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  • Obituary: NBA legend Kobe Bryant dies

One day after the tragedy of the helicopter accident in which Kobe Bryant, her daughter Gianna María (Gigi), and seven other people lost their lives, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James said she felt "heartbroken and devastated." for the loss of his great friend and childhood hero .

In his first comments on the death of Bryant, 41, who gave five Lakers league titles, and whose star position after retirement was taken by James, since 2018, the King used the social network on Monday Instagram in its attempt to communicate its pain and the previous personal circumstances that preceded the tragic accident.

Like most of the NBA community in the wake of the tragedy, James struggled to express his feelings in words, but admitted that it was very hard and complicated to do so.

In fact he recognized that he was not ready, but considered that it was necessary to talk about his great "hero", "model" and "friend".

"I'm not ready, but here I go," he began before revealing that he and Bryant had spoken on Sunday morning , just a few hours before the NBA legend, who had been beaten the third mark last night. top scorer in the history of the league (33,643 points), and his daughter, died.

The last conversation

"I literally heard your voice on Sunday morning before leaving 'Philly' (Philadelphia) [the city where Bryant was born] to return to Los Angeles," James wrote. "I didn't think for a moment, in a million years, that it would be the last conversation we would have."

James continued to emphasize how much Bryant meant to everyone and especially to the Los Angeles Lakers fans and community.

"You mean a lot to all of us, especially #LakerNation, and it's my responsibility to put this shit on my back and keep it up!" Says James, 35, in frustration.

Bryant and James' races in the NBA overlapped for 13 seasons, a period in which they combined to reach their respective teams at the end in every year, except two (2005, 2006).

Both joined forces and together won two Olympic gold medals (Beijing 2008 and London 2012).

Two years after Bryant retired in 2016 after 20 seasons with the Lakers, James became his successor when he signed as a free agent with the Angelian team in 2018, having won a title with the Cavaliers in his second stage with the Cleveland team.

Having surpassed him last Saturday as the third top scorer, James now has 33,655 points, Bryant himself was the first to send a tweet to congratulate him and encourage him to continue putting basketball every day at a higher level.

"@Kobe Bryant. Continue moving the sport forward @ KingJames. Much respect to my brother" # 33644, "Bryant wrote.

In his message, James also promises Bryant to keep his legacy, while expressing all the love he professes, and asks him to help him achieve those goals from heaven.

"I would have many more things to tell you, but I can't because of all the distress I find, we will do it until we meet again, my brother," James concludes his message, which closes it with # Mamba4Life and Gigi4Life.

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