The five-time NBA champion and twice Olympic Games gold medallist had a huge fan base in India, which is still finding it difficult to come to terms with his loss. The global icon had inspired a number of people across the world, including India, with his ‘Mamba Mentality’. On his birthday, DT Next looks at the connection Kobe had with India.

With the internet starting to get more popular in this part of the world in the early 2000s, Kobe took everyone by storm and became an instant fan favourite. Terms such as ‘Kobe’, ‘Bryant’ and ‘Mamba’ trended in the Indian basketball community, with the evolution of social media apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram only helping the cause.

Although not directly, Kobe had an influence on the current and future India national teams’ stars like Raspreet Sidhu and Abhishek John. “I was so obsessed with his mid-range jump shots. I used to practise them for hours and try to imitate him. I am one of the very few female ballers in the country who can take proper jump shots. All this is because of Kobe,” Raspreet, a member of the India women’s team, told NBA.com.

One of the biggest contributions Kobe made to Indian basketball was to inspire the athletes to play through difficulty. “When I partially tore my ankle ligament, I could have easily stayed away from the game. But, his words echoed in my ears and I looked at the break as an opportunity to work on my handles. I also tried to improve my shooting,” said Abhishek, who led Christ University home in the All-India Inter-University Championship.

Three years back, Chennai lad Arjun Shivakumar almost gave up playing basketball as he had a bad outing in his annual inter-school tournament. But after coming across a Kobe video – where he talks about converting the negative energy to a fuel for growth – Arjun gave the sport another shot. Kobe may have left this world, but he truly remains in millions of hearts.