Jimmy Fallon once recalled how Kobe Bryant first met him when he was a rookie with the Lakers at the age of 17, having been selected out of high school. While recounting the tale, Fallon broke down in tears as the world mourned the loss of Kobe, his daughter, and the other passengers who were lost in a helicopter crash in 2020.
Basketball and the NBA weren’t the only things Kobe Bryant had an impact on, and his fan’s and family’s memories of him are still very strong. Tragically, in January 2020, a helicopter crash claimed the lives of the legendary Los Angeles Lakers player and his daughter Gianna. No other city loved the Black Mamba as much as Los Angeles did for Bryant, who was a legend in the NBA. Jimmy Fallon, a well-known TV host, famously narrated a story about his first encounter with Kobe to prove its authenticity.
Shortly after the NBA icon passed away, an emotional Fallon recalled meeting a 17-year-old Kobe Bryant in 1996, the year he joined the Lakers, at a party with a beer shortage. When the party’s host asked if someone could go on a beer run, Bryant offered to go, and Fallon accompanied him. The two drove to a store that was locked, and the man who answered the door informed them that the store only delivered, so he couldn’t sell to them. Kobe was fortunate to have a Lakers ID card, which allowed him to access whatever building in Los Angeles to save the day.
Kobe Bryant and his immortal legacy in the NBA
A legendary player for one of the NBA’s most illustrious teams, Kobe Bryant has amassed an impressive career. He was the league MVP, the Finals MVP three times, and the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. He was an important member of five different Lakers championship teams in the early 2000s. He and fellow Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal won three straight championships (2000–2002) before he turned 23. After experiencing some difficult postseasons in the middle of his career, Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to back-to-back Championships in 2009 and 2010.
Kobe Bryant eventually become one of the league’s most efficient scorers to ever play. In 2003, 2007 and 2008, he won three scoring championships as a result of his remarkable footwork, agility, strength, and shot-making. The 20 seasons Bryant spent with the Lakers are well documented in the legacy and history of the team. Bryant was a member of the 2020 class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s posthumous induction and also part of NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
Nine people were killed when a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, crashed on January 26, 2020, in Calabasas, California. There were no survivors of the disaster, which occurred in overcast weather. Celebrities, political figures, and other athletes paid tribute to him and mourned the untimely death of the star. Basketball games all throughout the world, including those in the United States, observed moments of silence in memory of the Black Mamba and his to-be future basketball star daughter.
Jimmy Fallon reveals his next meeting with Kobe
Since that enjoyable party night, Jimmy and Kobe had been close friends, which made his demise far more heartbreaking. Knowing someone from their modest beginnings makes it more difficult when they depart suddenly when they are at their best. Fallon fought back tears as he described how he and Bryant would meet up and talk about the incident each time they saw one another. He concluded by stating: “Kobe, when we meet again, we’re going on a beer run.”
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