Sam Ponder: Kobe developed from a great player into a great father
By Staff
One of the most tragic things about Kobe’s death was it robbed us of watching him turn from a great player into a great father.
Kobe Bryant’s death, the sheer magnitude of it, has sent shockwaves so powerful that there’s no telling when the sports world will stop shaking. Part of the aftershock of his sudden death is grappling with the ‘why’ of it all.
Why did this happen? Why do we feel the way we do?
We will have a very literal answer to the mechanics of why this happened, but trying to explain why we feel the way we do is a lot harder.
Sam Ponder doesn’t claim to have the answer to that impossible question but knows how she feels about it.
“Seeing him develop into a great father and a loving husband, that as a fan was most encouraging to me,” Ponder told FanSided’s Ashley Young. “We started connecting with him over the last decade. There was something about seeing him as a dad that brought out his humanity.”
Kobe being relatable to anyone other than Kobe seemed impossible a decade ago. But as Ponder points out, the immortal and invincible sports icon Kobe was slowly becoming human was his next great evolution, and there’s tremendous pain in not seeing him channel his greatness in basketball into greatness as a father.
“We saw a shift in him as he got older,” Ponder said. “That’s what was so tragic to me.”
Sam Ponder spoke on behalf of Secret.