Legendary Athletes

Hello! This concerns deceased legends such as Pele, Bill Russell, and Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant died 3 years ago but it is probably the most major death since 2020, so I include him. Kobe Bryant is a basketball player and will be in the first paragraph. Bill Russell is also a basketball player and will be in the second paragraph. In the last paragraph, we have a soccer player, Pele. Now let's get into it!

For the first athlete: Kobe Bryant. He was one of the best basketball players in the history of the sport. He scored 33,643 points in his career, being a Los Angeles Laker for his whole career. He died in a helicopter crash that devastated the whole entire world. People often consider him a top 6 basketball player in the history of basketball. I actually have a book of him called “The Mamba Mentality” and “The Wizenard Series. “The Mamba mentality is how he became great at basketball and his mentality. The Wizenard Series is a series about a magical basketball team. I personally suggest them both. Now let's get to his awards/accolades. He was a five time NBA champion. 1 time MVP, 2 time finals MVP, and 18 time all star, and 15 time All-NBA. Those are his most important awards. He was also a great guy off the court, donating lots to charity and being a nice guy. On the helicopter crash, Kobe Bryant was going to his daughter's basketball game. So unfortunately his daughter died in the crash with him. In total, 9 people died including Kobe Bryant in the helicopter crash.

Next we have Bill Russell, the NBA player with the most championships. He won 8 straight championships and in his whole career, he won 11 championships. Many people say he is one of the, if not the best defensive player in NBA and basketball history. He also was a incredible coach, winning two championships as the head coach of the Boston Celtics in 1968 and 1969. He also went toe to toe with Wilt Chamberlain, one of the best players of all time. He was also a legend off the court, being one of the nicest people many people have met. He won 5 MVPs, was in 12 All-Star games (out of 13 seasons!), and won 11 championships. He died in his sleep.

Pele was the consensus best soccer player ever until 2018 or so, when Messi and Ronaldo got in the conversations. He won 3 world cups, which is incredible. He was also a very nice guy off the field. Pele scored 1,279 goals in his career (including friendlies) which is mindblowing comparing to Messi and Ronaldo. Neither of them have 1,000 goals individually. He is one of the best athletes of the 1900’s. He died in the Hospital. He inspired me to play soccer and did so for many others.