Remembering Kobe Bryant: Dodgers’ Mookie Betts shares advice Lakers legend gave him

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Friday marks four years since the Lakers legend Kobe Bryanthis daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.

Bryant inspired countless fans and his incredible legacy will always be a part of Los Angeles sports culture.

The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts called Bryant a “real-life superhero” in a 2020 Instagram post. Betts spoke with Eyewitness News about his best memory of Bryant and shared some advice the NBA icon gave him.

“I was struggling and I remember calling him and asking, ‘How were you great the whole time?’ He simply explained to me: “Make someone remember you,” Betts recalled. “No matter how good or bad you do, do something in that game to make someone remember why you are Mookie Betts or Kobe Bryant or whoever.”

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Both NBA coaches in Los Angeles, Darvin Ham of the Lakers and Ty Lue of the Clippers, have ties to Bryant.

Ham was an assistant coach with the Lakers during Bryant’s final years as a player.

“His presence is still felt in many different areas, not just in basketball but in life,” Ham said recently.

“You have to keep in mind that his work ethic was relentless in terms of trying to be the best at everything he touched and the way he branched out. To be able to win an Oscar is crazy. That’s Kobe,” Ham said. aggregate.

Lue was a teammate of Bryant’s early in his NBA career and won two championships with him.

“He gave everything he had to basketball, and that’s how I live my life. I owe everything to basketball, and that’s how Kobe lived his life,” Lue said. “He wanted to be the best, he wanted to be the greatest.”