DGS49
Diamond Member
I was dining out last night during some of the pre-game ceremonies. I had a clear view of a wide-screen TV but didn't hear anything that was said. Still, at appeared to me that the whole All-Star Game event had been turned into a memorial for Kobe Bryant.
But why? There have been greater NBA/basketball stars who have died, and none of them got this sort of adoring treatment at the All-Star game or otherwise. Others will die in the foreseeable future (e.g., Bill Russell) and won't get anywhere near this much attention, though their star status could well be greater. Kobe seems to have been a Good Guy and a friend to many of them, but so what? Now the All-Star game MVP award will forever be called the Kobe Bryant Trophy or some such thing.
It seems to me that it's all just a matter of timing. He died at just the right time, giving the organizers of the All-Star game just enough time to tailor the whole thing to a giant personal memorial for someone that many of the top players knew personally. Had he died a month later, there would have been a couple news stories and it all would have died out in a couple weeks.
Did he truly deserve all this? Based on what?
But why? There have been greater NBA/basketball stars who have died, and none of them got this sort of adoring treatment at the All-Star game or otherwise. Others will die in the foreseeable future (e.g., Bill Russell) and won't get anywhere near this much attention, though their star status could well be greater. Kobe seems to have been a Good Guy and a friend to many of them, but so what? Now the All-Star game MVP award will forever be called the Kobe Bryant Trophy or some such thing.
It seems to me that it's all just a matter of timing. He died at just the right time, giving the organizers of the All-Star game just enough time to tailor the whole thing to a giant personal memorial for someone that many of the top players knew personally. Had he died a month later, there would have been a couple news stories and it all would have died out in a couple weeks.
Did he truly deserve all this? Based on what?