PHILADELPHIA — Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, 41, died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.
Bryant was the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played his entire 20-year career and winning five NBA championships.
Tobias Harris, former University of Tennessee and current Philadelphia 76ers basketball player, reflected on Bryant’s passing.
“As a kid growing up watching him, I was a Laker fan as a young kid watching Kobe,” Harris said. “Modeling his work ethic inspired my game. When I got to the league, I played against him. We had a couple of conversations in games. This summer I got to go out to L.A., there was a group of like 15 guys, and we were working out with him for like two days, so during those two days I got to talk with him and communicate with him, pick his brain on some things basketball-wise and that for me was like a dream come true.”
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