I live not far from Lower Merion High School where Kobe went as a kid and found his first taste of stardom. My nephews go there now and the place was covered in flowers this morning. Philadelphia is reeling a bit from the loss of their powerful son. But I digress…
Much the way that Spike Lee is synonymous with the Knicks, Jack Nicholson is synonymous with the mighty Lakers. Attending games courtside and being unusually animated.
Following the helicopter crash that took Kobe’s life on Sunday, Jack offered these words:
“My reaction is the same as almost all of LA,” the 82-year-old actor told CBS Los Angeles.
“Where we think everything’s solid, there’s a big hole in the wall. I was used to seeing and talking to Kobe that… it kills you. It’s just a terrible event.“
The Oscar winner recalled meeting Bryant at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I teased him the first time we met. I offered him a basketball and asked him if he wanted me to autograph it for him,” the actor joked.
“He looked at me like I was crazy.”
“I sat right behind his jump shot on the left-hand side. I can see him going up and I can tell the first instant if it’s going in,” he said.
“We’ll think of him all the time and we’ll miss him. He was just one of those touched people.”