Kobe Bryant had a small circle of true confidants and very few were closer to him than a fellow Los Angeles Lakers legend in Jerry West.
Of course, West was the general manager of the Lakers who made sure the franchise did everything possible to draft Bryant back in 1996 and the two grew very close with West considering Kobe like a son.
With the Lakers set to reveal Kobe’s statue outside of the Crypto.com Arena, everyone is reflecting on the all-time great and everything he meant to them. West spoke with Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times, noting that Bryant had the respect of all of his peers and noting how special the love he had for his daughters was:
“His life was going to be just as successful off the court as it was on the court, because he combined the best elements for all athletes,” West said. “He was well-rounded. I think just his ability to be able to change the direction of his career where if he wanted to promote women’s basketball and opportunities for them in other areas, [he could]. When I watched how all this developed when he was still living, I said to myself that really indicates what kind of person he is also.
“Every once in a while I reflect back to those days and I can see that big smile on his face and I can see how determined he was as an athlete to get to the very top of his profession, which he did. And I think lastly for great, great players is the respect that other players have for you. That’s the only compliment in life and he had reached that status.”
West, 85, paused for a few seconds.
“I’m just looking at a picture of him and his daughter,” he said. “I keep it in a little place in front of me. I see it every day. It’s him sitting on the floor and she’s snuggled up against him. I’m not sure exactly what love is sometimes. I know when you care deeply. I think the most difficult thing for some people is to even show that part of it. But that to me was very special, the two of them together. It’s just tragic that he’s gone. It’s tragic.”
Bryant was truly a one-of-a-kind person and the world lost a true icon with his tragic passing. As West said, Kobe would have surely accomplished everything he planned on doing off the court because of the kind of person he was, he simply wouldn’t have allowed failure to be an option.
There was no one like him and never will be again. Jerry West was impacted like few others due to the closeness of their relationship, but very few would argue with anything that he stated in regards to the true legend that was Kobe Bryant.
Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell discusses what he learned from Kobe Bryant
Only one member of the current Lakers can say they played alongside Bryant and that is D’Angelo Russell, whose rookie season was Kobe’s last. And Russell recently spoke on the biggest thing he learned in that year, and it was not something most would expect.
Russell pointed to not any specific thing Kobe said to him, but rather how he moved and carried himself. The Lakers guard noted that being able to watch the way Bryant handled his business, the way he talked and walked really meant a lot. He even admitted that he didn’t really understand how big of a deal it was at that time, but calls those ‘vivid memories’ of the Lakers legend.
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