Roundtable: What Was Your Favorite Off-Court Kobe Moment?

The OTG team came together to celebrate the life and career of Kobe Bryant with a 3-part roundtable series.

What was your favorite off-court Kobe moment?

Jeremy Freed/@JeremyFreed3: The Musecage. Very infrequently do we get real ‘wait-what? He did WHAT?’ moments in life, and Kobe masterminding a pseudo-Sesame-puppet-show starring a purple physical-manifestation-of-his-inner-self ESPN short series was definitely one of them. In the post-’Kobe won an Oscar’ world, we can now identify Musecage as the first baby-steps into a post-NBA life of storytelling and artistry that has been cut as painfully short as his still-young path through existence was. At the time, it was secretly entertaining, surprisingly insightful, and a cultural touchstone for a generation yearning for round-the-clock NBA content -- which we now have. What we all wouldn’t give to go back to Canvas City one last time.

Jac Manuell/ @TheJManJBT - It has to be anything associated with the little Mambacita, Gigi. Kobe adored Gianna with an undying love that many fathers should aspire to. It sparked a movement #girldad.

If I were to pick out one I’ll go with one that occurred at my team’s home court. Trae Young was Gigi’s favorite player so of course, two basketball fanatics were going to jump at the opportunity to see the young Hawks’ star.

It was the moment that spurred a thousand memes. More importantly it perfectly embodied the special connection Gigi and her father had. You can see them analyzing and digesting the game together before Gianna finishes Kobe’s sentence.

Gigi was truly her father’s daughter.

Jonathan Ebrahimi/@awrashoo: I, very recently, became the father of a beautiful baby girl.

For this reason, seeing Kobe and Gianna sitting courtside at games in Los Angeles and Brooklyn had a much deeper meaning to me.

Seeing the relationship between the two of them was so inspiring to me and it gave me something to aspire to one day recreate. Obviously, looking back at those moments takes on a much deeper meaning, in terms of how fickle life is and how quickly it can be taken away.

My first thought when I heard the news was “his daughter (Gianna) is going to be so devasted” – when I then heard that she too was aboard the helicopter, my heart broke and tears began to well up in my eyes. The relationship that he shared with Gianna was so obviously special, it was hard not to admire.

Even in death, Kobe continues to inspire me, this time not as a basketball player but as a father.

Alec Liebsch/@OwlecNBA: Like how Kobe didn’t waste a single movement on the court, Kobe seldom spent unnecessary time off the court either, whether people liked it or not. In the presser following the 2011 All-Star Game, Jason Whitlock tried to pry an answer out of Bryant about his affinity for young players, based on a tidbit Kobe gave before the presser.

Per usual, Kobe was having none of it and called it a “bikram yoga stretch” for Whitlock to make such a connection. If that happened in 2020, it would’ve spent at least a day in the news cycle.

Musaab Nadeem/@mnadeem824:- Kobe winning an Oscar in 2018 still amazes me. We all knew about his greatness in basketball; he won the ultimate prize, a championship, five times in his career. But basketball was clearly not the only thing he was great at.

His transition into media and storytelling showed another side to Kobe. He was intelligent, creative, and universally passionate. It wasn’t just basketball that brought the passion out of Kobe, it was literally anything he sunk his teeth into.

And with that passion and determination, he reached the pinnacle again, this time in the form of an Oscar. He was more than just a great basketball player.

Karin Abcarians/@KarinAbcarians: My favorite off-court moment was when we saw Kobe and Gigi together at the Atlanta Hawks vs Brooklyn Nets game in New York. We were seeing them together at NBA games more often lately because of Gigi wanting to watch and learn. This time we saw a special moment happen between them. When the cameras were on them we saw Kobe coaching Gigi. Whatever Kobe was saying, Gigi knew and finished his sentence. It was such a tender moment that showed just how strong their bond was. Now, it’s a powerful moment that we can all look back on as we mourn the loss of this beautiful duo.

PART 1: What was your favorite Kobe performance?