Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant continues to be one of the most inspirational athletes the sports world has ever seen. More than four years after his tragic passing in Jan. 2020, he is regularly pointed to as a motivator for some of the world’s best athletes. The latest is boxer Caleb Plant.
Plant is a professional boxer with a 32-13 all-time record, and he recently became the father to a beautiful daughter. Bryant is perhaps best known — especially in his post-playing days — for his role as a girl dad. Kobe took more pride in being a father of daughters than he did just about anything else in his world. He has become a motivation for girl dads everywhere because of it.
And Plant felt it was important to give Bryant that credit when discussing his own family, featuring sneakers from Bryant with a girl dad embroidery and some memorable moments from the first years of his daughter’s life, as he shared on Instagram.
This is just another testament to how impactful Bryant’s Mamba Mentality has been on the sports world. Plant is a 32-year-old boxer who began fighting professionally in 2010 when he was 18 years old. By that time, Bryant had already completed 14 seasons and won five NBA championships, meaning nearly all of Bryant’s major accomplishments happened when Plant was a young kid.
But even still, Bryant serves as inspiration for the young athlete who plays a completely different sport, similar to Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams. But Kobe is motivating Plant beyond the boxing ring, and instead in fatherhood. Bryant would be more proud of that than he would anything else.
Dominique Wilkins: Kobe Bryant is closest to Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers, winning five NBA championships, earning 18 All-Star Game selections and setting numerous records along the way. Bryant was known for his fierce competitiveness and desire to win at all costs, inspiring an endless amount of athletes across multiple sports.
He famously made two clutch free throws after tearing his Achilles tendon in the Lakers’ 118-116 win over the Golden State Warriors on April 12, 2013, that pushed them into the playoffs.
NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins recalled talking to Bryant after his final game in Atlanta and told him that he is the closest player to Michael Jordan because of his mentality.
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