Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash.

[phonics]

:(

[Giggles]

Dead or TMZ 'dead'?

[phonics]

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Dead.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Fucking hell.

[Lewis]

Rape your way out of that one mate!

[Alex]

Shit. :|

[Disco]

As if some basketball schmo deserves their own thread.

[Spikey M]

VAR in pisces.

[Giggles]

It’s on proper news now.

[Waffdon]

First Vichai, now Kobe. Fook the helicopters

[Alex]

People getting on helicopters as part of their day-to-day lives is baffling to me. Unless you need dropping off on an oil rig or something just fucking stay away from them.

[Spikey M]

If you need dropping off on an oil rig, take a boat.

Someone check on Foe.

[niko_cee]

Does this count as retirony?

At least he saw Lebron surpass his points record.

[Smjffy]

ABC reporting his four daughters were in the helicopter. That's horrible.

[Shindig]

Oof. Rough.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

ABC reporting his four daughters were in the helicopter. That's horrible.

Other sources are saying that it isn't true.

Confirmed appears to be Kobe, Rick Fox and a pilot right now.

[Foe]

If you need dropping off on an oil rig, take a boat.

Someone check on Foe.

I resign myself to death on every helicopter journey. The whole fucking thing vibrates.

Boat not an option but one of the reasons I don’t fancy working rotation is the choppers. Considered Iraq instead as the money is obscene, but slightly different risks out there...

[Smjffy]

I won't pretend to know much about any of them but that's some 'better' news if so. You take it all with a pinch of salt until the facts are known.

Still, such a sad thing. 2020 really has been shit and we're not even out of January.

[bruhnaldo]

i'm fuckin devastated

[Foe]

Shame he was over land too. If he’s over water they have a fighting chance of getting out. Engine failure mid air over land? Tatties and you know it as you plummet.

[SincereTheRebel]

:(

Surprised by your sad face. He wasn't even in your top 5.

[bruhnaldo]

Other sources are saying that it isn't true.

Confirmed appears to be Kobe, Rick Fox and a pilot right now.

Rick Fox confirmed fine by his daughter

[Disco]

Plus he was retired so really you've not missed out on anything.

[randomlegend]

Other sources are saying that it isn't true.

Confirmed appears to be Kobe, Rick Fox and a pilot right now.

Rick Fox wasn't on board apparently.

[Giggles]

Now they’re saying one daughter was on board.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

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Seems that his 13 year old daughter was on it as a lot of outlets are reporting this.

[thommo]

Pretty sad news, but really, how is this deserving of a mega-headline across BBC News?

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Pretty sad news, but really, how is this deserving of a mega-headline across BBC News?

Acktually, what about a thread as well? We have a deaths thread.

For shame.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Kobe and his daughter, one of her basketball team-mates and her parent, and the fifth person is apparently former snooker champion Peter Ebdon. A sad day.

[niko_cee]

:D

Moonlighting as a pilot?

[mugbull]

Pretty sad news, but really, how is this deserving of a mega-headline across BBC News?

Maybe because he’s one of the most famous athletes in the world and he’s 41?

[Baz]

But if a shocker, this.

Got a whole barrage of F on my WoW server, which is a fad I feel like I should hate but ehh I guess it’s respectful. :sorry:

[Giggles]

What a country.


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[niko_cee]

Autocue guy is lolling his way into early retirement.

[Waffdon]

What a country.


1221534651497549824

It’s definitely ‘Nakers’.

[Baz]

Rape your way out of that one mate!
What’s the story with this, by the way? I mean how likely is it that Kobe was a rapist? Serious Q.

[Giggles]

What’s the story with this, by the way? I mean how likely is it that Kobe was a rapist? Serious Q.

He paid her off anyway.

[Manc]

Naggers.

[mugbull]

What’s the story with this, by the way? I mean how likely is it that Kobe was a rapist? Serious Q.

About as likely as Cristiano Ronaldo being a rapist. Choose your odds. I'd say 20%.

[Jimmy Floyd]

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Still waiting for Notts County's thoughts on the tragedy.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

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Tone it down.

[Giggles]

1221548367206989825

Tone it down.

