For the most part, text messaging has been a complete game-changer when it comes to communication. Forget writing a long letter or even jamming out a complete email…all you have to do is type a few words and then send that message directly to your intended recipient. Even better, this creates a kind of digital paper trail, which is helpful when you want to revisit an older conversation or simply confirm what the other person said.
However, one of the side effects of this technology is that we can easily look up the last words someone texted before they died. This can be good if it provides some closure, but the whole thing can feel a bit spooky as you read the final words that might just haunt you. That’s especially true in the world of professional athletes, where some of the top players in sports history sent heartbreaking texts shortly before they died.
Just what top athletes sent haunting final texts, and what did they actually write? Keep reading to find out!
Kobe Bryant just wanted to help
While 2020 was full of crazy moments, many of them related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, nothing was quite as shocking as the sudden death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant. He died in a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of seven other people, including his 13-year-old daughter. This would have been devastating if it had happened to anybody, but watching it happen to a five-time NBA championship winner felt downright surreal.
Just who was Bryant texting before his death? According to his widow, Vanessa, the Los Angeles Lakers legend had been trying to help out a family friend. Specifically, Bryant was texting was Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, encouraging him to set the daughter of John Altobelli up with a basketball scout. You see, that daughter (Alyssa Altobelli) and Bryant’s daughter Gianna had once played on the same team.
Unfortunately, Gianna was on the helicopter with her father and died in the crash. John Altobelli was also in the helicopter, meaning that Bryant’s final words are downright haunting!
Anthony Johnson hyped up a fellow fighter
To this day, the death of Anthony Johnson doesn’t feel real. He was a UFC fighter who could knock out grown men with a single punch, and other fighters were downright terrified to get into the cage with him. Tragically, the fighter was struck down in his prime, dying at the relatively tender age of 38. He ultimately died to an invisible foe: organ failure that came as a result of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
What was Johnson’s final text? Fellow UFC fighter Corey Anderson later claimed that he received one of Johnson’s last text messages. Anderson was nervous about an upcoming bout, and Johnson was giving him some encouragement: “Yo, keep your hands up, no mistakes,” Johnson wrote. “I don’t see this guy beating you, bro. It’s your fight.” While these words of encouragement are very powerful, it’s downright heartbreaking to imagine Anthony Johnson taking the time to lift other fighters up shortly before he was killed by a foe that he would never be able to face in the cage.
The Saddest Final Texts Athletes Sent Before Dying
