A day after retired NBA star Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 26, a member of the London Lightning basketball team is reflecting on his own connection to the basketball legend.
Shooting guard Garrett Williamson shares a special connection with Bryant, 41, beyond just wearing his basketball shoes.
Williamson is from Bryant’s hometown of Philadelphia and both attended Lower Merion High School, where he remembers Bryant would visit often.
“It was shocking. It hit me a little harder than I expected,” he said.
“Kobe was like the pulse or the heartbeat for Lower Merion or ACES Nation, so it felt like we lost a brother.”
A helicopter carrying Bryant and eight others was flying in dangerous conditions when it crashed in the hills of Calabasas, Calif. on Sunday.
Everyone aboard was killed, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, as well as community college baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife and daughter.
Williamson said Bryant was an inspiration for him and the other kids growing up in Philadelphia.
“When I was a kid growing up and playing in the same playground as him, the same gym as him, he let you know the impossible is possible,” he said.
“I remember shovelling the court off in the wintertime to go shoot because that what Kobe did, because you just knew he set the recipe for success.
“Every time he came back and met with us, you just felt the fierce competitor.”
Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016 after spending two decades with the Los Angles Lakers. He won five NBA championship rings with the team, and was named an NBA All-Star 18 times.
“I still lace up every game. I only wear Kobe’s; I feel like I carried a bit of him with me,” Williamson said.
The London Lightning, a franchise of the National Basketball League of Canada, issued a statement on their Facebook page Sunday evening expressing their condolences to Bryant’s family and friends.
“We cannot find the words to express the gratitude we have for Kobe and the impact he had on the game of basketball on a global level,” the statement said.
“With broken hearts we want to send our love and condolences to the Bryant family and the families of the other victims who are gone to soon.”
— With files from Kerri Breen, Global News