DHOTYA 2020 early entry.

[SincereTheRebel]

Naggers.

You hate them all. Dont lie.

[Giggles]

#theyalllookthesame

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[Jimmy Floyd]

Can't believe I've just been watching NBC News and over the Peter Ebdon death announcement they put a clip of Dave Harold sinking a trademark blue. So disrespectful.

[Lewis]

National Treasure Tyson Fury tweeting lol pictures of branded wanking products in the midst of all this is probably some sort of statement.

[Spoonsky]

i'm fuckin devastated

I didn’t think I cared at all about Kobe Bryant but I was really shook when I heard. I think there’s something about sports stars seeming immortal. Imagine Ronaldo dying in a car crash etc.

[Giggles]

Can't believe I've just been watching NBC News and over the Peter Ebdon death announcement they put a clip of Dave Harold sinking a trademark blue. So disrespectful.

Yeah that’s what was happening there. They acknowledged their mistake on air.

[SincereTheRebel]

Is Kobe passing the biggest profile sporting death of our internet generation?

[Shindig]

Still doesn't hit as hard as Colin McRae. Jules Bianchi gets bonus points for being live on TV.

[Baz]

Still doesn't hit as hard as Colin McRae. Jules Bianchi gets bonus points for being live on TV.

Nobody normal even knows who Bianchi was though. And McRae was more “him from the games? F.”


About as likely as Cristiano Ronaldo being a rapist.So a yes then. :nono:

[SincereTheRebel]

Nobody normal even knows who Bianchi was though. And McRae was more “him from the games? F.”

So a yes then. :nono:
Bianchi is living under a different name as leclerc

[Baz]

268466325842694144

Edit: ahhh apparently he changed the date of the tweet somehow.

[Disco]

Is Kobe passing the biggest profile sporting death of our internet generation?

In America maybe, almost nobody cares about basketball over here.

[Browning]

It’s the highest profile shock one. Ali is the highest profile though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He was one of the basketballers I could name.

Michael Jordan
'Shaq'
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlain
Kevin Durant (only 80% sure on this one)
somebody Abdul Jabbar

That's it I think.

[Giggles]

He was one of the basketballers I could name.

Michael Jordan
'Shaq'
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlain
Kevin Durant (only 80% sure on this one)
somebody Abdul Jabbar

That's it I think.

I know shag all about the game but surely most would know Magic Johnson and LeBron James too?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yep I know them although hadn't heard the name Magic Johnson for about 20 years.

[Giggles]

I only know him because of aids in fairness. Was a big story at the time.

[Browning]

The only other one I could offer you is Scotty Pippen and that’s only because he was the guy who wasn’t MJ.

Someone Barkley was in space jam too I think, but no idea on his first name.

[Dave.]

He was one of the basketballers I could name.

Michael Jordan
'Shaq'
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlain
Kevin Durant (only 80% sure on this one)
somebody Abdul Jabbar

That's it I think.

Dennis Rodman too, surely?

[thommo]

I'd only ever heard of Rodman because it was in the news that some mad basketball player with best pals with Kim Jong-Un.

[Dave.]

I'd only ever heard of Rodman because it was in the news that some mad basketball player with best pals with Kim Jong-Un.

Similar for me but if we're listing Basketball players that non-Basketball fans have heard of then he'd be near the top.

[SincereTheRebel]

Like I said originally. The biggest sporting name of our internet era. Who else has there been?

[Spikey M]

Nearly Schumacher.

[thommo]

Obviously I know the name, but I've never seen any basketball with him in, and do not have any interest in it whatsoever. For that reason, for me, a more shocking death would be Marc-Vivian Foe or Antonio Puerta dying on the pitch.

[Smjffy]

I'd only ever heard of Rodman because it was in the news that some mad basketball player with best pals with Kim Jong-Un.

I only really heard of him as a madman too and then I read his Bad As I Wanna Be book which merely confirmed it. Tough start to life, mind.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It probably wasn't in the 'internet era' being 1999, but the one I remember for where-were-you shock value was Payne Stewart.

[phonics]

Who?

[SincereTheRebel]

Nearly Schumacher.

