyyy predated the #metoo movement, is as legit as they come. Look it up, it really shouldn't be forgotten. Imagine all this positive news falling on the ears of that victim.

@absolute1 free speech is not a given on a privately owned site, however it is deplorable to have such topics censored. Ultimate insensitivity.

Still in shock over this! My condolences to his whole family and his teenage daughter that was unfortunately with him. Just terrible!! ☹️😢

All I'm asking is that everyone read the Daily Beast article and then decide how you feel. Imagine that it's one of your family members or good friends in her position - the account of his actions is quite disturbing. In my opinion these aren't the actions of someone to be praised. Everyone is entitled to decide for themselves, but at least be informed before you do.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kobe-bryants-disturbing-rape-case-the-dna-evidence-the-accusers-story-and-the-half-confession

Kobe was an angel.
And he was innocent. He was just being nice when he said maybe she thought it was something else, and he was sorry, because he was that nice. He did not admit anything. It was a bogus charge. Nothing legit about it. People mentioning this blood libel are horrible people. Regardless how you feel about it, it was in 2003, never amounted to anything proven, and is not in any way relevant.

No one was justifying anything. I don't know why we have a legal system if we are just going to ignore the rulings because we don't like them. I think o.j. is likely a murderer. But when o.j. dies I'm not going to go out of my way to go on sites or social media declaring him a murderer. It comes off as petty that after someone dies another person decides it's their moral duty to remind people of the person's possible transgressions. If you don't like him that's fine. No one's asking you to. But to log on just to play moral authority is pretty pathetic. That's just my subjective take away.

@Jeaves22 some people like myself have read the documents, are informed and being entitled to their own opinion, do not share the same conclusion you do.

@sixrings Just because he wasn't convicted doesn't mean he didn't do it. Rape victims often want to bury their trauma as quickly as possible and therefore may settle out of court.

The fact that you did actually read it is all I can ask for, so thanks for that. We don't have to draw the same conclusion or have the same opinion but at least you're not burying your head in the sand.

@Jeaves22 by that logic we all could have done stuff. Everybody is guilty. Also, for the record, without getting into details, the allegation even said he stopped when he thought it stopped being consensual.

@Jeaves22 I am not a lawyer and yes we know the legal system is flawed. Judges can often get things wrong. People can settle out of court. But no system is perfect. Again I am going to go by the court system, as flawed as it is because it's the best system we have, versus the court of public opinion. I still don't know why one feels the need to state alleged allegations from more than a decade ago the day after someone dies.

It is sad that Kobe had to fool around at the time. My impression he was influenced by other players, by all the pressure in those situations, and he definitely did some stuff he shouldn't have done but he never crossed the line into evil. What happened later is he grew to be such an amazing person and father and role model, and to bring up this allegation 17 years later at such a tragic time is heartbreaking.

@dumedum if you read (and believe) her account then it was clearly rape. Evil is certainly subjective so I won't go there. "We all could have done stuff": I'm very sure I've never sexually assaulted anyone, convicted or unconvicted, so I'm not sure I understand your point.

@Jeaves22 It's not exactly, because she said he stopped. More like an attempt. Never mind though.

How do I know about you. Just because no victim came forward doesn't mean it didn't happen, right?

suprised they didnt have the screen as a micro transaction

@dumedum No, because in this case a victim did come forward. There's the line. That's how you know.

@Jeaves22 So the actual line is the court of law. Everybody can say anything.

@dumedum Anybody can say anything, but they almost always don't when it comes to rape and sexual assault. Drawing your line with the courts its fine if that's what you want to do - but it's simple - it's low effort.
You should try to process the information yourself and see where you land. If you do that and draw your same conclusion then that's fine. I might not agree but I can at least respect it.

@Jeaves22 what do we do when or if we change our minds. Are we delighted which sites to go to in order to convert people to this thought or do we go rogue and just spam sites. Maybe we should start knocking on doors and tell people the "bad news." Some reading material could help as well. I'm willing to give 10% of my income to this endeavor. Lives will be changed.

@Jeaves22 fair enough. Frankly, I know the details and I don't know. How can I know. You never know. So what I do is look at this person and whether he inspired me to something great since I really started following him closely (not as a stalker), which was about 12 years ago. And then I just come to the conclusion that at least right after his really tragic death, allegations like these shouldn't resurface because of common decency.

Now people use the word "tragic" a lot. But usually in a wrong way. This time the death is really tragic. He was 41. It was a horrific way to die. He had his 13 year old daughter with him. He has a 3 year old toddler and a 7-months' year old baby at home. His other daughter just had her 17th birthday. Imagine that.

