Main image via ESPN
NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna’s sudden death shocked the world last month and recently, over 20,000 fans packed the Staples Center to honour them in a memorial, including basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan made a rare public appearance to mourn the death of Kobe and Gianna Bryant and broke down in tears while speaking about his relationship with Kobe.
"I'm grateful to be here to honour Gigi and to celebrate the gift that Kobe gave us all: what he accomplished as a basketball player, as a businessman, as a story-teller, and as a father," he said. "In the game of basketball, in life, as a parent, Kobe left nothing in the tank. He left it all on the floor.”
"Maybe it surprises people that Kobe and I were close friends, but we were very close friends," he continued. "Kobe was my dear friend. He was like a little brother. Everyone always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I, but I just wanted to talk about Kobe."
Jordan said that Kobe would text him about basketball at odd hours sometimes and as he got to know him, he “wanted to be the best big brother that I could be."
"This kid had passion like you would never know. And it's an amazing thing about passion. If you love something, if you have a strong passion for something, you would go to the extreme to try to understand or to try to get it. Either ice cream, cokes, hamburgers, if you have to walk -- you would go get it. If you have to beg someone, you would go get it. What Kobe Bryant was to me is the inspiration that someone truly cared about either the way I played the game or the way he wanted to play the game.”
Jordan then made a joke about his tears saying, “"Now he's got me -- I'm going to have to look at another crying meme for the next ... I told my wife that I wasn't going to do this because I didn't want to see this for the next three or four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me."
"Kobe gave every last ounce of himself to whatever he was doing," he shared. "In retirement he seemed so happy. He found new passions and he continued to give back as a coach and in his community. More importantly, he was an amazing dad, and an amazing husband, who dedicated himself to his family and who loved his daughters with all his heart. Kobe never left anything on the court and I think that‘s what he would want us to do."
"No one knows how much time we have," he said. "That's why we must live in the moment, we must enjoy the moment. We must reach and see and spend as much time as we can with our families and friends and the people that we absolutely love. To live in the moment means to enjoy each and everyone that we come into contact with. When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died. And as I look in this arena and across the globe, a piece of you died, or else you wouldn't be here. Those are the memories that we have to live with and learn from. I promise you that from this day forward, I will live with the memories of knowing that I had a little brother and I tried to help him everywhere I could."
He ended the speech saying, "please rest in peace, little brother” and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Kobe and Gianna Bryant died in a helicopter crash along with seven other victims on 26 January, where Michael Jordan wrote "words can't describe the pain I'm feeling” in his statement.
Athletes, entertainers and tens of thousands of Lakers fans attended the celebration of life in Bryant’s honour at downtown Los Angeles.
Rest in peace, Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
Info via Entertainment Tonight