Super Bowl LIV paid tribute to late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant on Sunday, one week after he died in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others.
The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs players lined up at the 24-yard line for a moment of silence for Bryant, Gianna and the other victims that lost their lives in the crash: John Kerri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan.
Richard Sherman, cornerback for the 49ers, showed up for Super Bowl 2020 on Sunday wearing a Bryant jersey.
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Sherman was also part of the “Dear Football” segment for Fox’s pregame show as a tribute to Bryant and his letter-turned-short film Dear Basketball.
“We love you Kobe. We love you Gianna. Love always, Richard,” Sherman said.
At a pre-Super Bowl concert, Lizzo preached messages of self-love and pride and took time to celebrate the life and legacy of Bryant, telling the crowd: “I can’t be at the largest sporting event of the year without mentioning the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna.”
“We can’t be at this event and not think of them in our hearts and hold them up and honour them as sports fans, as music fans, as human beings,” she said.
“We have an effect on each other,” she added. “We have to be good to each other. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We don’t know if tomorrow’s promised. So, I want you all to just really dig down deep inside and be good to yourself, be good to your family. If you have any beef with your family, squash that s–t.”
Earlier this week, Lopez and Shakira said their Super Bowl halftime show would remember Bryant.
While rehearsing, Lopez said her boyfriend Alex Rodriguez came to her in tears to let her know Bryant, a friend of his, had passed away. Lopez said Thursday she wanted to send love and support to Bryant’s wife and family.
“We have to love people when they’re here and not wait,” said Lopez “I think about Vanessa as a mom and losing her best friend and partner and losing her child, you know, how awful that must be for her right now, and I just wanted to send the message and praying God guides her through every moment because she has three more babies to take care of.”
Bryant had attended concerts by Lopez and Shakira, the singers said Thursday. Shakira added that they want to honour his legacy during the show.
“Life is so fragile. And that’s why we have to live every moment as intensely as we can,” Shakira said. “And I think we’ll all be remembering Kobe on Sunday. And we’ll be celebrating life and celebrating diversity in this country. I’m sure he’ll be very proud to see the message that we’re going to try to convey onstage.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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