Former LA Lakers star Lamar Odom has posted a lengthy tribute to his teammate and friend Kobe Bryant, following his death on Sunday, January 26.
The 40-year-old uploaded a series of pictures of the pair together, while he wrote about all the lessons he learned from his teammate, both on and off the court.
It comes after Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter died when their helicopter crashed on the way to the Mamba Academy yesterday.
In the heartwarming tribute, Odom said although he has suffered a lot of loss over the course of his life, the only thing he can compare Kobe’s death to is the death of his own son.
‘Even though our relationship wasn’t father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother,’ he wrote, adding: ‘I’m glad I got to be the ying to your yang as far as the locker room was concerned. It was my pleasure.’
Odom revealed how he couldn’t catch his breath when he heard the news, explaining how he immediately thought that if anyone could survive a helicopter crash, it would be Kobe, writing: ‘Somehow he would have jumped out and landed on his feet.’
The former Lakers star added:
I’m sitting here thinking about when we would be in practice scrimmaging and you would start the jump ball off with elbowing Sasha in the chest. Like dude it’s 10:30 in the morning lol.
You think watching him play was crazy, you gotta think in practice if you scored like 8-9 buckets throughout the practice you had a great practice. I’ve seen him knock off 13-14 in a row in practice!!!! I’m still waiting for the media to come out and say wrong report. No way God took my brother this early.
Odom finished off his emotional post by touching on his own near death experience, telling his followers he would rather God had taken him, instead of Kobe.
‘I know I been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself,’ he wrote. ‘When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened. In honor of my brother I’m up at 4am tomorrow to get to the gym! Gigi gone give you buckets!!!! I love you brother.’
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the deaths of those in the tragic helicopter crash.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.