Nearly isnt enough. Besides, he will be put into Stephen Hawkins mode soon enough.

[Mellberg]

That's the first time I've heard of Payne Stewart and I'm quite keen on golf. Three majors too. Odd.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He was a current major champion and well known for his garish trousers etc. It was a massive thing at the time, partly because of the grisly nature of the plane ghosting hundreds of miles on live TV before crashing.

He was a much bigger name in the US than here though.

[SvN]

I was big into golf at the time, and it was a huge deal for me. He'd been on the US Ryder Cup a few weeks before.

[Disco]

Yeah that was a big one at the time.

Senna is the biggest one I can remember, it happened live and during competition so it was that much more impactful. Rather stretching the definition of 'this generation' though.

[Waffdon]

He must be the only black man without a decent chopper.

[bruhnaldo]

I didn’t think I cared at all about Kobe Bryant but I was really shook when I heard. I think there’s something about sports stars seeming immortal. Imagine Ronaldo dying in a car crash etc.

It's just so fucked man.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

I have Airplane! to thank for knowing who Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've never chosen the fish.

[Disco]

Charles Barkley but I'm not sure if he's real because I only know him from Shut Up And Jam.

[niko_cee]

He's also famous for being one of the 'whales' Tiger Woods hung out with during his downfall period.

And maybe he's in Clerks Animated?

[Giggles]

Senna would surely be way more famous worldwide than Bryant.

[bruhnaldo]

Kobe is a god in Asia, though.

[Spikey M]

Is that why they named a steak after him?

[bruhnaldo]

Precisely my boy.

[mugbull]

Kobe is a million times bigger in terms of name recognition than Senna was.

[Foe]

Kobe is a million times bigger in terms of name recognition than Senna was.

But not a patch on George Galloway.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Basketball does seem to produce the megastar names that people in slums 10,000 miles away wear on their backs. Maybe because the nature of the game lends itself to personality cults.

If I do the same player-naming exercise with the financially bigger American football I'm coming up lower than the basketball names I think. About 8 quarterbacks and Jerry Rice. Before I got into baseball, I would have had Jeter, Pujols and then all the others would have been from 50+ years ago. Ice hockey, just Gretzky I think. I'm thinking, but nah, just Gretzky.

If you swap it around, I bet there is a lot of America who can name zero soccer players except maybe Pele or Beckham.

[mugbull]

Kobe is a household name in the slums because basketball is more accessible than Formula fucking 1.

Anyone below 30 has heard of Ronaldo and Messi at least. I'd say Ronaldinho still has the biggest name recognition for over 30's for Americans.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ronaldo and Messi are the only ones that everyone in America know.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, I was trying the same thought exercise and hit the NHL wall. I want to say there's a player (the best one) who plays (probably played) for the Penguins with a girly sounding name Stacey or Tracy or something but other than that I have no idea.

Baseball's not much better but there are more broad cultural references to that (The Simpsons alone can probably provide half a dozen . . . Daryl, Daryl, Daryl) so that'd be safer ground. Reckon I could get to at least 20.

[mugbull]

I couldn't name 5 baseball players in a minute and i doubt i could get 8 NFL-and-Jerry-Rice players. Basketball I could maybe name 20. I could name a few hockey players besides Gretzky and Sidney Crosby (that's the one niko) but they're all Czech.

Cricket I can name one. Rugby 0.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, that's him. Probably attests more to my having grown up with the Scream film franchise than to my knowledge of ice sports.

[Mellberg]

Baseball = Manningly, Conseco, Ken Griffey, Steve Sax, Homer, Ozzie and the Straw.

[niko_cee]

Don't forget Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Cricket I can name one.

Who is the 1?

I also would have had Barry Bonds actually, as we went on holiday to the US in 2004 while he was on some sort of steroid-induced home run chase so it was all over the media every time he hit one.

[-james-]

I asked my mum how many footballers she knew recently and she came up with Ronaldo and Snodgrass.

[Yevrah]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51275170

Hmmm.

[Trancemeister]

Yeah, I was trying the same thought exercise and hit the NHL wall. I want to say there's a player (the best one) who plays (probably played) for the Penguins with a girly sounding name Stacey or Tracy or something but other than that I have no idea.

