LOS ANGELES _ The stories came pouring in from friends, family and complete strangers who wanted to pass on their encounters with Kobe Bryant. Most of them began the same way, "I only met Kobe one time, but ..."
It would be normal to romanticize those moments in the immediate aftermath of the death of Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash two weeks ago, but they all made me smile because they perfectly reflected the man I grew to know over the last 20 years.
Bryant would be the first to tell you he wasn't exactly the most humble person at the beginning of his career. At an early age, he knew he was special. He knew he had both the God-given talent and the relentless work ethic to become one of the greatest basketball players ever. He had no problem letting you know you were in the midst of greatness when he was trying to establish himself.
As he grew older and his place in basketball history began to crystallize, he realized the platform he had created for himself allowed him to let his guard down. He became more open with the media and began to cold call, text and email people he wanted to talk to. He reached out to everyone from authors and actors to entrepreneurs and musicians he respected.
He knew you knew him, and even though he didn't know you personally, he made you feel like he wanted to. One of the most viral stories following Bryant's death was from ESPN's Elle Duncan, who relayed her one and only meeting with him _ a 30-minute conversation two years ago _ where he told her how much he loved being a "girl dad."
We all saw Bryant grow up before our eyes as a teenager who arrived in Los Angeles straight out of high school to a 41-year-old husband and father of four girls. Everyone has their favorite moments of Bryant's 20-year career on the court, but in my time covering him, these are the off-the-court moments that stand out most.
