Douglas County basketball coach calls Bryant 'the mentor I never met'
LITHIA SPRINGS, Ga. - Tashara Jones is a Lithia Springs High School graduate who says Kobe Bryant changed the course of her life a decade ago—even though she never met him. She’s the Assistant Girls Basketball Coach at her alma mater and—like so many around the country—she’s taking Bryant’s death to heart.
“It’s surreal. His death hit me hard because he was my 'WHY.' Basketball itself saved my life, I was just labeled another kid from the “hood” in Florida and the moment my mom sent me to a community center to play I began to really like it, but when I started watching Kobe play, it was like a whole other world opened up for me.” she told FOX 5.
Jones struggled when she started playing basketball as a teenager in Douglas County, Georgia but says her mother encouraged to watch Kobe play.
“I was behind all the other kids because they had been playing for years but hearing how Kobe spoke on his work ethic and all the time he spent in the gym, I instantly became a gym rat. I began to see my game elevate just as Kobe said he did,” said the 24-year-old coach and paraprofessional.
She ultimately went on to break records at Lithia Springs High School and her portrait hangs on the wall at the gym. After her success, Jones was diagnosed with a brain tumor but says she drew from Bryant’s work ethic for inspiration.
“Throughout my time in the hospital, I began to lose faith. I literally felt like I had nothing left to give and I had given up on myself, basketball, and even school. During my recovery process, I watched a lot of different Kobe Bryant videos and one stuck with me when he began to speak on things he overcame and how he did it. I saw how it impacted his life. He began to leave his mark and I told myself if I don’t do anything else in this world, I want to leave my mark and give someone the hope he gave me,” said Jones.
Jones says she considers the NBA legend the best she never met.
“God sent Kobe to be in my life as a message of faith that my journey wasn’t over it was just beginning. What he did when he was hurt or frustrated, he just stayed in the gym and worked on his game until he was literally exhausted,” said Jones.