Former Boston Celtic Jason Terry revealed his own daughter was scheduled to play a basketball game against Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna the day the two perished in a helicopter accident.
Terry, who was part of the deal that would send he, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013, explained in an interview on Fox Sports Southwest how he and his daughter had been invited to participate in the friendly organized by Bryant six weeks ago.
The tournament, dubbed “the Mamba Cup”, was already underway when he arrived with his daughter, having just heard the news.
Jason Terry discusses what impact Kobe and GiGi Bryant had on the growth of the girl's/women's game. pic.twitter.com/WHklFsjm6T
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 28, 2020
“We were to play them Sunday … at noon,” the Arizona product related.
“The news broke at about 11 a.m.,” said Terry. “I was on my way to the gym with my team … The games were still going on. I received a message from my wife who was in the gym already taking her seat as we prepared to go and play against Kobe and his daughter’s team. Just the feeling walking in that gym, I was totally numb.”
“I ran up to the first official I could see and I told them ‘look, there’s no more basketball. We cannot play another game today, Kobe has passed away,” he added.
Bryant was one of Terry’s fiercest opponents as a player, but the two had forged strong ties off the court in the ensuing years. The pair had daughters both involved in playing the sport they loved, and helped create that bond after the duo had moved on from being players themselves.
“[Gianna] was a walking image [of Kobe Bryant],” said Terry. “I watched her shoot one of her last 3-point shots, it was right in front of me and it was the same body mannerisms.”
“She had it, she embodied it and she was the same competitor … It was funny. Before I came to work today, my youngest is in the driveway shooting baskets. My second-youngest now tells me she’s gonna now play basketball. And that’s because of GiGi.”
“They don’t know Kobe. They know GiGi,” he added.
[lawrence-related id=28130,28112,28073,28049]