Kobe Bryant Remembered by Magic Players: 'He Inspired All of Us'

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant passed away three years ago today. But many around the NBA, including members of the Orlando Magic, feel his presence.

ORLANDO - The NBA world is remembering Kobe Bryant today, three years after he was killed in a helicopter crash alongside eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

On the tragic day three years ago, the NBA world felt as if it stood still, and in some ways it still feels like that. The death of a person who inspired so many in the current generation of basketball players is still something people are trying to process.

"I remember just playing against Kobe, even that farewell tour, and having an opportunity to play against a legend like that is something I'm going to be able to tell my kids about," Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris said. "He inspired all of us to play the game of basketball, so it's definitely going to be a tough day for a lot of us."

Bryant spent 20 years in the league with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships, including his fourth in 2009 against the Magic at the old Amway Arena. His success with Shaquille O'Neal in the early 2000s put the Lakers back on the basketball map after struggling to find an identity after Magic Johnson retired.

Then, after Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, Kobe took over as the primary star in Los Angeles, putting him on a new level and gaining new appreciation from fans around the world.

As arguably the best player in the world during the late 2000s, scoring 81 in a game in 2006, winning the MVP in 2007, reaching three straight Finals from 2008-10, he gained a whole new fanbase that felt his greatness and wanted to mimic it.

"He's one of my favorite players," Wendell Carter Jr. said. "He was one of those guys that was a once-in-a-generation talent. Kobe had everything a basketball player wants. Going into another year of losing him is going to be tough for the basketball world, but it shows how much appreciation we have for him at the same time."

Carter said as a center that he didn't model his game after Kobe, but he was able to take the quotes and mindset that he adopted and apply it to himself.

Every NBA player, should they have been asked the question, is likely inspired by Kobe in one way or another. That shows how much impact he had on the game of basketball and how it will shape the game and league moving forward.

Kobe truly reached the status of a legend, and even though he hasn't been physically alive for three years ... legends never die.

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You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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