Kobe Bryant: LeBron James thought Lakers teammates were joking when they told him of NBA star's death
LeBron James, and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers squad, refused to believe that longtime friend and former Olympic teammate Kobe Bryant had died. After hearing the news last month, James led the entire Lakers team in prayer, it has been revealed.
Bryant, 41, his teen daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others died after a helicopter carrying them crashed into a mountainside in Calabasas, California, on January 26.
It was just a few hours after James had passed Bryant to be the NBA's third-highest scorer of all-time in a game in the latter's hometown of Philadelphia. James had played the match sporting shoes that read, 'Mamba 4 Life', paying tribute to Bryant. After the feat, Bryant had taken to Twitter to congratulate James for beating his record and tweeted, "Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother #33644."
James, who appeared to be breaking down and crying after the flight in which the Lakers team returned to Los Angeles that morning landed, revealed to ESPN he led the team on a spontaneous prayer circle after learning about the death.
"It was just off the top of my head, just off the cuff," he shared. "I think it was needed for us to come together and just give thanks to the man above."
"Even though at times we question him and question why he does some of the things that he does, know that he's never made a mistake," he continued. "And just hope that he has his hands on top of [Bryant's wife] Vanessa and the kids at that time, and hope that he continues to watch over all of us. So, I don't know, it wasn't something I thought about. It was something that just kind of came to me, and I said my peace."
While Bryant had not played for the Lakers since his 60-point farewell performance in 2016 and his only former teammate in the current squad, Dwight Howard, had last played alongside him in 2013, the news of his death was met with devastation and denial.
"Dwight tells me, 'Man, Kobe died'," revealed power forward Anthony Davis, who said he was watching a movie at the time. "And he was like, 'Kobe.' And I was like, 'OK, Kobe who? I'm not sure who you're talking about.'
"And he was like 'Kobe Bryant.' And at this time, Bron is still asleep. So I was like, 'Wait, what? How? Like, I need details, like, tell me. And he was like, 'Man, helicopter crash'."
It was Davis who would inform James about Bryant's tragic death, news of which he reportedly refused to believe.
"I just like, start shaking Bron, like, 'Wake up! Wake up!'" Davis said. "I remember the first thing Bron said to me was, 'Man, y'all stop playin' - like, stop playing with me.' And I'm trying to get on the internet. And Dwight, like, you can see him start crying. He was like, 'It's true'."
Everyone on the plane logged on to the plane's WiFi and their worst fears were confirmed. Kobe had died in a helicopter crash in southern California that morning. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel then took upon himself the grim duty of going up and down the plane and informing everyone who did not know yet.
"Everybody was crying," Davis revealed, with another passenger stating there was a "suffocating silence".
"It was just like something that we didn't believe, something that was shocking to all of us."