Baseball's not much better but there are more broad cultural references to that (The Simpsons alone can probably provide half a dozen . . . Daryl, Daryl, Daryl) so that'd be safer ground. Reckon I could get to at least 20.

Sidney Crosby

[John Arne]

Kobe is a god in Asia, though.

I think you're confusing a 'few basketball fans in Shanghai' with 'Asia'. Nobody except for a few basketball fans have heard of him over here.

[Queenslander]

The NBA is as popular as the football down here.

[Ian]

I asked my mum how many footballers she knew recently and she came up with Ronaldo and Snodgrass.

A few years ago we had the "Does your mum know who Lionel Messi is?" thread and I seem to recall the results being pretty much split down the middle.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I got lolled at by some women a while back for not knowing who Holly Willoughby was. This may be a controversial view, but 'mums' can fuck off.

[mugbull]

Who is the 1?


Sachin Tendulkar

[SincereTheRebel]

Those Portuguese :)

https://mol.im/a/7937337

[Danny]

Baseball = Manningly, Conseco, Ken Griffey, Steve Sax, Homer, Ozzie and the Straw.

:D

We’re talking softball

[Spikey M]

Mattingly and Canseco.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I wonder if Mattingly ever got round to shaving his sideburns.

[Lewis]

A few years ago we had the "Does your mum know who Lionel Messi is?" thread and I seem to recall the results being pretty much split down the middle.

Which led to whether mine knew who Yevrah was and her saying 'he sounds like a knobhead'.

[Yevrah]

Smart woman you Mum, Lewis. Had me nailed.

[bruhnaldo]

I think you're confusing a 'few basketball fans in Shanghai' with 'Asia'. Nobody except for a few basketball fans have heard of him over here.

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/897d012/2147483647/strip/true/crop/780x570+0+0/resize/840x614!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F65%2Fd0%2F5509d45114 52242e3ccc9f94cf76%2Fla-et-cm-kobe-bryant-statue-china-20130618-001

[bruhnaldo]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1806298-the-crazy-scary-stories-of-kobe-bryants-insane-popularity-in-china

[bruhnaldo]

https://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/431/736/BQ6zVy6CQAASvCn_crop_north.jpg?h=533&w=800&q=70&crop_x=center&crop_y=top

[John Arne]

Yup, popular a amongst the basketball fans in the big cities. But ask joe regular on the streets, and they won't have heard of him.

[bruhnaldo]

Lol ok buddy

[SincereTheRebel]

1) Will he get a whole day in America dedicated to his life
2) Will the NBA change the logo to a silhouette of Kobe

?

[John Arne]

Lol ok buddy

Do you genuinely think that the average person on the streets of Beijing, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City have heard of Kobe Bryant? My auntie(-in-law) can barely name the PM of Vietnam, let alone a player of sport she probably has never even seen played before.

[bruhnaldo]

They literally named a restaurant after him in Ho Chi Minh City lol I bet you sure feel silly now

http://www.kobelegend.vn/en/

[John Arne]

They literally named a restaurant after him in Ho Chi Minh City lol I bet you sure feel silly now

http://www.kobelegend.vn/en/

:D You got me

[Spikey M]

He's just repackaged my joke there, the little shit.

[Spoonsky]

I wanna say you Brits, with so many of your own Commonwealth-restricted sports to worry about, underestimate the global popularity of basketball. (America does precisely the same thing with soccer.) It’s pretty huge in random places like Turkey. A pretty solid test is that any place where people know what Utah is, loves basketball.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We are pretty much non-existent when it comes to basketball, although I think we have had two or three NBA players over time. NFL is big as a hipster watching-only sport, but isn't played. Ice hockey has a very niche, but established domestic league. Basketball just doesn't exist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Basketball_League

I mean look at the state of that. Curiously though I think everyone will have been forced to play it in PE at some point, more so than our bigger sports, I guess because it's playable in confined spaces.

[phonics]

I was on the school basketball team and I was considered pretty good and I was awful. We just don't have the facilities for it in the UK to become one of those sports that people play in their freetime. Meanwhile, literally every playground here has at least a half court set-up.

