Oklahoma’s Trae Young pays tribute to late Kobe Bryant, wears Bryant’s old jersey number

Oklahoma’s own paid tribute to one of basketball’s legends. Trae Young donned the late Kobe Bryant’s jersey number in Atlanta Hawks game.

Oklahoma’s own paid tribute to one of basketball’s legends.

Earlier Sunday, NBA icon Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in southern California. The Los Angeles Lakers’ star has taken many of players younger than him under his wing, and one of those was former Sooners’ star Trae Young.

Young, a member of the Atlanta Hawks, paid tribute to Bryant by donning his old jersey number, No. 8, in the early moments of Sunday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.

Young would later change back into his normal No. 11 soon after.

The former Oklahoma point guard was visibly emotional prior to Sunday night’s game as Young embraced his mom and loved ones after pre-game warmups.

One of Young’s biggest fans was Bryant’s daughter, Gianna Maria (GiGi), who also died in the crash. He announced that GiGi has gone to three NBA games this season—two of which were to Young’s game.

“This S*** can’t be real,” Young tweeted. “This the first moment I was able to meet Gianna Maria. She’s been to only three games this year, two of them were mine. She told me I was here favorite player to watch. I can’t believe this. Rest easy GiGi.”

Young also reflected on Bryant’s impact on him with a tweet soon after news broke.

“All the lessons, all the advice, every word you ever told me will stick with me forever,” Young tweeted. “Thank you Kobe.”