Getty Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
When it was confirmed that NBA great Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26, 2020, people all across the world are mourning.
Not many people on the planet had the type of impact on the world of sports and across the globe like former Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was able to. The Black Mamba inspired an entire generation of basketball fans with his “Mamba Mentality.”
Just a couple of hours past after his death, San Francisco 49ers Cornerback Richard Sherman tweeted the message saying, “Just don’t have the words… #Kobe.”
Just don’t have the words…. #Kobe
Sherman would follow that up with a post on Instagram sharing the impact Bryant had on his career.
“I don’t have the words to describe what this man has meant to me. It pains me to the soul to hear he is gone so soon. Don’t get the chance to express how much his words inspired me and his actions gave me a blueprint to be great. A genuine human being this one hurts.”
On Monday night in Miami, Florida during his Super Bowl LIV media section, Sherman was asked about Kobe Bryant and shared a heartfelt story about the Lakers great.
“It’s really sad. He was a friend of mine, he was a mentor. He meant a lot to this world as a positive impact,” said Sherman via Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today. “There’s nothing that I can say to really quantify his impact on myself and on others.“
I just know how he would have wanted me to take this, to react especially, in this moment, in this game. I was really sad yesterday and I was sad this morning. I was coming down, I was in the dumps and I just thought about what he would tell me. He’d tell me ‘Stop being a baby and man up and play’ and do it in his honor and win this game for him. That’s what we’re going to try to do. We’re going to go out there and try to dominate the ball, just like he wanted. Mamba mentality lives on.”
Sherman on a moment he embodied the Mamba Mentality:
“Getting up from my torn Achilles and walking off the field” #SBLIV
Sherman also talked about Kobe Bryant getting up from an Achille Injury and hit two free throws and walk off the court against the Golden State Warriors in 2013.
“I saw him make two free throws and walk off with a torn Achilles, and once I tore mine, I knew I had to walk off,” Sherman said. “Like he said before, we’re different animals, but the same beast.”
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Lakers’ Kobe Bryant “Went Before his Time,” Says 49ers’ Richard Sherman