Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died at 41 in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven other passengers.
The world will remember him not only for being an exceptional athlete but also for being an inspiring figure who motivated others.
To honor his memory, we collected some of his most inspiring quotes below:
This is the moment I accept the most challenging times will always be behind me and in front of me.
Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.
The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.
Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts.
Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.
I realized that intimidation didn’t really exist if you’re in the right frame of mind.
I’m reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.
I’m extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. It’s not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can.
My parents are my backbone. Still are. They’re the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.
The beauty in being blessed with talent is rising above doubters to create a beautiful moment.
A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord.
The moment you give up, is the moment you let someone else win.
If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be.
We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.
I create my own path. It was straight and narrow. I looked at it this way: you were either in my way, or out of it.
It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you—or don’t. So don’t take it lightly.
We can always kind of be average and do what’s normal. I’m not in this to do what’s normal.
It's just a matter of the pieces that you have around you and what you can do to elevate everybody else.
Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.
Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache…
My brain . . . it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, ‘You’re a failure’ . . . I think that’s almost worse than death.
Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
The most important thing is you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real.
I'm chasing perfection.
I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.
If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.
Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change.
Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose.
And here is Kobe's letter, Dear Basketball, on which he based his 2017 American animated short film. Kobe wrote the letter in 2015 to announce his retirement from basketball.
Dear Basketball,
From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.
And we both know, no matter what I do next
I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
Love you always,
Kobe
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