#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 1.27.20 RMU: HOF'ers, journalists join world in mourning Lakers Legend @KobeBryant

Episode Date: February 1, 2020

1.27.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: HOF'ers, journalists join world in mourning Lakers Legend @KobeBryant In today's special 2-hour edition of #RolandMartinUnfiltered we pay tribute to Kobe Bryant. We'll look back at his stellar career and talk with people who knew and loved him. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin as she engages others to think like a leader. Register and start the online course today! www.live2lead.com/Leesburg - This is a CALL TO ACTION! On Monday February 3rd and Tuesday February 4th join the CBC for the 2020 National Black Leadership Summit. This call to action was established to mobilize African American participation in the 2020 census, as well as advocate for voting rights and the CBC's legislative agenda. For more info visit http://ow.ly/PpnW50y3EHh Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Thank you. Today is Monday, January 27, 2020, and coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, the world continues to mourn the death of 41-year-old Kobe Bean Bryant, died tragically in a helicopter crash yesterday in Los Angeles. We will talk over the next two hours with Hall of Famers like Elgin Baylor, also Norm Nixon, Laker great.

In addition to a retired NBA player, talk show host John Sally. Also be joined here, a retired NBA player, Etan Thomas. Journalist Mark Spears, Kevin Merida from The Undefeated. And also sports journalist Howard Bryant, Roy Johnson, Jamal Murphy, Kelsey Nicole Nelson, and Jamel Hill.

Folks, people are still reeling from this tragic news, and we'll talk about really what Kobe Bryant meant not only to basketball, but also to the world at large. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filter. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the miss, he's on it.

Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling, best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rolling Martin, yeah, it's Uncle Gro-Gro-Yah. Yeah, yeah, it's Rollin' Martin. Yeah, yeah, rollin' with Rollin' now.

Yeah, he's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. Yeah. Martin. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, © BF-WATCH TV 2021 © transcript Emily Beynon It's been more than 24 hours since folks were stunned to hear the news of Kobe Bryant dying, along with eight others, in a plane crash in Los Angeles as he was on his way to support his daughter in a basketball game. He, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died Sunday in the helicopter crash in the L.A. area. Seven other folks were killed, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Those folks include John Altebelli,

the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, who played baseball at the University of Houston. His wife, Carrie, their daughter, Elisa. Also on board was Peyton Chester, a 13-year-old basketball player, and her mother, Sarah. Also, Christina Mauser, also a coach, was killed, as well as a pilot, Ara Zobalia.

Now, according to Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein, they took off under foggy conditions in Calabasas, California. Visibility was so low Sunday morning that Los Angeles police they grounded their helicopters which normally fly every day. The official cause of the crash has not been determined. The helicopter was operating under special visual flight rules according to an air traffic control conversation which the pilot captured with the pilot that was

captured by the website liveatc.net. This is actually a flight simulation as well as that conversation. 7-2 Echo X-ray, Burbank Tower, Burbank Gale Timber 3019, Burbank Class Charlie, surface area is IFR, stay in tension. If you can, maintain special VFR, special VFR transit on the 101 westbound 2. November 2 Echo X-ray, hold outside Burbank Clash Charlie airspace. I have an aircraft going around.

November 2, Echo X-ray, hold it. It's going to be a little bit. I got a citation on a Niner mile final and then that go around that I just had is going to be turning base to file in about three minutes. Okay, we'll continue holding to Echo X-ray. November 2 Echo X-ray, and for your planning purposes, you can expect to transition to the north side of the airport.

I just spoke with Van Nuys on the line, and they've got multiple IFR departures coming off of runway 16. So you can expect to follow the 5 north and cross that way. and I is on the line and they've got multiple IFR departures coming off of runway 16 so you can expect to follow the 5 north and cross that way. 317 pop up Burbank Tower. You can expect a few minutes. I got a special VFR helicopter I need to get transitioning. He's been holding for about 15 minutes. Now, northwest, follow the 5 freeway. Maintain special VFR condition at or below 2500.

Maintain special VFR at or below 2500 I-5 northbound to EGWIS. Number 2, Echo X-ray, roger. And you're clear to do Burbank Clash Charlie surface area from the southeast to the northwest. Copy that. Maintain special VFR. Copy that to EGWIS. surface area from the southeast to the northwest copy that will maintain especially afar couple two equestries for your transition to camarillo did you just want to follow the 118 118 and then we'll look around van eyes to catch the 101 to equestrian the two echo x-ray roger number two echo x-ray continue following the 5 northwestbound to join the 118 and then Van Nuys will work you through. Radar service is terminated. Remain at squawk.

