The death of Lakers great Kobe Bryant on Sunday shocked the sports world. Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, and seven others were killed when their helicopter crashed into the side of a hill just outside of Calabasas, California.
“He wasn’t just a superstar in that city. He owned that city for 20 years. He was an international icon and a superstar and a living legend,” Mitch Moss, the host of "Follow the Money" on VSIN, the Vegas Stats and Information Network, said.
“I personally never liked him. I was never a fan of Kobe Bryant as a basketball player, even though he was phenomenal and I loved watching him play but I wasn’t a fan," Moss said, "I gotta tell you… as a lifelong sports fan, I have never been impacted like I was on Sunday, and now, here we are many days later after the fact and I can’t stop watching coverage of it. I’m just completely heartbroken.”
Moss compared Bryant's death to that of John Lennon and Princess Diana.
When Bryant died, people inevitably brought up the sexual assault charges against him in the early 00s. The charges were dismissed when the woman refused to testify. Bryant maintained the encounter was consensual.
Moss agreed that Bryant likely made a mistake but he wants to focus on what the basketball great did afterward.
“The guy learned from his mistake and it was a brutal mistake – clearly. But he changed his life around… if you want to concentrate on what happened in Colorado, go ahead but I think that’s a big mistake,” he said.
NFL 2020 DRAFT
For three days in April, the Las Vegas Strip is going to be home to one of the biggest events in professional sports.
Clark County announced this month that the Strip will be restricted for three days for 2020 NFL Draft. While some people have expressed shock at the decision to close the Strip, Moss believes it is the right thing to do.
“I’m telling you this event is going to shine unlike so many other events from the NFL or drafts past. I actually feel sorry for every other city getting the draft after Las Vegas because I don’t know how they’re going to be able live up to what the city is capable of pulling off,” he said.
Moss noted that when the first round of the draft starts it will still be light out and throughout the night the sun will go down and the lights of the Las Vegas Strip will shine.
He would not be surprised if 500,000 people were there over the three days of the draft.
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Mitch Moss, host, Follow the Money VSIN