Ask yourself are you sure he was a bad man and whether it's decent to talk about it when he dies like that. A man who inspired so many.

Now I actually thank you, because somehow by looking at that beast garbage, and by engaging in these tweets/posts, I am somehow more calm now, because this has taken a huge emotional toll on me, and somehow maybe now I feel a little better. I can stop crying.

It was a sad day to hear about him and the helicopter crash. RIP Kobe. You will be missed.

RIP and we will still play basketball games to remember you.

@dumedum I definitely understand where you're coming from. It's a tragedy for his family and anyone that loved him. And a 13 year old dying in a helicopter crash, well, no family should have to go through that.

His influence has probably made you and others better people, and that's certainly a legacy to be proud of. But I think we need to at least recognize his darker side, especially now. To ignore it sends the message that what he did was okay - that it can be forgotten - because so many people saw him as a hero. Personally I can't justify that.

It's really hard to confront our heros' flaws, but we have to be realistic about who we're idolizing. I think it's fine to say he did a lot of great things - let's emulate that and let it inspire our lives. I'm happy he could do that for you. But we also have to remember who he hurt - not only for the sake his victim, but to acknowledge to ourselves that wasn't okay.

@Jeaves22 not mentioning his alleged rape does not mean rape is ok. It means it was alleged, he wasn't convicted. I don't think you can use the word victim if the person charged wasn't convicted unless you put alleged before. Otherwise it reads like the man was a rapist despite the court not convicting him in which case the mods should be consistent and delete the post.

@cmack I'm not defending anyone or anything. I'm just saying this was disrespectful to the loved ones mourning.

All I did said was "Well, that didn't take very long, did it?" and tagged a few people relevant to the post. Why the hell was it deleted?

@Jeaves22 of course he had flaws and this was a mistake. He was sorry she felt the way she did. But he wasn't a rapist. That's the only point here. And you can't say it 17 years after when he dies and not expect people to be pissed off over a debunked allegation. That's all. I'm done.

No offense but no one is mentioning the other people who died, why only Kobe is being mourned and remembered ?

@Sac_instead bit excessive don’t you think? Good thing you’re not a mod.

@TIND because he’s a millionaire celebrity and real people get the shaft, apparently...

@DrDaisy My guess is that you only posted that and tagged people who already voiced strong opinions in hopes of getting people further riled up.

@antdickens BTW, freedom of speech isn't a "right" on a privately owned site like this. I do understand that. Freedom of speech is a right of "not being censored by your governmental body in a public forum." Freedom of speech isn't a given on a site like this. BUT, quieting voices has a long term effect to the longevity of your site. Sometimes it is necessary to do so.

Wow, some people REALLY have a VERY weird idea of how to behave respectfully when somebody has just died a horrible death.

Context, people. Context. There's a time and place for everything, and now really isn't the time for digging up old skeletons. Now is the time for mourning and/or paying respect, not just for Kobe, who was an AMAZING basketball player, and one of the most important icons of all time, but also for all the other victims involved.

Fighting or arguing over who did or didn't do what and when simply is highly disrespectful to this entire situation and the family of the people involved.

@TIND ask 2k. The facts are people knew who Kobe was and some people connected with him and therefore are mourning. People die every day who I don't know but if I mourned everyone I'd be a sobbing wreck. No one mourns everyone. Death is a part of life and we accept it until it becomes personal to us.

The fact that people are upset about the news or feel the need to drag up the past sounds like some people are just jealous that this man is getting so much attention and they feel as regular people they aren't. What should matter to people is that their family remembers them. Not how many random Tom dick and Harry's remember them.

As for why people gravitate to people like Kobe. For me it's because this man did everything he could to meet his potential. How many of us can say we actually met our potential? Or how many of us think we may have just settled. Kobe never settled. The man worked as hard as he could to attempt to be the best basketball player ever. He volunteered coaching his daughter. Helped a number of charities, wrote books, made a inspirational short animation, and fed people at food banks. Was he perfect. No he wasn't. No one is. You know what a lot of people do though. They let one moment in their life define them. Not Kobe. He refused to let a mistake define him instead he was determined to be a better person post Colorado. Kudos to living life to the fullest which I believe many of deep down wish we had the courage to do. The man did more in 41 years than I could do in a couple hundred years. I respect that.

Finally I think people like myself who are parents feel a large extra sting. I just wanted to hug my son. I don't know what my son's potential is. But he has a chance to live it. Kobes daughter doesn't get that chance. Not just Kobe but the other girls on the helicopter as well. That's the human element. So forgive me if at this very moment I don't want to play judge at the moment and relive the past.