Kobe Bryant. A name that has been splashed across the headlines with his tragic sudden death in a helicopter crash on the morning of January 26, 2020. Kobe was a husband and the father of four daughters. One of the daughters, Gianna was on-board the helicopter with him at the time of the crash. There were no survivors of the nine people on-board. He was born on August 23, 1978 in Pennsylvania. There is conflicting data about the known time and location but for this article I used 5:00pm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country and upon graduation declared for the 1996 NBA draft. He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers where he played out his entire professional basketball career until retirement after the 2015-2016 season. He helped the USA win gold medals at both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2018 he won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his movie Dear Basketball.
Were his stellar basketball skills and career success in his chart? His untimely death? Let’s look and see.
When we look to see what his career would be like I immediately look to the tenth house. When I look at Kobe’s tenth house, in Virgo, he has three planets there. He has Rahu (one of the nodes of the moon), Mars and Venus. Knowing his skill in basketball I would be looking for the ruler of either the third or fifth house as these represent sports. In his chart Mars rules his fifth house of sports and is in his tenth house of career. Mars itself is also an indicator of athletics, energy, determination and strength. He has Rahu which expands the energy and meanings of any planets it conjoins. Rahu is an indicator of fame, prestige and obsessive behavior. He was a household name and was likely compulsive in his practicing in order to achieve his level of success on the court. Mars Rahu conjunct can give him a lot of energy. Venus in his tenth house can give him a charm, wealth from career and charisma.
Kobe declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. At this time transiting Jupiter was within three degrees of his ascendant. Jupiter grants opportunities, it is luck, and it is also the ruler of his chart. Transiting Rahu was in his tenth house, Virgo, within a degree of his natal Mars which rules his fifth house of sports so Rahu was expanding his talent and shining a light on it as well as igniting and expanding his career. He was about to go through a nodal return which is a time when you can go through big changes.
In 2008 he was named to the Men’s National Team for the Summer Olympics. He helped the team defeat Spain to win the gold medal on August 24, 2008. He was in his Mars Rahu dasha. Both of which are in his tenth house of career and expanded all the good energy those bring. The transits at this time had Jupiter within two degrees of his Ascendant, Mars was transiting Virgo, his tenth house and Rahu was sending its energy to his tenth house of career as well. All empowering his chart for good.
In 2012 Kobe was, again, on the US Olympic team that helped defeat Spain to win Gold. At this time Jupiter was in his sixth house of work sending its energy and granting opportunities to his tenth house of career and the three planets there. Mars was once again transiting in his tenth house. Mars is a powerful planet for Kobe in terms of his success in sports.
Mars however can also be a tough planet for Kobe’s chart as it rules the twelfth house of loss, suffering and endings. At the time of his last NBA game on April 13, 2016, transiting Mars was in his twelfth house with transiting Saturn. Saturn is the indicator of separation. He separated from his career. Moving into a new phase of his life. Where he transferred his determination and motivation into the business arena.
Mars once again came in to cause problems for Kobe on the day of his death, along with other transits. On January 26, 2020 transiting Mars was exactly on top of his natal Neptune. Neptune is an indicator of fog and oil and gas. While there has been no final ruling from the National Transportation Safety Board on the cause of the crash people have said that there was fog at the time of crash. Mars is an indicator of accidents, fire and can inflict death. Mars as the ruler of the twelfth house added one more strike against him as it was transiting in the twelfth house of final liberation and endings. Another thing to make note of is that natal Mars is sending its energy by its eighth aspect to his natal Moon which rules his eighth house of death. Transiting Jupiter was within two degrees of his Ascendant and in this case, this was made bad by the fact that transiting Ketu was within two degrees of his Ascendant as well. Transiting Jupiter was sending its energy to his natal Moon as was transiting Ketu. To add to all this transiting Saturn and Mercury were both in his second house. The second and seventh house are both maraka houses (killer houses) and Saturn and Mercury rule these houses respectively. Saturn can rule death and Mercury rules short distance travel. Transiting Saturn was also in opposition to the ruler of his first house his natal Jupiter which is in his eight house of death conjunct his natal Mercury. When the ruler of the first house is in the eighth house it can indicate a turbulent death. Transiting Saturn also was aspecting by its tenth aspect his natal Uranus. Uranus rules airplanes which could show his death in a helicopter crash. Adding another level to this his 13-year-old daughter Gianna was with him. The ruler of his fifth house of children is Mars and Jupiter is also an indicator of children and was with Ketu the indicator of loss.
At the time of his death he had just entered, on January 21, his Maha Dasha of Rahu and Bhukti (sub-dasha) of Saturn. This activated Saturns maraka energy as well as the energy of transiting Rahu which is in his seventh house, one of the maraka houses mentioned above.
In Kobe’s case it was a perfect storm of transits interacting to create a tragic event.
Kobe touched the lives of many people and was respected by many both in and out of the NBA. He will be missed by all but especially by his wife, Vanessa and his three surviving daughters.
