We may wish that all those people you mentioned were more valuable, but they weren't. Of all people to be able to see the cold reality, I'm surprised a bit by your sappy, unrealistic view.
To specific individuals directly impacted by a teacher, saved by a DR or marine, those people absolutely were (or should have been) more value, but on the scale of someone as well known, and great at his very popular event, it's just not true. You and I may not have been motivated one bit by Kobe, but tens of thousands (or more) people were motivated by him. Plus, to completely downplay the role of athletes in impacting communities, as well as families that watch together, by winning and sharing that potential greatness, is intentionally being ignorant to make your point that we should value other things more. Perhaps we should, but we don't. There is a reason he is getting all this attention for his passing and others that die daily in various crashes/accidents do not. It is not a political agenda (as the John Lennon, Arnold Palmer or Payne Stewart analogies would reveal), it is just reality (as is his bank account) of who was more valuable in the larger societal sense (not some religious, gates of heaven, who was a "better person" in the eyes of god assessment).
Also, using your analogy of how would the entire world be different without him, without 1 specific teacher or 1 specific cop, firefighter etc, does the whole world change? Would there not be another teacher, just like there would be another basketball player? If not, then we would pay more until there was a replacement teacher. Whereas, Kobe changes entire history books by winning championships for a particular city that impacts millions. He was so famous because he was not so simply replaceable. Sure, some other city would win and cause the impact somewhere else, but that is not what happened. It was Kobe winning and scoring all those points. It was his death that had people all over LA flooding streets crying. I didn't shed a tear, but I can't deny that so many others did because he was important to them.