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Kobe Bryant’s Complicated Legacy, Literal Rise and Grinders and the Men Who Settle Disputes With Swords

It might sound like a cliché at this point, but as someone born and raised in L.A., the death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven others who also lost their lives in the hills surrounding Calabasas Sunday morning continues to feel like a bad dream. Or that, at any moment, someone might contact TMZ to let the rest of us know it was all a really bad joke. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen, which leaves the world and perhaps more importantly, this city, to make sense of Bryant’s complex legacy: Was he a hero? A once-in-a-lifetime talent? A villain? A rapist? All of the above?

Perhaps.

Or maybe, the “correct” version of Kobe’s story may never exist — and the only right way to feel about him is to not know how to feel about him.

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It’s Impossible to Remember the ‘Right’ Kobe Bryant

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Who Am I to Tell You How to Mourn Kobe?

America Loved Kobe — But the World May Have Loved Him More

Back on That Grind

The Men Who Literally Rise and Grind

From the Service Dept.

What the Hell Does Tossing Pizza Dough in the Air Actually Do, Though?

Everything Else That Was Great

The Dudes Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Settle Disputes — And Divorces — By Swordfight

For Guys Like Vlad, Food Stamps Are a Lifeline That’s About to Disappear

In ‘Downhill,’ Will Ferrell Is One Sad, Bad Dad

MEL@Dusk

Literal Hustle Porn Is Based on the Sad Reality That We’re All Too Busy or Too Tired to Have Sex

Say It Ain’t So, Joe

Remember Joe Exotic? The meth-cooking, illegal zoo-owning, Guy Fieri-look-alike-ing Florida Man attempting to hire an assassin to murder an animal sanctuary CEO? Turns out Mr. Exotic is going to prison for his crimes. Here’s our coverage from last year on the wild details of the case:

Joe Exotic: A Cautionary Tale of a Murder-for-Hire Plot Involving Tigers, Michael Jackson’s Pet Alligators, and, of Course, a Florida Man