January 26, 2020 is a date that Los Angeles Lakers and basketball fans will never forget as Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were tragically killed in a helicopter crash.
Since Bryant’s death, the Lakers organization has continued to honor him, and they did it in the best way possible by winning the championship this past October.
With the one-year anniversary of the crash having arrived, all of the feelings that the Lakers felt after his death are returning. LeBron James discussed the emotions he has been feeling, as well as the different ways the teams wants to remember him to help grieve.
“There’s a saying that time heals all. As devastating and as tragic as it was and still is to all of us involved, only time. It takes time. Everyone has their own grieving process, everyone understands everyone individually is different. Everyone is going to grieve differently. How long it takes them to come to grips with it, that’s up to the individual,” James said.
“All you can do as a friend or loved one is to put an arm around someone when they need it. Us being able to remember him, wear the jerseys during the postseason, have the postseason success we had with those uniforms, and we’ve got a lot of guys that wear his shoes still to this day, I’m able to wear the 24 on my finger every night.
“And then when we play in Staples Center you see the (Nos.) 8 and 24 in the rafters, and be able to just carry his legacy on. There’s a lot of things that die in this world, but legends never die. And he’s exactly that.”
James has opened up more and more about his close relationship with Bryant since he passed away, which is cool insight for fans to see as those are two of the best players in NBA history.
ESPN is airing a number of different Bryant-related programming this week for the anniversary, so fans will have even more opportunities to remember and pay tribute to him.
Davis recalls favorite Kobe story
The Lakers’ other star, Anthony Davis, also recently remembered Bryant, telling a memorable story of a time they played against each other when the latter hurt his shoulder and was forced to shoot with his left hand.
Those are the type of things that Bryant will forever be known for, as well as being an incredible husband and father off the court.
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