Mamba Sports Academy Retiring ‘Mamba’ From Name To Honor Kobe Bryant
Officials at the Mamba Sports Academy say they’re retiring the word “Mamba” from its name forever, as way to honor the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant. In 2018, he partnered with The Sports Academy, a youth sports training facility, and together changed the name to Mamba Sports Academy.
However, since Bryant’s passing, CEO and founder Chad Faulkner says to pay tribute to the legend, who was on his way to the facility with his daughter and colleagues on the morning of the helicopter crash, he is dropping the nickname of the five-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star. He says, “Today, with respect for an unparalleled legacy, the Academy will retire the ‘Mamba’ in the Mamba Sports Academy name — to raise it to the rafters, where it belongs.”
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Faulkner adds, “Our beliefs and thoughts are Kobe is one of one. ‘Mamba’ is one of one. And with that as we carry on as The Sports Academy, it’s more appropriate to put Kobe in another Hall of Fame, if you will, and to really respect a legacy that is really unrivaled, frankly, and let that live on its own. We will continue to do the work we do. We were fortunate to learn from Kobe. We will carry on much of those learnings that we have in a respectful way.”
With locations in Thousand Oaks and Redondo Beach, CA, Faulkner says he’d be open to placing a memorial at both locations, but only with the blessing of his family.
He shares, “That will really end up being up to the desires of the family and to the respect of the family. For us, we leave that up to the future. This is such a critical time for the family to keep working through the grieving process and everything they’re working for. We are going to play really conservative from that approach. We are all for it. … But it’s really not necessarily the right thing for us to do proactively.”
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