Ramona Shelburne’s career in Los Angeles sports media almost directly overlapped with Kobe Bryant’s rise with the Los Angeles Lakers. From an early moment of guidance on a road trip to Shelburne covering Bryant’s life and legacy after his sudden passing in 2020, the two were professional colleagues and friends.
In an interview with Dan Le Batard released Friday, Shelburne opened up on how she earned Bryant’s trust and the burden of commemorating a friend and legendary athlete.
When Shelburne first landed the opportunity to cover a Lakers road trip in Memphis during Phil Jackson’s second stint coaching the team and competing for championships, Bryant made a point to connect with her directly and ensure she got the quotes she needed from him. After Shelburne began covering the Lakers day to day, Bryant confided in the ESPN reporter and would often give her exclusive access with his side of events around the team. Once Shelburne became a trusted Lakers insider, breaking news around the ownership structure of the team and more, the two communicated even more consistently.
“He was not afraid of criticism. I wrote plenty of stuff about him that was not reverential,” Shelburne said on South Beach Sessions. “But he just wanted to be understood.”
After Bryant retired, Shelburne said they became genuine friends. They would message about their lives and children, and of course the Lakers and the NBA.
So when Bryant died in a helicopter crash in February 2020, Shelburne was mourning a friend while also feeling the heaviness of reporting on an NBA legend and global icon.
“I felt like Kobe let in, he let himself be known by me, or at least he tried. And it is now my job to tell the world about him,” Shelburne said. “That is an honor he allowed me … and I feel like the best way you can honor somebody you consider a friend at that point is to tell their story.”
By the end of Bryant’s career, Shelburne had not only covered his heroic performance on the court, but his low points and failures.
Shelburne compared Bryant in death to Achilles, the man who in Greek mythology was a legendary warrior who died young in an unexpected accident.
“He was just a force of nature, so covering him when he died, I just got mythological about it,” Shelburne said. “The thing that you have to do in those moments is just go, ‘my job now is just to tell the world everything I know, and this is what people want to hear.'”
Bryant had an impact with many reporters, but Shelburne was undeniably a primary chronicler of the Lakers dynasty post-Shaquille O’Neal. That is a difficult standard to uphold, particularly when the emotions of friendship and trust come into play.
Shelburne handled it incredibly well, and the privilege of it all clearly continues to impact her more than four years after Bryant’s death.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.