At any given moment, one could enter into the Street Roots doorway on Northwest Davis Street and hear an intense sports debate brewing among Street Roots vendors, staff and volunteers. Often, the conversation revolves around basketball and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Like the rest of the country, our vendors were shocked by the news of the death of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others, who died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26.
Kobe Bryant’s name was raised often in those basketball debates in the Street Roots office. But after the news of his passing, not many vendors wanted to debate. Instead, they were eager to express their feelings about how they received this tragic news and what Bryant’s legacy meant to them. Here are some reactions.
“I was shocked. It was a tragedy. My heart really went out to that little kid, his daughter. Just a 13-year-old child. I was really saddened by it. I didn’t love Kobe nor did I hate him, but I am a Boston Celtics fan, and I admired him for being a great player, no doubt. God rest his soul.”
— Gary Servanti
“It saddened me that a young man’s life at 41 was taken. And his beautiful daughter at 13. Kobe was wonderful man. Everybody got to play ball with Kobe. It wasn’t just Mr. Bryant’s team; everybody got to play. He will be sadly missed. Lastly, I know his daughter will make it in during her afterlife. I just hope the same for Kobe.”
— James McRae
“It’s terrible that this happened to Kobe Bryant, and more importantly the people that were on the helicopter with him because their lives are just as important as his.”
— Bryan Adams
“He did everything to the fullest. I think he would want us to celebrate his passing. I loved him, and I wasn’t involved in the sport as much as I probably should have been. Now I regret it. My prayers go out to all of the families, and I pray that they can keep their heads up.”
— Haven Brock
“Kobe’s end game was always surreal to me. He always came through during clutch times and now he will forever be surreal because of how his life ended. I loved Kobe. I was just in awe that somebody so great with so much to give had to go like this. We lost one of the greats for sure.”
— Scott Adkins
“He was one of the greatest of all time to play the sport of basketball, and he was very smart and intelligent. What saddened me most is when I heard he’d passed, before they announced the passing of his daughter, I knew that she’d had to been on that plane because folks were saying he was headed to a basketball game. I got his autograph right here in Portland at a Blazers game, and now I’m going to keep it forever.”
— Vern Hannigan
“When I first heard about the accident, I was sitting in the house listening to the radio and thought to myself, did I hear that right? So I Googled it and found it was true, and it sort of saddened my heart. The Lakers and the Blazers are sort of a diehard rivalry. It was always fun. I didn’t like the Lakers at all, but I liked Kobe. He was fun, he had spunk, he had an attitude and he was a stand-up gentleman. It saddens my heart to know what his wife and kids are going through.”
— Rick Davis
“The guy was super talented. He went pro straight out of high school. My favorite memory about Kobe was the night he scored 81. There was a kid with cerebral palsy in New York that was a ball boy for a basketball team. The league let him play in one game, and Kobe was getting ready to be interviewed on ESPN. But right before the interview, ESPN played a clip of this kid hitting seven straight three-pointers, and when Kobe got on the mic, he mentioned his 81 points but he also gave props to the kid and said nobody will ever be able to do what that kid did.”
— Steven Girone
“He was one of the legends. He played a good game. The first time I heard he expired, I thought it was somebody else. It didn’t settle in right away. Life has a strange way of dealing cards.”
— Gary Barker
DeVon Pouncey is the vendor program manager for Street Roots and a freelance writer for the newspaper.
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