>> CRAIG, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE’LL BE BACK WITH YOU IN A
MOMENT.
MOMENT. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER AS WE
REMEMBER KOBE BRYANT, THAT
HELICOPTER CRASH INVOLVED
OTHERS, SEVEN OTHERS WHO WERE
ALSO KILLED.
ALSO KILLED. ONE WAS CHRISTINA MAUSER, THE
ASSISTANT COACH FOR GIGI’S TEAM.
AND HER HUSBAND IS JOINING US ON
THE PHONE RIGHT NOW.
MATT MAUSER, OUR HEARTS ARE WITH
YOU.
YOU. THE WE’RE SO SORRY FOR YOUR
LOSS.
LOSS. HOW ARE YOU DOING?
>> I’M KEEPING IT TOGETHER UNTIL
YOU SAID HER NAME.
NOW I’M STARTING TO LOSE IT
AGAIN.
AGAIN. BUT I’M GUESS I’M DOING AS GOOD
AS WE CAN EXPECT.
YOU KNOW, IT’S JUST HORRIBLE.
IT’S HORRIBLE.
IT’S HORRIBLE. SO, YOU KNOW, I GOT THREE SMALL
KIDS AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
HOW NAVIGATE LIFE WITH THREE
KIDS AND NO MOM SO GO AHEAD,
SHOOT.
SHOOT. >> THERE ARE NO WORDS.
YOU KNOW?
YOU KNOW? IT’S JUST WHAT HAPPENED IS
UNSPEAKABLE.
UNSPEAKABLE. >> I HAVE SOME WORDS.
I HAVE A LOT OF FOUR LETTER
WORDS I WOULD LIKE TO USE BUT I
WON’T USE THOSE.
>> HOW DO YOU FEEL?
YOU FEEL ANGRY?
>> THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION.
I’M SCARED.
I’M SCARED. I THINK MORE THAN ANYTHING, I’M
A LITTLE SCARED ABOUT THE
FUTURE.
FUTURE. I’D LIKE TO JUST TALK A LITTLE
BIT ABOUT MY WIFE AND -- IF
THAT’S OKAY.
THAT’S OKAY. >> WE WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT
HER.
HER. YOU KNOW WHAT, MATT, WE’RE
LOOKING AT HER PICTURE WITH YOU
ON OUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW.
AND I’M JUST WONDERING WHAT SHE
WAS LIKE.
WAS LIKE. TELL US ABOUT HER.
>> CHRISTINA, HE DIDN’T CHOOSE
HER FOR ANY ORDINARY REASON.
SHE WAS EXTRAORDINARY.
SHE WAS INCREDIBLY WITTY,
INCREDIBLY WITTY, FUNNY LIKE
NOBODY YOU EVER MET.
SHE COULD IMITATE ANYBODY.
SHE HAD A GREAT EAR.
SHE COULD PICK UP VOICES.
SHE WAS WARM.
SHE WAS INCREDIBLY BRIGHT.
SHE WAS TECH KNOWSAVVY.
SHE COULD FIGURE OUT ANYTHING.
JUST THE OTHER DAY THEY WERE
SHOWING FILM.
SHOWING FILM. I WENT TO PICK UP MY SON AND MY
WIFE PICKED HIM UP ON THE WAY TO
MAMBA PRACTICE.
MAMBA PRACTICE. WHEN I PICKED HIM UP, KOBE
COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE
THE LAPTOP COMPUTER.
SO THEY WERE TRYING TO BREAK
DOWN FILM.
DOWN FILM. HE WOULD BREAK DOWN FILM FOR
EIGHTH GRADERS.
EIGHTH GRADERS. AND HE COULDN’T FIGURE IT OUT.
AND SHE SAID, GET OUT OF THE WAY
AND JUST FIGURED IT OUT.
AND, YOU KNOW, SHE JUST WAS --
SHE WAS WARM.
MY WIFE COULD BREAK YOU DOWN IN
TWO SECONDS.
TWO SECONDS. SHE KNEW HOW TO FIGURE YOU OUT.
THE SHE KNEW PERSONALITIES.
SHE WAS INCREDIBLY DEEP, IF
THAT’S A WORD THAT I CAN USE.
SHE WAS JUST AN AMAZING PERSON.
BEAUTIFUL, SMART, FUNNY, AND I
MEAN HE DIDN’T PICK HER BECAUSE
SHE WAS A SLOUCH.
HE PICKED HER BECAUSE SHE WAS
AMAZING.
AMAZING. AND I WAS SO PROUD OF HER.
SHE WAS SO HAPPY.
WE WERE BOTH TEACHERS.
AND WE MET KOBE -- I MET KOBE
FIRST.
FIRST. I WAS A SPANISH TEACHER AT A
PRIVATE SCHOOL WHERE HIS
DAUGHTERS ATTENDED.
DAUGHTERS ATTENDED. HE WAS INJURED AND HE ASKED ME
IF HE COULD GO ON A FIELD TRIP
WITH ME TO SAN DIEGO.
I SAID, HELL YEAH YOU CAN COME
WITH ME.
