A Warsaw, Ind., woman who attends Winona Lake, Ind., Grace Brethren Church (Bruce Barlow, lead pastor), Ann Sweet, had a special relationship with Kobe Bryant, the former player for the Los Angeles Lakers who died last week, along with his daughter and seven others, in a tragic accident. The online news site, InkFreeNews, shared about that friendship. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Warsaw Woman Recalls Inspiration, Friendship She Shared With Kobe Bryant
Ann Sweet still remembers the first time she noticed Kobe Bryant playing basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was the late 1990s and the Warsaw native had the game on TV, in part to keep an eye on Rick Fox, the Warsaw High School basketball legend who had become a starter for the Lakers.
“I saw this scrawny teenager come out of the blue trying to guard Karl Malone … and it was Kobe,” Sweet recalls. “Here’s this little teenager taking on NBA superstars. After I watched a few games, I got hooked. He was so determined and so focused.”
That focus and determination she saw in Bryant came at a time of deep despair and depression for Sweet. She had lost her daughter in a traffic accident in 1997 and her husband died months later from a heart attack.
The personal tragedies left her nearly incapable of talking and she began shutting down emotionally.
But somehow, Bryant, an emerging NBA superstar with a big heart, a glorious smile and a motivational spirit, caught her attention and helped Sweet through her bout with depression.
Much of that inspiration comes from Bryant’s Mamba Mentality mantra, which encourages people “to do the very best you can do to become better than you think you can be.”
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