WNBA star Breanna Stewart is rememberingKobe Bryantas a champion for female athletes.
The Seattle Storm player, 25, appeared onGood Morning Americaon Wednesday to talk about Bryant — who died in ahelicopter crashon Sunday that killed his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others — and his impact on women’s basketball.
Stewart, a UConn alum currently playing for Team USA, called the game “really emotional.”
“Every single player had a story they could share about him, so the news — just like for the rest of the world — was a shock to us,” she said.
On Monday, players and fans in the arena paused for a24-second moment of silence, a tribute to the No. 24 jersey that Bryant, 41, wore for the Los Angeles Lakers. Team USA also took an 8-second violation after the tip as a nod to the other jersey number Bryant wore during his NBA career.
“We just wanna remember the people who lost their lives,” Stewart said during the interview. “It’s tragic. To think there were kids involved makes the situation even worse.”
Gianna Bryant, Kobe Bryant.Allen Berezovsky/Getty
Bryant was on his way to ayouth basketball gamein Thousand Oaks, California with Gianna and seven others when hishelicoptercrashed amid foggy conditions and burst into flames.
Sarah Chester and her daughter, eighth-grader Payton, the head basketball coach at Orange Coast College John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, girls basketball coach Christina Mauser andpilot Ara Zobayanwere identified as the other victims who perished in the crash.
Stewart had the names of Gianna — nicknamed “Gigi” — and her teammates written on her shoe during the UConn game as another tribute.
During her appearance onGMA, Stewart remembered how Bryant was always a supporter of the WBNA and shared how the basketball legend previously reached out to her after she had ruptured her Achilles tendon — a similar injury that he suffered in 2013.
“I got hurt overseas in Hungary and I flew direct from Vienna to L.A. When I touched down, I had a message from Kobe just letting me know that he was here for me,” she recalled. “Throughout the entire rehab, he was just someone in my corner.”
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Before his death, Bryant regularly appeared at WNBA and women’s college games, which brought much-needed attention to the sport. He also founded the Mamba Sports Academy, a training facility dedicated to provide access to sports for girls and other kids.
Bryant notably wanted topass on his basketball knowledgeto Gianna and often spoke about his daughter’s love and talent for the game.
“[Gianna]’s pretty fierce. She loves playing, she loves shooting. She came to me last summer and asked if I would teach her the game a little bit, so she really just started playing, but she picked up things innately,” he toldExtrain July 2017.
The following year, hetold Jimmy Kimmelthat Gianna was confident in her dreams to play for the WNBA.
“[Gianna] will be standing next to me, and [fans] will be like, ‘You gotta have a boy. You and [wife Vanessa] gotta have a boy, you gotta have somebody carry on the tradition, the legacy,'” Bryant said. “And she’s like, ‘Oh! I got this. Don’t need no boy for that! I got this.'”
source: people.com
