41 years old.
That’s how old Kobe Bryant was when he left not just us and the world of basketball, but the global stage that he had occupied since he declared for the NBA Draft as a 17-year old high school kid all the way back in 1997. He spent 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming one of the game’s true living legends, a player who inspired fierce debates at sports bars around the world, one of the most feared players in crunch-time in NBA history.
One of the most decorated players to ever play in the NBA, Bryant exceeded all of the lofty expectations that were placed on him.