Contact Van Nuys helicopters 119.0. 2 Echo X-ray switch you to Van Nuys. Van Nuys helicopter 2 Echo X-ray with you for the special via fire transition. We are currently at 1400. Helicopter 72, Echo X-ray, Van Nuys Tower. Wind calm, visibility 2 and 1 half. Assuming 1100 overcast, Van Nuys Altimeter 3016. Cleared into Van Nuys Class Delta. Transition at or below 2500, committee.

2 Echo X-ray, advise in VFR condition and then we'll stay on the 118 telecouncil at 1400. And we have 0235. Telecopter 2 Echo X-ray, thank you. And once you clear Van Nuys Delta, did you want to talk to SoCal? Affirmative, 2-Echo X-Ray. Tower, report 2-Echo X-Ray, can we start, go ahead and start turning to the south-west close to 1-1? Helicopter 2, Echo X-Ray, approved, and are you transitioning in VFR condition? VFR condition, 1500, 2-E Echo X-Ray approved and are you transitioning in VFR condition? VFR condition 1500 to Echo X-Ray.

Helicopter 2, Echo X-Ray, thank you. Contact SoCal now 134.2 for flight following 34-2. 34-2. Echo X-Ray, ident. Echo X-Ray, yeah, you're still on a 1200 code. Are you requesting flight following? Two, Echo X-ray, stay in tension. Two, Echo X-ray, you're still too low level for flight following at this time. Two, Echo X-rays, Ocal.

A witness in an interview with Extra TV talked and described those final moments, what he heard and then what he saw. Here is that conversation. You expected, tell us what you saw, what you heard, and then what you did. I didn't see much. I finished up my preparations for a rehearsal before services, came out to get my earphones in the car. I was standing in the parking lot.

This is about 943. A lot of clouds, very low ceiling deck, and I heard a helicopter coming on a slow left-handed turn probably from the freeway from Lost Hills. And as it got above me, it was almost directly above us in the parking lot are these condominiums here moving very slowly maybe three, four or five miles an hour uh so it was a hover searching hover but I could tell from a sound engineer with sound pressure you could tell it was very the altitude was low so I listened I'd look directly up and I couldn't see it so it had to be up maybe 100 or 150 feet in the cloud deck because I wasn't seeing any disturbance if the helicopter is in a hover.

This rotor watch is going to be throwing a lot of air down. I didn't see any disturbance in the clouds. So I just listened to it. My alarm bells went off because I'm going, this is awfully low. And I knew that we got the terrain over there. We hit it off on an easterly track, went right over the Los Virginians Water District building right there, and still in that little bit of a left-hand turn and about 20 seconds later from when it was here, heard the impact.

What did the impact of the helicopter sound like to you? It was not very loud. You could hear the crushing, collapsing of fiberglass, plexiglass. I did note, the thing that stuck in my mind is is when it impacted, the rotors stopped literally immediately. There was no secondary. The rotors weren't like breaking off and hearing things fly off. It just all stopped. So however the impact happened, it ended very, very quickly. I hope that the occupants didn't suffer because it was very, very quick because it went silent. Just a thump. No explosion in the sky. I was not in a visual standpoint because

the trees in the building. The property manager, Jerry, whom I work with, was standing right over here by the marquee, and he was on the phone talking to somebody, heard the impact, and looked over, and he saw the smoke because he had a visual line of sight. The clouds were low enough that the helicopter went in basically right at the cloud line. He must have just come out of it, but he flew straight, probably straight to the hill. That's why I think he went in rotors first because everything just immediately stopped. And then what did you see after that? Was there smoke?

Were there flames? Once I immediately pulled out my phone, called 911 within 45 seconds. I was on with dispatch. They transferred me to fire department dispatch. I was speaking to them. The sheriffs were already overshot and we're heading down to Mulholland highway and I said they're going too far. It's not at Mulholland It's right here at the water district because I know it's it was flying in an eastern track. It's a lot farther up So dispatcher said I've lived here 50 years and I know each canyon location. He said, I'm glad you know where everything is.

