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Kobe Bryant Inspired Several Current, Former Notre Dame Athletes

Over the past week, people from all over the world mourned the loss of former NBA star and Academy Award winner Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna and seven others.

Each and every person dealt with his tragic death in their own way. Some discussed his accomplishments and transgressions on television, podcasts or via the written word, while others took to social media to share what it was like to meet him or how his worth ethic and determination inspired them.

This includes a number of popular currents and former Notre Dame athletes and not just those that play basketball.

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Bryant had a major impact on rising junior receiver Braden Lenzy, whose father spent 13 years working for Nike. This gave Lenzy access to Nike-sponsored athletes, which included Bryant for the latter half of his career.

“He was always really cool because he was one of my role models growing up, and my dad working at Nike," Lenzy said in December. "He was around him a little. Even though I wasn’t really much of a basketball player, his mentality always has inspired me. I went to a Kobe camp when I was in third grade maybe.

"Seeing how he took his actions toward the game really impacted me."

Lenzy was, of course, distraught with the loss of Bryant and posted photos of them together on Twitter.

"My inspiration," he wrote. "My role model. At a loss of words.. The hardest worker I’ve ever met. Thanks for the chats we’ve had over the years and helped guide me to this point in my life. RIP to the greatest."

Other current and former football players, even if they didn't have an in-person connection to Bryant, also expressed sorrow for the loss, including quarterback Ian Book, Alohi Gilman and Ronnie Stanley.

Bryant's death also had an impact on the men's basketball team, even as they played games this weekend.

Against Georgia Tech on Saturday, Notre Dame senior forward Rex Pflueger had one of his best scoring games of the season, tying a season-high of 13 points. He accomplished this by going 3-3 from the floor, 2-2 from behind the arch and 5-6 from the charity stripe, but his best shot of the day was a fadeaway with Notre Dame up six and just over seven minutes to go in the game.

"That's a shot I use to shoot a lot as a kid, emulating Kobe growing up where I was from," said Pflueger after the game, who is from Southern California. "It was pretty fun, too. I was just telling [John] Mooney when I got into the post, right away, in my mind, I was like, 'Kobe!' I knew I was going to shoot that shot, and it felt good to see it go in."


He also went on social media after the game to show some love for the Black Mamba.


The biggest impact Bryant had on a Notre Dame athlete was former women's basketball player Arike Ogunbowale, who plays for the WNBA's Dallas Wings.

Bryant was a major proponent of women's basketball and inspiring greatness in all athletes, both of which drew him to Ogunbowale. He was in attendance for the NCAA Women's Final Four in 2018 when she hit a game-winning shot to defeat Connecticut 91-89 in overtime of the semifinals.

After the game, he congratulated her, despite the fact that he and his daughter were both UConn supporters.

After Ogunbowale hit yet another game-winner to win the national championship a few days after, she blew up and made appearances on national talk shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she discussed how much she admired Bryant and emulated her game after his.

"I love him. I wear 24 because of him," she said. "I named my dog 'Kobe' after him. For him to Tweet at me was amazing and, after we won he was like, 'Wow! Life complete. Mamba mentality.' I was like, 'this is not real. This is not my life right now.'"

Shortly after, he showed up on the show and surprised her.

Ogunbowale was naturally sad to hear of Bryant's had passing last Sunday, which she expressed on Twitter.

Current Notre Dame Women's basketball players also appreciate Bryant, especially when it comes to how he supported the sport.

"Kobe advocating for women's sports overall has been amazing," Vaughn said on WSBT. "That's what I don't think a lot of people understand about him and what he's done. I think we're going to miss that and so many other things about him."

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