MambA Mentality

MAMBA MENTALITY

It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon. We were doing our normal Sunday Funday activities. Cutting and washing hair, cooking, and cleaning. The Pro Bowl was on TV and as they were going to commercial I heard the announcer mention a helicopter crash. I asked my wife if she had a notification about a crash, thinking it may have had something to do with the military. A quick glance at our phones showed no notifications had come. But then the game came back from commercial with breaking news that seemingly shocked the world. My wife and I locked eyes in disbelief.

My wife said she selfishly hoped the others on the plane were the rest of the family, but then expressed her regret hoping that. I thought it was deep! And it spoke to how she felt about us, as we are a family of six, similar to the Bryant family. At this time, we just knew Kobe was on the helicopter. So with my wife saying that, I surmised that she would rather her and the boys perish with me than live without me. That’s some ride or die shit right there! But I get why she quickly retracted, because those babies don’t deserve to die. We have since learned that Kobe and his wife had an agreement to never fly at the same time.

Still shook from the news, we tried to do activities with the boys to distract from the sadness we were feeling, but updates kept rolling in. When we heard that Gianna was also one of the victims, the tears became uncontrollable. Then we learned her teammates were there with their parents and the number of victims was greater than originally reported. It all became too much to imagine. Putting yourself in the shoes of the victims or their families. It’s depressing and heart breaking.

Tragic shit happens every day. We see stories from time to time that make us sick. We try to avoid these stories. But when it happens to someone that so many of us have admired and relished for over 25 years, it’s hard to avoid. So many people try to shame those putting the focus on Kobe and his daughter when there were seven other victims. I don’t necessarily think that’s the case. We mourn for all of those families, but we watched Kobe and his family grow. We’ve seen those girls grow up from game and red carpet appearances. We remember seeing photos from the wedding in magazines while we were in the checkout lane. We followed him on social media and saw how he interacted with his wife and children. But to know all of the other victims left grieving children and spouses is gut wrenching and my heart goes out to them all.

As great of a player Kobe was, he dissed me in a Las Vegas gym back in 2012 and I’ll admit, I have been a little salty about it. But I so admire his career and his Mamba mentality. But since I’ve been a father, I have really admired his parenting. It was evident that he applied Mamba mentality to that as well. The whole reason he started utilizing a helicopter was to maximize the time he got to spend with his family. As busy as he was, he devoted so much time to coach his daughter and her team. He supported his daughter’s activities that weren’t related to basketball. He just enjoyed his family and spent his time uplifting them and that is beautiful and inspiring to me.

The rolling theme surrounding this tragedy has been to hug and love on your loved ones. It’s remembering how precious life is and how we should spend as much time enjoying it, while we’re here. Because tomorrow is promised for no one. I have preached the phrase, Love Live Life since I was 14. It’s my Instagram handle. I started a clothing line behind it. And this is exactly what is meant by it. You have to Love those around you, unconditionally and often. Live your life as if there is no tomorrow. And remember, you only get one Life. Make it count. I admittedly get lost from this concept myself. We live in a capitalistic society that tells us to work, work, work to become successful. We get so caught up chasing monetary success, that we forget to just slow down and enjoy the moment.

I want to end this to encourage everyone to apply the Mamba mentality to your lives. While Kobe and everyone on the helicopter and so many others were taken away too soon, I bet he died with no regrets. Every day for 20 years, he did what he loved. He worked harder than everyone else and became the best at what he did. And he made a hell of a living off of it. Find your passion, work at it relentlessly, and figure out how to make a living with it and you’ll never have to worry about working. When you look at Kobe’s final moments, you may think, “Wow, it’s like he knew he was leaving.” From taking his daughter on a date the day before, to showing his concern for Shaq’s son by reaching out, to calling and congratulating LeBron on surpassing him on the all-time scorers list. But that’s just who he was. That’s the Mamba mentality.

Kobe, Gianna, John, Keri, Alyssa, Christina, Sarah, Payton, and Ara. Thank you for sacrificing your lives to encourage all of us to start living ours. May you all rest in peace.