That was what he cared about as his basketball career came to an end: passing on what he had learned. What it really took to be Kobe Bryant. Not to be understood, because that was impossible with a soul as ruthless and relentless as his. But to inspire. It’s all I can think about now, as I grieve his death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Sunday morning that killed eight others, including his daughter Gianna. “I enjoy passing things on,” he told me in 2016. “Some people want to take it with them to the grave. Like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ The world is filled with a lot of Smeagols [who] can’t let go of the damn ring.”