Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the tragic and unforeseen death of the Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. 

Throughout his 20 famed seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe strived to inspire and motivate everyone to be great at what they do. 

He was admired for his honesty as well as never sugar coating his message and was praised for his relentless work ethic known as the “Mamba Mentality.” 

“I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses,” said Kobe in response to a former teammate’s remark.

Over the past year, his death has left a deep feeling of emptiness in the millions he has inspired. However, everyone is confronting it differently. Some people remain in mourning, others focus on commemorating him while many still don’t fathom what happened. 

A mass of the artistic Angelenos have taken to the city’s exterior walls and honored him as well as his daughter with hundreds of murals in and surrounding the city of Los Angeles.

Additionally Lebron James and Anthony Davis have reflected on it being one year since they lost Kobe. Anthony Davis expressed how he previously didn’t understand the extent of Kobe’s impact outside of the United States and the game of basketball. The team will honor Kobe tonight in their matchup with Cleveland by donning his signature shoe series and coming together in every huddle chanting “Mamba on three.”

 “And as devastating and as tragic as it was and still is to all of us involved with it, only time. And it takes time. Everyone has their own grieving process,”Lebron Said via ESPN.

Growing up, I never hero-worshipped Kobe but he was always present. For the first 11 years of my life, I watched in awe his unrelenting play on both ends of the court . I understood the “Mamba mentality” by recognizing his focus. So everytime I wanted to feel self-assured I would put on a Kobe Jersey .  

Even though he retired almost five years ago, I’ve only partially accepted the fact that I will never again see his energy on the court.  Every night I turned on a Laker game, I imagined I’d see him suit up one last time.  Now 365 days subsequent to his passing, I have yet to fully comprehend what it means for him to be gone in entirety.  

As the Lakers continue to play, I still search for him and Gianna on the sidelines. I know I will soon see the light and understand his memory will grow and live on in the millions he’s touched.