One of Kobe Bryant’s best friends and one of those who has received the news of the LA Lakers legend with huge shock, Lamar Odom has paid a glowing tribute to his former teammate, mentor and in some way, his elder brother.
Lamar Odom who joined millions around the world to mourn the Basketball legend, in an emotional tribute he shared on his Instagram account on Sunday, he praised the life lived by the man whom he played with and won Championship between 2001-2011, and 2009 and 2010. He started by saying:
“These picture are just the tip of the iceberg of our relationship. He taught me so many things in life that were necessary on and off the court. On the court he taught me how to carve out defenses and how to take my time. How to make winning my ultimate goal.
Off the court he taught me to sign my own checks lol. Of course anyone who knows my story knows I’ve suffered a lot of loss but the only loss I can compare this to is when I lost my son. Even though our relationship wasn’t father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother”.
Lamar Odom continued:
“I’m glad I got to be the lying to your yang as far as the locker room was concerned. It was my pleasure. I couldn’t even catch my breath today when I heard this news. I just knew if he was in a helicopter crash he would have been the one to survive.
Somehow he would have jumped out and landed on his feet. I’m sitting here thinking about when we would be in practice scrimmaging and you would start the jump ball off with elbowing Sasha in the chest. Like dude it’s 10:30 in the morning lol.
You think watching him play was crazy, you gotta think in practice if you scored like 8-9 buckets throughout the practice you had a great practice. I’ve seen him knock off 13-14 in a row in practice!!!! I’m still waiting for the media to come out and say wrong report.
No way God took my brother this early. I know I been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself. When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened. In honor of my brother I’m up at 4am tomorrow to get to the gym! Gigi gone give you buckets!!!! I love you brother 💔🙏🏿😥 #kobe #bryant” he said.
As we reported on Sunday, Kobe Bryant died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
Kobe Bryant’s daughter who was just 13 also died in the crash alongside seven others died.
The helicopter went down in the hills of Calabasas and a fire broke out. The crash occurred around 10 a.m. local time and the fire made it difficult for firefighters and emergency personnel to get to the aircraft, according to the city of Calabasas.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who also reacted to the news of Kobe Bryant’s death, issued the following statement on behalf of the NBA. The statement issued by the NBA Boss reads:
“The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. “For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary:
Five NBA championships, an NBA MVP award, 18 NBA All-Star selections, and two Olympic gold medals. But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability.
He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Vanessa, and their family, the Lakers organization and the entire sports world,” Adam Silver said.
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