Remembering Kobe Bryant as one of us

You know you’ve reached icon status when people refer to you with just a single name.

You know you’ve reached icon status when people refer to you with just a single name.

Cher, Bono, Denzel. Bruce, Shaq, Sting. Kobe.

Today in the greater Philadelphia region we mourn one of our own, a kid who grew up in front of our eyes, eventually going straight from the hardcourt of Lower Merion High to the pinnacle of NBA superstardom.

Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California Sunday morning. Eight other people on the chopper also lost their lives, including Bryant’s 13-yearold daughter. Bryant was more than just a star basketball player. He was one of us. He played against some of us, or against our sons. He led Lower Merion High School in classic duels against Chester and Coatesville, carrying the Aces to a state title in 2006, the school’s first since 1943.

The gym at Lower Merion High now carries Kobe Bryant’s name, and yesterday, after word of the terrible tragedy started to spread, the fans returned to pay homage to the man who put Lower Merion on the map.

“Aces Nation has lost its heartbeat,” said his devastated high school coach Gregg Downer in a statement, too overcome by his grief to speak publicly.

Of course from that gym Bryant, the son of another local hoops legend, Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant,” springboarded straight to the NBA, by passing college.

Bryant went No. 13 in the NBA Draft, 12 picks after the 76ers made Allen Iverson the No. 1 selection.

There was a belief by some that Bryant would be better served by burnishing his immense high school skills with a few years of college. Bryant was not dissuaded.

The Sixers rode Iverson to an NBA finals, ironically against Bryant and the Lakers in 2001.

Iverson scored 48 points and the Sixers won Game One in L.A. Bryant and the Lakers won the next four to take the title.

It would be Iverson’s only appearance in the NBA Finals.

Bryant would need to make room for four more trophies on his mantle.

Ironically, Bryant was again on the minds’ of Philly hoops fans. On Saturday, at the Wells Fargo Center, the Lakers were in town and superstar LeBron James surpassed Bryant for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

But for all that, all of his illustrious accomplishments, there remains a deeper connection, a single lasting memory of Bryant. He grew up here, and he always remembered it, and treasured it, even if hard-core Philly fans did not always return the love for a player who embodied the hated gold and purple majesty of the Lakers.

Not the years spent in Italy, where his dad toiled for years in the European League, nor a transplantation to the Left Coast, could take Philly out of Kobe.

Kobe Bryant, blessed with out-of-this-world skills, worked doggedly to perfect his craft. He was more than just a basketball player. He spoke multiple languages, looked at things with a global view gained by living abroad, wrote children’s books and even won an Oscar. In retirement, he used the same work ethic to create and burnish his brand as the Black Mamba.

Through all of that, he never forgot his local roots. Bryant returned often to Lower Merion, and bequeathed a $400,000 donation for renovations to the gym that now bears his name. He would unfailingly stop in his favorite eatery, Larry’s Steaks in the Wynnefield section of the city, for what else — a cheesesteak.

On Monday a shrine continued to grow outside that gym, where his fans and faithful gathered Sunday after getting word of the tragedy.

They spoke in hushed tones of the epic battles against Chester High, the silence and reverence that enveloped them in stark contrast to the delirium that reigned in that gym whenever Bryant took the floor.

Kobe Bryant was larger than life. So large that he joined those who are instantly known by just a single name. Kobe.

And now, tragically, just three letters.

RIP.