And then within four or five minutes from three different directions, three different fire units, sheriff, search and rescue, all appeared. Thank you for calling 911. Terrible tragedy. I think he was just disoriented. I didn't hear any malfunctions on the aircraft. Apparently, Kobe's helicopter was a twin turbine, so he had power and it sounded like he was in control because it was in a slow.

It's hard to control a helicopter when you're in a hover or slow. You've got to have command of the aircraft. So I think he just was disoriented. He did not know where he was. I mean, I came out here about two hours, 90 minutes after him. It was still foggy. I mean, there was no blue sky. Is that usual to see the kind of weather out there? I met one of the residents who's lived here for 17 years. He said all the time that he's lived here, right in this condo here, he says he's never seen the clouds or the fog so dense or so low. The music director that I worked with was coming up

from Montanito halfway to Malibu from here, four miles away. He said there were no clouds where he was. So apparently we have these local little microclimbs halfway to Malibu from here, four miles away, he said there were no clouds where he was. So apparently we have these local little microclimates, and the property manager who's been here for 10 years says this particular little bowl here has a tendency to generate a lot of clouds and fog from time to time. Thank you for watching. Again, that was courtesy of Extra TV. Of

course, front pages all across the country gave an indication, again, how significant this loss was. This is the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Kobe Bryant dies in crash. Other newspapers, the New York Daily News, a photo of Kobe, but also one with his daughter as well. Also this is the Hispanic newspaper there in Los Angeles that also focused on Kobe Bryant, New York Post, you have Philadelphia Inquirer. This is of course the hometown of Kobe Bryant where he was born. His dad of course played basketball in the NBA in Philadelphia as well. The Los Angeles Daily News. The LA Times also had a special section dedicated to Kobe Bryant today.

This is the Tampa Bay Times. Again, front pages all across the country as media outlets shocked by the news of the death of Kobe Bryant. This, of course, the Wall Street Journal. Very rare, of course, you would have sports stories on papers like the Wall Street Journal make the front page. But Kobe Bryant simply was not an NBA star. It was more than beyond just even NBA legend, was a world icon.

And so folks have been reacting in so many different ways. Yesterday, as news broke of the death of Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers were actually flying back from Philadelphia where they had played. And helicopters captured this video of LeBron James on the tarmac as soon as they landed. Quite emotional because you guys can go and roll a video the night before. He surpassed Kobe Bryant in terms of most points ever in NBA history. And so when you see this video, you'll understand, again, the emotion of LeBron James in terms of his reaction. The players were stunned. He was greeted by folks on the tarmac hugging. You can see him noticeably

sobbing. So many other people. So guys, let me know when that video is ready. I want to introduce our panel joining us in studio, Etan Thomas, a retired NBA player. He joins us. Kevin Merida, of course, he leads the Undefeated, a sports site by ESPN. On the phone line is Mark Spears, longtime NBA writer, who also writes for the undefeated. And so glad to have all of you here. Mark, I want to start with you. You have covered the NBA for a number, a number of years.

You've interviewed Kobe Bryant many times. Can you hear me, Mark? Can you hear me? All right, guys, let me know when we have Mark's audio straight. I'll go to Etan Thomas. There you go, Mark. Okay, now I got you. You've covered the NBA for a number of years. You've interviewed Kobe Bryant on many occasions. Just your thoughts on, again, losing someone of his stature at the age of 41. You know, I haven't really been reflecting much on the basketball part.

I've been reflecting a lot on the person. He was the most unique basketball player I've ever been around. Extremely bright, knew several languages, was thinking about post basketball, after basketball, quick-witted, he thought he'd have a master's degree, even though he wasn't educated. He was just a remarkable, cool person

who made everybody he spent time with feel like they really knew him and were a friend. And he's just, I'm still trying to process this man. I think is not just NBA fans, but the world is and hasn't really like sunk in yet. Kevin Mariner and Etan Etan. I'll go to you. You played in the NBA and I go to All-Star Game every year. And people, I don't think, really understand the reverence that players have for the game's legends in terms of how they treat them, how they receive them.

Every year there's a Legends brunch. The special seating for Legends at the game as well. And so for the public, not really understanding that dynamic. But for you, he was also a peer. Yes. I mean, we were part of the same high school class, class of 96. You know, he went on to the NBA and I went to Syracuse University. And, you know, I saw parts of Kobe Bryant, you Kobe Bryant that everybody else didn't quite see all the time.

