Kobe Bryant Inducted Into Hall Of Fame: 'He Is Basketball'

CALABASAS, CA — “I can see him now, arms folded with a huge grin, saying, ‘Isn’t this some s--?” Vanessa Bryant said Saturday night during a ceremony posthumously inducting her late husband Kobe into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“Kobe was on a different level,” said Bryant, wearing an all-purple dress in honor of the Los Angeles Lakers. “He never took shortcuts when it came to basketball. He gave this game his all.”

Kobe Bryant was one of the Lakers’ most celebrated players. He helped lead the team to five NBA championships, and won two scoring titles on his way to 33,643 points, number four on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Bryant died suddenly at age 41 on Jan. 26, 2020, during a helicopter crash over Calabasas that killed his thirteen-year-old-daughter Gianna, and the seven other people on board.

Numerous basketball greats attended the ceremony at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Connecticut to pay tribute to Bryant.

Former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan, a close friend of Bryant’s, led Vanessa to the stage. During Bryant’s memorial service, Jordan said that, “When Kobe died, a part of me died.”

Vanessa Bryant and Michael Jordan pay tribute. Credit: Kathy Willens/AP

“He wanted to be great, and he knew he was going to be great,” said Shaquille O’Neal, who played with Bryant - with some friction - on the Lakers in the early 2000s.

11-time NBA All Star Allen Iverson said simply: “He is basketball.”

“No amount of words can fully describe what Kobe Bryant meant to the Los Angeles Lakers,” CEO Jeanie Buss said last April, when Bryant’s induction was announced. “Kobe was not only a proven winner and a champion, he gave everything he had to the game of basketball … his fierce competitiveness, work ethic, and drive were unmatched. Those qualities helped Kobe lead us to five titles - and have now brought him to the Hall of Fame, where he will be enshrined with the greatest to have ever played the game. No one deserves it more.”

Kobe Bryant: Hall of Famer pic.twitter.com/dk8rtjX8b4
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 15, 2021

To be considered for the Hall of Fame, eighteen judges from the Honors Committee must vote in favor of an applicant who has made “significant contributions to the game of basketball” and have been retired for at least three full seasons.

Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, Tamika Catching, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens,and Patrick Baumann were also inducted Saturday night.

Bryant was born Aug. 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, but spent eight years of his childhood in Italy, where his father Joe was playing after eight seasons in the NBA. The Bryant family returned to the Philadelphia area, where Kobe became the leading scorer in southwest Pennsylvania history, and was selected as National High School Player of the Year by USA Sunday in 1996.

Bryant signed with the Lakers in the summer of 1996, right after graduating high school. He spent 20 seasons with the team, the most of any player on one NBA team. During his record-breaking tenure, Bryant received All-NBA honors 15 times, received NBA MVP during the 2007-8 season, and was chosen to play in the league’s All-Star Game 18 times. In January 2006, Bryant scored 81 points, the second most in NBA history.

At the time of his 2016 retirement, Bryant’s 33,643 total points made him the third-leading scorer in the league, behind Kareem ABdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. He is now fourth, after being usurped last year by LeBron James.

Off the court, Bryant was a philanthropist, businessman, Academy Award-winning filmmaker, and bestselling author. He and his wife Vanessa established the VIVO Foundation - later renamed the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation - to help underprivileged youth and families stay active through sports. The foundation partnered with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation in 2009 to establish the Kobe China Fund, which raises funds and awareness for education and health programs. The foundation also partnered with LA-based homeless organizations like Step Up on Second, My Friend’s Place, and the United Way.

Bryant served as honorary chair of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ HomeWalk, and volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, NBA Cares, the Boys& Girls Clubs of America, and After-School All-Stars, among others.

After his retirement, Bryant wrote “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” named after his nickname “Mamba,” which was a 2018 bestsller. In 2017, he wrote and narrated an animated film called “Dear Basketball” based on his 2015 retirement letter, that won a 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also established Kobe Inc., a Newport Beach sports branding company, and Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.

Bryant and his daughter were flying to the academy in January 2020 when their helicopter crashed.

“He inspired people to be great,” Vanessa said. “I want to thank him for somehow finding ways to dedicate time to not only being an incredible athlete, a visionary entrepreneur and storyteller, but also being an amazing family man.”

— Michael Wittner and City News Service contributed to this report.

See also:

4 Lost Hills Deputies Accused Of Sharing Kobe Crash Photos | Calabasas, CA Patch

Calabasas Marks Year Anniversary Of Kobe Bryant Crash | Calabasas, CA Patch

Bryant Crash: 'Bad Things Can Happen To Good Organizations' | Calabasas, CA Patch