The city of Los Angeles, basketball fans, and everyone else are still mourning the loss of the beloved Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. He was taken from this world far too soon and his impact will forever bet felt in Los Angeles and the world.
Many NBA players took to Twitter to discuss the tragic loss of Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in the helicopter crash on Sunday. In addition to the NBA players who felt the sting of Kobe’s loss, many members of the Los Angeles Dodgers discussed their experiences with Kobe Bryant, one of them being the reigning NL MVP, Cody Bellinger.
Bellinger discussed the passing of Kobe Bryant and his congratulatory message from one MVP to another with Petros and Money on AM 570 LA Sports:
.@Cody_Bellinger on the video Kobe sent after receiving his MVP award: "That was 15 hours ago that i received this message from him…..
..I haven't watched it since." #RIPKobe ? (@PetrosAndMoney) https://t.co/YkZlzuvAfX
— AM 570 LA Sports (@AM570LASports) January 28, 2020
Kobe Bryant’s personal message on Twitter was one of the Mamba’s final public exchanges in his life and Bellinger knows it. It was a special moment that went viral across social media. Bellinger spoke on it:
“I remember receiving it after I got the award and I was in a car to dinner and I saw the video and I said ‘dang he shouted me out’. I got the news and then I said ‘damn this was 15 hours ago’. I haven’t watched it since because it feels weird.”
As we all mourn, Bellinger is mourning too. Bellinger realizes the magnitude of the final message from Kobe Bryant. Bellinger says he met Kobe on one occasion:
“I met him once in the locker room. It made me feel sick. I couldn’t imagine what people who are extremely close to him are feeling. I felt sick on the plane because it was true.”
Kobe Bryant was an absolute icon across the sports world and Bellinger grew up watching him:
“He was an icon literally everywhere in the world. It’s still so hard to believe. I woke up and realized it was so hard to believe.”
The whole world will mourn the loss of the Black Mamba for quite some time. That sting might never go away for some.
PODCAST: A Tribute to Kobe Bryant