You see a lot of players right now pouring out different stories and telling stories of interactions that they had with Kobe Bryant outside of basketball. And of course, you could tell basketball stories all day. But the part that I really loved about him was him as a father. And, you know, seeing him, he coaches his daughter's AAU team and seeing them with his daughters and, you know, that clip where he's next to his daughter at a game and they're like breaking down specific things about the game and she's nodding her head and he's really teaching her. And those are like precious moments. And those are the moments that, I mean, you know,

how, how I feel about the, uh, you know, the, the way that black men are portrayed, especially as fathers, especially black athletes. I wrote a book on fatherhood that you were part of and, and everything that he showed was kind of negating that, that preconceived notion, um, that, that black men are not part of their children's lives. And he showed quite the opposite. And so he was special. He was much more than just a tremendous basketball player that won championships and scoring titles and everything

like that. That's all great. But him as a human being and a father and a husband, he was special. Kevin, from a media standpoint, you see this reaction. And I said this yesterday, probably the last major sports figure in terms of someone on that level. You've seen other athletes who've actually passed away.

I would dare say it's probably Dale Earnhardt. But even him being a NASCAR driver, one of the greatest in NASCAR history, this is on a whole different level. And Richard Jefferson said this. I totally agree with him yesterday. He said the passing of Kobe Bryant is on the level of when Michael Jackson died, when Prince died, when Whitney Houston died, when John Lennon was killed. Well, look, basketball has become globalized. You know, the NBA has been very successful in moving that sport elsewhere. Obviously, it has a good, had a good tradition in Europe, but they brought European players to the NBA and it spread into China and Africa

Basketball League was about to start. And so Kobe came of age in that era. He's also part of another really important phenomenon is the high school athletes going to the pros. He was right at the cusp of when that took off with Garnett and then him and Tracy McGrady who gave another moving testimony and we saw a young player succeeding at a very young age. You know, he was the youngest player to ever play in the league. And I think that people came of age with Kobe Bryant. And it's interesting because, you know, you play in the profession for 20 years and his accomplishments, five championships and, you know, 18 All-Star Games and all these things are fantastic.

But 20 years, he leaves that sport and by most standards of careers is still a pretty young man. But he became an elder statesman in his sport. And so there was the opportunity of people both to come of age with him and then observe him making that transition as an elder statesman at the young age of 41? On the night before he was killed, LeBron James, as I said,

surpassed him in terms of on the all-time scoring list. This is LeBron talking about Kobe Bryant on Saturday night. When I was a kid, when I was in high school, I was growing up through the ranks.

When Kobe came into the league, he was, you know, it wasn't a dream of mine to come straight, you know, from high school at that point in time to the NBA. But I was like, wow, a 17-year-old, 18-year-old kid being able to make that leap, that's pretty damn cool. And as I started playing more ball and I was going into high school, the things that he was doing on the floor, I admired and wanted to be a part of. I went to ABCD camp, and he came and talked to all the kids that was there, and I happened

to be one of the kids that was there. And I was just listening. I was just trying to soak everything up I could. And I remember one thing that he said. He was like, if you want to try to be great at it or want to be one of the greats, you got to put the work in. There's no substitution to work. And I was a 15-year-old kid at that camp. You can actually find the footage of him uh him at that

camp um and in 2001 i believe um i was playing in new jersey and the all-star game if i'm not mistaken y'all could correct me it was in philly right yeah that saturday uh me and maverick drove to the intercontinental downtown philadelphia um and he gave me a pair of his shoes, which I ended up wearing, um, that following night, it was the red, white, and blue Kobe's. I was a 15 and he was a 14 and I wore them anyways. Um, and I sat and just talked to him for a little bit. He gave me the shoes. I rocked them in a game. Um, and it was the same night that we played, uh, Oak Hill against Mello. And then I saw what night that we played Oak Hill against Mellow. And then I saw what he was able to do the very next night winning MVP here

in Philly, that following night. As I got drafted, I still just admired him, seeing what he was able to accomplish winning championships, being early in his career where you know He learned from the misses that he had against the series against Utah and he just used that as motivation and got better and better and better to him winning multiple championships and continued to admire him throughout my high school rank and And then as competitors Just seeing the work ethic,

the work ethic that he put into the game, he had zero flaws offensively, zero. You backed off of him, he could shoot the three. You body him up a little bit, he can go around you. He can shoot the mid-range. He can post. He can make free throws. He had zero flaws offensively. And that's something that I admired as well,

