Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Before working in journalism, I worked for a member of Congress who died in a tragic, unexpected way. Guess who told me and my coworkers, who were all in the office at the time? The media. We immediately sent a staffer to the home of the deceased to try to break news gently -- we didn't make it there before the media.it was likely different in the 1950s, but not in past 20 years.

In my home state we lost a senator when a helicopter collided with his plane. The helicopter accident occurred over an elementary school in Lower Merion Township, where Kobe was from.

Anonymous wrote:
Before working in journalism, I worked for a member of Congress who died in a tragic, unexpected way. Guess who told me and my coworkers, who were all in the office at the time? The media. We immediately sent a staffer to the home of the deceased to try to break news gently -- we didn't make it there before the media.it was likely different in the 1950s, but not in past 20 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of fans we’re telling personal stories about how he took time out to talk with them, and do nice gestures. When people got injured, like Durant, apparently Kobe was the first to call. He was apparently very humble off the court.

you need to learn more adjectives. being nice to someone in need does not make one humble.

You need to learn a little bit about the word ‘humble’. He didn’t just help people in need, but took time with fans, and used his platform to help lots of people. Now, if you want to discuss the fact that his DNA had an ego attached to it, ok you got me. Any NBA player to get to that league has an ego as it comes with the confidence to be great and expectations to be there.
However, as much as any NBA player, the last 20 years, he used it for some good off the court. On the court, he thought he was the best and he was, as he’d try to crush you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of fans we’re telling personal stories about how he took time out to talk with them, and do nice gestures. When people got injured, like Durant, apparently Kobe was the first to call. He was apparently very humble off the court.

you need to learn more adjectives. being nice to someone in need does not make one humble.

Anonymous wrote:Grown men of all background, famous and not famous are crying on tv. It takes two seconds to do a little research to understand why, and it is not because he dribbled a ball. He was giving back to countless communities and causes without any fanfare. He was lending his voice to equity in sports for women, he was starting financial programs and investing in the community. By all accounts, he and his wife and children were a beautiful and loving family. If you can’t see the man that has emerged and evolved over the past 16 years then you are portraying a false narrative not the media.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happens even with not famous people. An acquaintance of mine died. Everyone knew she wasn't a particularly nice person but at her funeral and on social media they praised her for and even referred to her as a great wife and mother. She was neither of those. I knew her daughter and her daughter could tell countless stories of what a not great wife and mother she was...but everyone knew that her death wasn't the time to hang out all her dirty laundry.

That is just normal. Comments after death are for the surviving family and friends - wanting to highlight that person's mistakes seems really crass and rude. What benefit is there to be gained by trying to hurt the family? Is death really the time to try and stab a screwdriver in the surviving people's backs and twist?

This.

It makes little sense to demonize people. I can see if the person was a serial killer, but in many cases, people screw up. We’re human beings. Acting like everyone should be perfect saints is unrelated and unrealistic.

The demonizing of people dying culture trend needs to end. My own mother has been one of the most selfish mean people ever but when she goes, of course I’ll remember her as my dear sweet mother.

The entire premise of the prior two posts is wrong. No one is trying to hurt the family. I seriously doubt Kobe’s wife is on DCUM. Pointing out his faults and questioning why people are treating him as someone he wasn’t is not “demonizing” him. It’s telling a balanced account of who he is.

Yes. People screw up. And yes people are often portrayed positively in obituaries. But give the over the top statements about him (hero etc.) it’s absolutely fair, and more accurate, to give the full picture.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the challenges with privacy is that there are live flight trackers. The instant the crash happened, there were pics of smoke on Twitter and also people who had been watching flight trackers were quickly able to see that a crash had happened. The flight tracker sites provide information on the model of aircraft, the tail number, the registered owner, and a lot of other information.

The registered owner was Island Express Holding Corp and the tail number is N72EX. There are flight enthusiasts who knew immediately that this was Kobe's helicopter. They wouldn't have had any idea if he was on it but they have all the information about the flight and that his helicopter crashed. This is public information on public sites.

Here is an example of a flight tracker page for this flight
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N72EX/history/20200126/1708Z/tracklog

The linked registration page on that site
https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N72EX

So speculation about Kobe being on the helicopter would have started within minutes of the crash.

This appears to be how word spread. News of a helicopter crash in LA. People checked the flight tracker, saw the flight path, googled the tail # and found pictures of Kobe standing beside the copter.

So the first thing you do is get on Twitter and ask? Not even an hour after the crash? Knowing that more than likely, his wife didn't know? I mean...as a wife and mother, it would not cross my mind to post this on Twitter asking if people knew if he was on the chopper on not.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of fans we’re telling personal stories about how he took time out to talk with them, and do nice gestures. When people got injured, like Durant, apparently Kobe was the first to call. He was apparently very humble off the court.