The world was yesterday hit with the shocking news of how 41-year-old American Basketball legend, Kobe Bryant died in an helicopter crash. The crash claimed the lives of 8 other people including Bryan’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
Popularly known as “Black Mamba”, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant is best known for his amazing basketball career, one which included leading the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships. He also helped the US national basketball team clinch gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
As such, his death sparked an outpouring of grief from basketball fans, celebrities, politicians and fellow sports personalities.
But it might amaze you to know that they are other interesting things you probably didn’t know about the sports legend. In tribute to Bryant, here they are:
Bryant Was a Tech Investor
Apart from basketball, Bryant was an investor. Yes, a tech investor.
In 2013, 3 years before retiring, Bryant launched his venture career with partner, Jeff Stibel. The investment vehicle, Byrant Stibel Investments, went on to make a couple of big money investments (early and late stage) media, data, gaming, and technology companies in Los Angeles.
These companies included – LegalZoom, Datanyze, SHIFT, Reserve, Scopely, Art of Sport, VIPKID, Tile, HouseCanary, Juicero, The Honest Company, RingDNA, FocusMotion, DyshApp and Represent.
In 2019, the investment firm expanded with a $1.7 billion investment vehicle launched in partnership with the private equity fund, Permira.
Suggested Read: As Serena Williams Reveals she’s an Andela Investor, Here are Other Celebrities Investing in Tech Startups
Bryant Dropped Bars!
Bryant wasn’t just a 6’6 man slamming dunks. He also slammed bars – with the mic. Bryant began his music career in high school, being a member of a rap group called CHEIZAW, named after the Chi Sah gang in a martial arts movie. They were signed by Sony Entertainment.
Bryant had also performed at a 1997 concert by Sway & King Tech.
Bryant went solo and made an unreleased debut album, Visions, under Sony Entertainment, which had a track named after him “K.O.B.E”. Nevertheless, he went on to feature in a Taiwanese song called Tian Di Yi Dou.
Bryant Was an Award Winning Writer
Following his retirement from basketball in the year 2016, Bryant released a book titled The Mamba Mentality: How I Play in 2018. But before that, Bryant had composed a poem, Dear Basketball, announcing his retirement from basketball.
The poem depicted Kobe Bryant’s reason for retirement, mentioning the fact that his body can no longer bear the game’s demands.
The poem was later adapted into an animated short film, and went on to win the Oscars in 2018 for the best animated short and the Annie Award, the animation industry’s most prestigious prize.
So, there you are, three things you probably didn’t know about the man, the legend, Kobe Bryant.
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