just being at a point where the defense will always be at bay, where they can't guard you at all offensively, where you just felt like you was just immortal offensively because of your skill set and your work ethic. We take it down to 2008 when we become the redeemed team, and it was a dream come true for me to be able to line up alongside of him. Just admiring him for so many years and him seeing him from afar and then being able to be in practices with him and, you know,

me watching and learning. So, I mean, it's just too much. It's just too much. The story is just too much. It doesn't make sense. And just to make a long story short, now I'm here in a Lakers uniform in Philadelphia, where he's from, where one of the first times I ever met him, gave me his shoes. He won an All-Star Week.

It's just surreal. It doesn't make no sense, but the universe just puts things in your life and when you I guess when you live in the right way or you just given everything to whatever you're doing things happen organically and it's not supposed to make sense but it just happens and sorry and I'm happy to just to be in any conversation with Kobe being Brian one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play, one of the all-time greatest Lakers. The man got two jerseys hanging up in Staples Center.

It's just crazy. Kobe actually posted a tweet, continuing to move the game forward, King James, much respect, my brother, number 33644 yet not even 12 hours after those remarks by LeBron James. This was actually LeBron James on the tarmac yesterday as they landed in Los Angeles. It was it was it was it was it was stunning. Eton to just to see the reaction from so many players. For a lot of the guys yesterday, they said, I don't know why I even played this game. You saw Trey Young, how he responded, became very good friends with Kobe Bryant.

He was his daughter's favorite basketball player, and he talked about the lessons he learned from Kobe Bryant. You had Austin Rivers who played for the Clippers and how he talked about the game. The Rockets played yesterday at the Denver Nuggets. Many people on social media were saying they were very surprised that NBA did not cancel games because just, I mean, Tyson Chandler who who played with Kobe Bryant, with the Lakers, who's now with the Houston Rockets, and it was just emotional just through, I mean, sitting on the bench, just shedding tears. I think people forget that you guys are humans. Right.

I think people forget that emotions are real. Loss is loss. Yes, they definitely do. And, you know, it's interesting seeing people's reactions because they don't understand. I mean, as you see different NBA players telling personal stories about Kobe, you know, I had my own.

I mean, after my heart surgery, you know, while I was here with the Wizards, he came up to me right before he played the Lakers right in the Verizon Center. And as soon as he saw me, he made a beeline right to me, gave me a big hug. You know, he said, hey, I've been praying for you. You know, as soon as I heard that you were having heart surgery, you know, I haven't stopped praying. You know, and I was just like, wow, I appreciate that.

You know what I mean? But everybody's telling these different stories because then you have people outside of basketball that have another view of Kobe. And that has been spilling out now as well. And it's interesting because, you know, you understand social media. You understand people bring up bad things at the worst times and things of that nature. But my response to that was like, it's only been 48 hours yet. Give the family a chance to breathe first before you start bringing up all the negatives and all the things that you don't like about him and different things in his

past. And I've seen that on people outside of the NBA. Not in the NBA. People who knew him and had contact with him and were affected by him and who he had impact on their lives, but outside of the NBA. And it's an interesting thing, but you want to tell people it's okay for you to be

human sometimes. You don't have to do things for clicks and likes and things like that. Let the family breathe for a little while. Let them grieve. And Kevin, look, as journalists, people, when folks pass, to individuals who have brought up the sexual assault trial that Kobe Bryant went through. Folks have been, you know, tweeting out those stories. Others were saying absolutely, but bodies hadn't even been recovered before you can bring those things up. And so what's also, I think, interesting also about this is that, to Etan's point,

people from the outside have a totally different perspective. There's a commercial of all the haters of Kobe Bryant, and Nike put this out where he was sort of just encouraging them, I want to pull it in a second, to continue to sit here and yell at him. But again, that's from a fan standpoint. But it's also when you don't understand, you know nothing about that person. You know nothing about,

I mean, you've never had a conversation with them. You don't know anything about their history and their past. And I do believe that when someone dies, especially when someone dies, especially when someone dies at the age of 41, you be-when you begin to hear these things, it gives people a totally different perspective on a person's humanity beyond what we think we know.

