Following the death of Kobe Bryant alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash Sunday, LAFC coach Bob Bradley reflected on what made the LA Lakers legend special — his work ethic, his dedication to his daughters and his philanthropic ways.
The former US men's national team coach said few athletes across the sports world can compare with Bryant's iconic status. In soccer, Bradley said, Johan Cruyff would be in the same stratosphere.
“In football, Johan Cruyff is still someone who impacted so many people with his views on the game, with ideas on how his teams can play,” Bradley said of Cruyff, who played for the Los Angeles Aztecs in the NASL in the 1970s, after training Wednesday. “Obviously so much of what happens in Barcelona still stems from the time Johan Cruyff was there.
"And then Johan Cruyff also has a foundation where his work with kids around the world — they have the Cruyff Courts, the small little courts where kids can show up and play football," Bradley continued. "I think of that type of impact that affects everyone all around the world.”
As for Bryant, a lifelong soccer fan whose death in the Los Angeles area Sunday has been met with an outpouring of tributes from the world of soccer, Bradley said his influence extended well beyond the basketball court.
“He was such an inspiration for his mentality, for the way he set the bar so high and worked so hard,” Bradley said “He loved all sports and he impacted so many athletes around the world — men and women. Obviously he was an advocate of women’s sports.”
MLS players took to social media Sunday to express their sadness about Bryant’s death. Similar sentiments were shared by some of the biggest clubs in the world.
“The outpouring of emotion speaks to how high he was held in terms of just the way he went about things, his way of competing,” Bradley said. “I’ve seen pictures with him in recent days at Real Madrid and Barcelona. I heard [Novak] Djokovic talking about talking to him last week at the Australian Open.
I think athletes, men and women all around the world, just looked at him and saw this beaming light that set the bar so high for everybody. That’s so special.”
The other part about Bryant’s legacy that hit close to home for Bradley was that he was a ‘girl dad,’ a hashtag that has gone viral since his death. In addition to his son Michael, the Toronto FC captain, Bradley is a father to a pair of daughters.
“To see how he was with his daughters and how much that meant to him and to see him sharing the game with Gigi and how excited she seemed to be developing as a person and player,” Bradley said. “Those are the things I think about the most.”
