 Transcendent is defined as being beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience or surpassing the ordinary, exceptional. That defined Kobe Bryant on the basketball court. People may be wondering why is this affecting so many people so much. Well, maybe because the people who are old enough saw an 18-year-old kid leave high school, go right to the NBA, we watched him grow year after year. We saw how hard and tirelessly he worked to outwork everyone else. He was like a distant relative that we welcomed into our TV rooms every NBA season and marveled at what we could do on the court. Whether you love the Lakers or one of their many haters, you had to respect Kobe Bryant's game, much like Michael Jordan. He was compared to his airness when he came into the league and instead of just buying into the hype, Kobe sculpted his game and worked at his craft like a blacksmith shaping a perfect sword on an anvil. So much so that he became an extension of Jordan's career. It's hard to process that he's no longer with us. Bryant retired in 2016 as a five-time NBA champion, 11-time all-NBA first team selection, 2008 MVP, two-time finals MVP, an 18-time All-Star and four-time All-Star MVP who spent his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also won gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He also won an Oscar for his animated short Dear Basketball. The Mamba mentality didn't leave him when he left his playing days behind. He just transferred it over to his new life, being a producer, writer, and most of the focus was on his daughters and Gianna who he lost in the helicopter as well at the Mamba Academy. GG, as we know, passed in the crash along with those seven other souls. Everyone deserves a chance at redemption and Kobe Bryant doing just that with his life like the definition for Mamba mentality that he gave. It's a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday. Kobe Bryant and all that lost their lives yesterday are gone extremely too soon and we send our condolences to all of the families involved in this unthinkable tragedy.