WITH ME. AND WE STARTED TALKING.
HE KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME.
HE KNEW THAT I WAS INTO MUSIC.
HE ASKED ME TO SEND HIM MUSIC SO
I DID.
I DID. AND HE ENDED UP HIRING ME TO DO
ALL THE MUSIC FOR HIS CHILDREN’S
PODCAST CALLED THE PUNIES WHICH
I DID.
I DID. AND ALONG THAT SAME TIME WHEN WE
WERE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER,
WE TALKED A LOT OF BASKETBALL.
I WAS THE BASKETBALL COACH THERE
AT THE SCHOOL.
IT’S A SMALL SCHOOL.
YOU WEAR A LOT OF HATS.
AND MY WIFE WAS MY ASSISTANT
COACH.
COACH. AND, YOU KNOW, HE SAW WHAT AN
AMAZING MIND SHE HAD FOR
BASKETBALL.
BASKETBALL. AND HE BROUGHT HER ON.
HE ASKED HER TO TEACH THE KIDS
DEFENSE.
DEFENSE. KOBE DIDN’T REALLY UNDERSTAND
THE ZONE DEFENSE BECAUSE HE
NEVER PLAYED IN HIGH SCHOOL OR
COLLEGE.
COLLEGE. SO SHE WAS AMAZING MIND FOR
DEFENSE AND BASKETBALL.
HE BROUGHT HER ON.
SHE CALLED HER THE MOTHER OF
DEFENSE, MOD.
DEFENSE, MOD. YEAH.
YEAH. I MEAN, LET ME JUST SAY THAT WE
WERE A FAMILY.
THEY ALL REALLY CARED ABOUT EACH
OTHER.
OTHER. I DON’T WANT TO SAY THE NAMES OF
THE PEOPLE ON THE HELICOPTER.
BUT THEY WERE AMAZING PEOPLE IN
THEIR OWN RIGHTS.
I KNEW THEM WELL.
THEY WERE WONDERFUL.
THEY’RE WARM.
THEY’RE WARM. THEY LOVED THEIR KIDS.
AND THEY WERE SO PROUD THAT
THEIR KIDS WERE GROWING AND
BECOMING, KNOW, BETTER
BASKETBALL PLAYERS.
BASKETBALL PLAYERS. HE TOOK THESE KIDS FROM, YOU
KNOW, FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND
JUST MADE THEM GRITTY AND TOUGH.
AND, YOU KNOW, HE WAS DEDICATED.
AND SO WAS MY WIFE.
THEY WERE DEDICATED TO THESE
GIRLS.
GIRLS. SO THAT’S --
>> OH, MATT.
>> THAT’S KIND OF IT.
>> YOU’VE DONE A VERY BRAVE AND
IMPORTANT THING BY SPEAKING
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT’S SO
IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT
YOUR WIFE, CHRISTINA, THE
OTHERS, AND HOW IMPORTANT THE
BEAUTIFUL LIVES THAT THEY LIVED.
AS I SAID, THERE ARE NO WORDS TO
EXPRESS HOUR CONDOLENCES.
I HOPE YOU CAN FEEL THE LOVE IN
OUR HEARTS FOR YOU AND JUST YOUR
FAMILY AND JUST KNOW THAT WE’LL
BE THINKING OF YOU.
>> LET ME SAY.
THIS MY KIDS ARE VERY AWARE AT
11, 12 YEARS OLD.
MY DAUGHTER AND SON, THEY PICK
STUFF UP SO QUICK.
AND THE ONE THING MY DAUGHTER
SAID, BECAUSE WE WEREN’T
WATCHING ANY TV, THEN SHE -- YOU
KNOW, WE HAD A LITTLE SLUMBER
PARTY LAST NIGHT.
EVERYBODY -- THAT’S WHY I’M UP
AT 4:00 A.M.
I HAVEN’T GOTTEN MUCH SLEEP.
SHE SAID, WE WATCHED
"SPORTSCENTER" FOR TWO SECONDS.
AEFR
AEFR AND EVERYBODY IS HOW EVERYBODY
IS MOURNING AND HURTING.
SHE SAID IT WAS NICE TO KNOW
THAT EVERYONE WAS HURT AGO LONG
WITH US.
WITH US. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS ODD BUT IT
DOES KIND OF HELP.
>> OH, MATT.
>> THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
>> THANK YOU, MATT.
OUR LOVE TO YOU AND THOSE LITTLE
BABIES OF YOURS, 3, 9, 11.
WE’RE WATCHING YOU UP IN OUR
ARMS.
ARMS. THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH US
TODAY.
TODAY. WE’LL SAY HER NAME, CHRISTINA
MAUSER.
MAUSER. >> SHE WAS AMAZING.
GOD BLESS YOU GUYS.
>> GOD BLESS YOU TOO.
>> EXTRAORDINARY TO HAVE THAT
POISE.
POISE. >> YES.
>> YES. >> SOMETHING SO MEANINGFUL FOR
HIS WIFE.
HIS WIFE. >> YES.