TO MOVE FORWARD NOW THAT THIS JOHN BOLTON BOMBSHELL HAS JUST
ABSOLUTELY SHAKEN WASHINGTON,
BUT, WILLIE, WE HAVE TO START
WITH THE TRAGEDY OUT OF
CALIFORNIA, OUT OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA YESTERDAY.
CALIFORNIA YESTERDAY. IT’S REALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO
OVERSTATE WHAT KOBE BRYANT MEANT
TO BASKETBALL, BUT MORE
IMPORTANTLY, AS WE SAW FROM THE
TRIBUTES COMING OUT AND EVEN
REPORTERS AND FANS ON TWITTER,
WHAT HE MEANT TO AN ENTIRE
GENERATION.
GENERATION. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. I WAS WATCHING THAT CLIP OF KOBE
TALKING TO TIM RUST 20 YEARS AGO
AND HONESTLY CAN’T BELIEVE IT.
IT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO
UNDERSTAND ANY OF THIS.
KOBE BRYANT KILLED YESTERDAY IN
A HELICOPTER CRASH.
WATCH PLAYERS FROM 13 TO 39 IN
THE NBA.
THE NBA. PEOPLE WHO PLAYED WITH HIM, THE
OLDER PLAYERS, THERE WERE GAMES
IN THE NBA YESTERDAY SITTING ON
THE BENCH IN TEARS DURING THE
GAMES.
GAMES. YOUNGER GUYS IN TEARS WHO LOOK
UP TO HIM AND WORSHIPPED HIM.
A GUY LIKE TRE YOUNGAE YOUNG, AT
HAWKS TALKED ABOUT KOBE BEING A
MENTOR TO HIM A GUY ON A POSTER
ON HIS WALL AND GIVE HIM A PHONE
CALL TO HELP HIM NAVIGATE
THROUGH LIFE.
THROUGH LIFE. STUNNING ON MANY LEVELS.
MAINLY BECAUSE HE WAS ON HIS
DAUGHTER ON A HUMAN LEVEL A
FAMILY LEVEL, A YOUNG GIRL,
13-YEAR-OLD GIGI AS KNOWN IN THE
FAMILY, GIANNA, THEY WERE
TRAVELING TO A BASKETBALL GAME.
KOBE WITH HIS DAUGHTER AND HE
TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN TEACHING HER
THE GAME.
THE GAME. SHE LOVED THE GAME OF
BASKETBALL.
BASKETBALL. THERE’S A CLIP THAT WAS
CIRCULATING AGAIN YESTERDAY THAT
I THINK WE HAVE THAT WAS JUST
FROM ABOUT A MONTH AGO.
THE TWO OF THEM SITTING
COURTSIDE AT AN NBA GAME, AND
THERE’S KOBE TELLING GIGI, YOU
KNOW, HOW TO GET BETTER?
BREAKING DOWN THE PLAYS.
HERE’S WHAT YOU DO.
AND TO WATCH HIM GROW FROM THE
18-YEAR-OLD WHO CAME INTO THE
NBA TO BECOME THAT MAN, THAT
FATHER THAT WE SEE RIGHT THERE,
IT’S JUST, IT’S TOO MUCH TO
BEAR, BUT LET’S GET PEOPLE
CAUGHT UP ON WHAT HAPPENED.
THE WORLD, OF COURSE SSHS REACT,
REACTING TO THE DEATH OF NBA
SUPERSTAR KOBE BRYANT KILLED
YESTERDAY IN A HELICOPTER CRASH.
THE 41-YEAR-OLD SUPERSTAR WITH
HIS DAUGHTER GIANNA WHEN IN
PRIVATE CHOPPER WENT DOWN.
BELIEVED TO BE ON THEIR WAY TO A
TRAVEL BASKETBALL GAME.
ACCORDING TO POLICE A CALL FOR A
DOWNED HELICOPTER IN BRUSH FIRE
WENT OUT JUST BRB 10:00 A.M.
AUTHORITIES SAY SEVEN OTHERS
ONBOARD INCLUDING THE PILOT ALSO
KILLED IN THE CRASH.
BRYANT, WHO LIVED SOUTH OF LOS
ANGELES IN ORANGE COUNTY OFTEN
USE ADD HELICOPTER, HIS OWN, TO
AVOID SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC. HE WENT TO GAMES BY HELICOPTER A
PRACTICE HE CONTINUED AFTER
RETIRING.
RETIRING. ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE 1990s
AND EARLY 2000s RACKING UP ELITE
TITLES PLAYING OVER 20 SEASONS
WITH THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS THAT
ENDED IN 2016.
BRYANT NAMED MOST VALUABLE
PLAYER IN 15 OF THE PLAYOFFS HE
PLAYED IN.
PLAYED IN. MVP MANY TIMES.
SATURDAY NIGHT HE TWEETED
CONGRATULATIONS TO LeBRON JAMES
AFTER LeBRON SURPASSED HIM AT
NUMBER THREE ON THE NBA’S
ALL-TIME SCORING LIST.
BRYANT IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE
VANESSA AND THREE OTHER
DAUGHTERS.
DAUGHTERS. LET’S BRING IN BEST-SELLING
AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST MIKE
LUPICACOVERED KOBE BRYANT A LONG
TIME.
TIME. MIKE, YOUR GUT REACTION TO THE
NEWS WE SAW CROSS YESTERDAY,
LOOKED AT A SOURCE AND SAYING,
MY GOD, PLEASE, LET THIS NOT BE
TRUE.
TRUE. SADLY, IT WAS.
>> WILLIE, MY YOUNGEST SON
CALLED ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
AFTERNOON AND HE SAID, DAD, I
THINK KOBE BRYANT DIED IN A
HELICOPTER CRASH, AND THEN, OF
COURSE, YOU’RE SCRAMBLING ON
TELEVISION, SCRAMBLING THROUGH
SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND OUT IT’S
TRUE AND THEN YOU FIND IT IS
TRUE.
TRUE. WILLIE, YOU SPOKE TO IT JUST NOW
REALLY WELL.
REALLY WELL. YOU RESPOND TO THIS AS A SPORTS
FAN.
FAN. YOU RESPOND TO THIS AS SOMEBODY
WHO WATCHED HIM GROW UP, WHO WAS
FAMOUS FROM THE TIME HE WAS A
TEENAGER.
TEENAGER. I’M RELATING TO THIS AS A
COLUMNIST, BUT YOU CAN’T AVOID
THAT HE WAS WITH HIS DAUGHTER,
THAT CHILDREN DIED THIS TIME.
SO MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I’M
RESPONDING TO THIS AS A PARENT,
AND THE MOST HEARTBREAKING
PICTURES I SAW LAST NIGHT WERE
WITH HIM AND GIGI.
HIM STANDING AT PRACTICE JUST
THE OTHER DAY, AND IT’S QUITE --
HERE’S WHAT I’VE BEEN THINKING
ABOUT THIS.
ABOUT THIS. THESE ATHLETES, THESE
CELEBRITIES, AND KOBE WAS AS
FAMOUS OF STARS WE’VE HAD IN
AMERICAN SPORTS, THEY LEAD THE
MOST PUBLIC, PUBLIC LIVES EVER
LIVED IN THIS COUNTRY.
SO EVERYBODY FELT LIKE THEY KNEW
KOBE BRYANT, AND THAT’S WHY SO