Tiger Woods heard of Kobe Bryant's death after his round, had no clue why fans were chanting 'do it for Mamba'
Tiger Woods found out about the death of his good friend Kobe Bryant from his caddie after finishing a round at the PGA Tour event he has been competing this past week.
Bryant, 41, his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others perished after a helicopter carrying them crashed on Sunday morning in Calabasas, California.
Woods, who shared a unique bond with Bryant, was participating at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines that morning and likely got confused when, all of a sudden, the crowd started chanting "do it for Mamba" — Bryant's nickname — as he played. He realized why the chants had been sounding as he walked from the 18th green, with cameras capturing his caddie Joe LaCava informing him that Bryant and eight others had died in a helicopter crash.
The 44-year-old could be heard exclaiming, "Excuse me?" to LaCava after hearing the news, with a clip of the same making the rounds on social media before it was taken down.
When asked about the legendary basketball player's death a little while later, he admitted he "didn't know until Joey just told me coming off the 18th green" and said, "I didn't really understand why people in the gallery were saying, 'do it for Mamba,' but now I understand."
"It's a shock to everyone, unbelievably sad, one of the more tragic days, for me the reality is just kind of setting in because I was just told probably about five minutes ago," he added.
Woods, a long-time supporter of the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom Bryant spent his entire career and won five NBA titles, said he will always "remember the fire" within Bryant and how he "burned so competitively hot and the desire to win."
"He brought it each and every night on both ends of the floor," he said. "Not too many guys can say that throughout NBA history. He'd lock up on D and obviously he was dominant on offense and any time he was in the game he'd go onto their best player and shut him down for all 48 minutes and that was one of the more impressive things I think in his entire career. And then you know, when he ruptured his Achilles and still went to the foul line and made his shots, I mean that's, that's tough."
The golfer spoke about his relationship with Bryant further at a press conference, where he explained how they had become friends.
"We really connected on more the mental side of it, the prep, how much it takes to be prepared," he revealed. "For me, I don't have to react like he does in my sport. We can take our time. But you've still got to pay attention to the details, and that's what he did better than probably."