[Baz]

Someone once scored the equivalent of an own goal in one of my PE lessons where we played basketball. Pretty sure we never played it again after that. God bless you, Swanny.

[Giggles]

They televise the basketball finals on regular TV here (was on last weekend) but it’s still very small time. Slightly bigger than our domestic American Football league.

[Shindig]

Apparently there's been 12 Brits make it to the NBA. The only one I can think of is Luol Deng. Newcastle Eagles got some relatively decent local coverage when they were a big fish in a paddling pool.

[Bob Sacamano]

We are pretty much non-existent when it comes to basketball, although I think we have had two or three NBA players over time. NFL is big as a hipster watching-only sport, but isn't played. Ice hockey has a very niche, but established domestic league. Basketball just doesn't exist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Basketball_League

I mean look at the state of that. Curiously though I think everyone will have been forced to play it in PE at some point, more so than our bigger sports, I guess because it's playable in confined spaces.

The BBL teams don't even compete in any of the four European competitions, it really is a waste of time.

I think the Euroleague are trying to get a franchise in London, as if anyone would care.

[phonics]

I wanna say you Brits, with so many of your own Commonwealth-restricted sports to worry about, underestimate the global popularity of basketball. (America does precisely the same thing with soccer.) It’s pretty huge in random places like Turkey. A pretty solid test is that any place where people know what Utah is, loves basketball.

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[Shindig]

All that needed was one of the kids fist-pumping after a rim shot. Follow that up, lads. Open goal.

[phonics]

I watched NBA on TNT tonight and cried like a babe.

Shaq rounded it off beautifually

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[Offshore Toon]

I was on the school basketball team and I was considered pretty good and I was awful. We just don't have the facilities for it in the UK to become one of those sports that people play in their freetime. Meanwhile, literally every playground here has at least a half court set-up.
I'm pretty sure every park football cage I've played in across Jersey, Brighton and London has had basketball hoops. They were only ever busy in Brighton, though, thanks to the Asians.

[Queenslander]

Half courts are everywhere done here and they are usually occupied in the afternoons with locals getting amongst it.

[Bernanke]

We are pretty much non-existent when it comes to basketball, although I think we have had two or three NBA players over time. NFL is big as a hipster watching-only sport, but isn't played. Ice hockey has a very niche, but established domestic league. Basketball just doesn't exist.

Hadn't really thought about this but the UK really is very different than the rest of Europe when it comes to major sports. Countries like France and Spain as well as the Balkans have both basketball and handball as big, big sports, then the northern and eastern countries have hockey as well as things like floorball and handball, especially at young ages.

If a British kid is playing a teamsport that isn't football, is it cricket? I guess rugby is big?

[Spikey M]

And boxing.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Football and rugby (either code) in the winter, cricket in the summer is the team sports setup here. Also a reasonable amount of (field) hockey in some regions.

Handball does not exist at all as far as I am aware. Well, someone will play it somewhere, but it is never reported on.

[SvN]

Netball for girls is popular.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Football and rugby (either code) in the winter, cricket in the summer is the team sports setup here. Also a reasonable amount of (field) hockey in some regions.

Handball does not exist at all as far as I am aware. Well, someone will play it somewhere, but it is never reported on.

We used to play handball every now and then in PE which was far superior to 'games'.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Netball for girls is popular.

For reasons that will always elude me. It is a game quite literally based on the idea of keeping women in their place.

[bruhnaldo]

Sorry go on please?

[SincereTheRebel]

Is there a cooker on the court?

[Disco]

I don't think you can move with the ball, so they're literally keeping women in place.

[Jimmy Floyd]

And you're not allowed to go out of your designated sector of the court either. Only 2 of the 7 players are allowed to score.

[bruhnaldo]

You guys are NUTTERS as they say.

[phonics]

If you give a slight shit about it at all, I highly recommend the NBAonTNT memorial they did last night. I cried like a babe the whole way through, watching these incredibly strong men coming together and not only celebrating the man but coming to terms with making sure you appreciate people while they're still around. It was truly beautiful.

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[John Arne]

This weeks Shaqtin' A Fool is gonna be a weird one.