Kobe

Shocking, sad news out of the NBA today...Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash. Man, Kobe was an icon of my generation. The 1996 draft was the first I saw, one of the best ever, and Kobe was probably the best player in that class.

There's not much more I can say that hasn't been said by others already. He was just a special talent. I know he may not have been perfect, didn't always do the right thing...but that doesn't mean he isn't an icon.

After he retired, he dedicated much of his time to coaching youth sports, and that's what he was doing today...flying with his 13 year old daughter to a game, which she was to have played in and he to have coached...hearing that the other people on the helicopter was a teammate of his daughter and one of her parents, and the pilot. None of them survived.

Just last night, LeBron passed him for third all time in NBA scoring. His last social media post was congratulating LeBron.

Kobe was only 41 years old. Names and ages of the other people on the helicopter have not been revealed yet.

So many sports people have been killed in small plane crashes, just since I began watching them...it's terrible. And people wonder why I won't fly....it's partly because I keep seeing people I know of getting killed.

Kobe cards rank 2 out of my top 5 greatest pulls ever...

 This scan is not very good...I didn't know what I was doing when I started out...I pulled this card on Christmas Day, 2000. It was only the second jersey piece I had ever pulled myself, the first coming earlier that day. And it was autographed as well...

I don't remember when I pulled this one, although I'm sure I have the info on paper. The AutoFocus set from UD Glass is printed on thick clear plastic.

I'm still in shock over this...RIP Kobe, Gigi and the other three people who we don't yet know the names of.