Yeah. Well, look, we-we-we are... The American culture is one of celebrity. You know, we-we celebrate celebrity. And-and while, yeah, there-there are gonna be some people The American culture is one of celebrity. We celebrate celebrity. And while, yeah, there are going to be some people tweeting out stuff, I think the preponderance of outpour is really the remembrance and the celebration of Kobe. And I think that is classic for how we are as a culture.

I mean, even if we don't know people, we think we know them. We have some moment. We were at a game. We remember something. We're shocked by death. And, you know, you brought up Dale Hernhardt, but, you know, I was, you and I both know Roland in politics, you know, JFK Jr., Princess Di, other major deaths that had the world galvanizing around them and everybody processing these public figures, even if they were many, many miles removed from them and no personal contact.

And I think that's just our nature. Sometimes you can over-celebrate people. You can glorify them in life greater than they are in death because, you know, you can't get back death. You know, death is the end, right? And so I think there is a tendency to want to really give people their due and ensure. You know, precisely because we have social media, yeah, there's going to be some people say, well, wait a minute, let's not forget this.

But you can imagine if Dr. King had died today in this age, there would have been an amazing outpouring of what he stood for and everything. But there would have been other people that would have mentioned other things. And we can most recently talk about Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali died a month after we launched at The Undefeated. It was really our first trial by fire of our platform. And I thought we did an excellent job of bringing every single dimension in.

Because people of that magnitude are worth complexity. They were complex. And they're worth not just looking at through one lens. Because we all have multiple identities, not a singular identity. And just as there were a lot of people, going back to Ali, everybody were talking about how courageous he was. And some of the same people who, at the time when he was being courageous, people were saying he was a traitor to the country. So a lot of times people come full circle in death with their opinions when those opinions didn't exist in life. And I just think that overall what we know is death is hard to stomach. And

it's hard when you've suffered it in your personal life. I'm sure all of us have. I know I have. And you struggle, you grieve differently. But when it's a public death, it's really hard because there's this tendency to want to say something and to feel like that person is part of you because they took up a space

in your life. Kobe is one of the greatest athletes. He's going to go down not only one of the greatest basketball players, one of the greatest NBA legends, but one of the greatest athletes to He's gonna go down not only one of the greatest basketball players, one of the greatest NBA legends, but one of the greatest athletes to play a team sport. I think when you begin to, and we're seeing this, a lot of people, and I remember all the stories,

when Kobe was playing, and the stories of he's moody, he's selfish, he wants to be the star, the whole deal, the back and forth between him and Shaq, even just a few months ago. I mean, people talk about jealousy and fighting and all those different things. And now all of a sudden, Etan, what's interesting is

people really trying to understand what it means to want to be great. And I think back, I think back when Tiger Woods went through his travails in 2009. And I remember being on television, being on CNN, and people were like, Tiger needs to change, and he needs to talk to the fans more. And I said, let me be real clear.

I said, I don't watch Tiger Woods on Sunday to see him talking to fans. I said, we are going to measure Tiger by do you win? And I think, you know, now people are seeing this, what happened, the viral clip that went out with him talking basketball with his daughter. I just, it irks me to some degree when people don't understand greatness. They don't understand what it takes. I'll tell you this story. Jeffrey Osborne Golf Tournament, it got washed out a few years ago. And so, I mean, just massive storm came through.

And so we're sitting at the table. And one of those moments where you wish there was a camera. Now, I probably had 10 of them with me. But to my right was Ahmad Rashad. Sitting next to him was Eddie LaVert. Sitting next to Eddie LaVert was Barry Bonds. Sitting next to Barry Bonds was Sugar Ray Leonard. And it was me sitting right here.

And we're talking about greatness within our disciplines. And so Eddie is talking about just the intricacies of singing. And then Ahmad is talking about what it requires to be a top wide receiver who should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And then Barry is talking about what it means to hit a ball. And then Sugar Ray is talking about boxing.

And I'm talking about media. And so they're asking me about, okay, well, but how did you do that when you're on television? Then I'm sitting and talking about it. And so it was just this amazing conversation that Barry said something was amazing. He said, I can teach you two out of ten things to make you a good hitter. I can't teach you all ten. I just can't. I have all ten. I can only teach you two out of ten things to make you a good hitter. I can't teach you all ten. I just can't. I have all ten. I can only teach you two. And it was just, and now people are seeing how Kobe

thought and then what drove him and how he saw things. And people at his level, with no disrespect, simply see it in a totally different way than other people. Well, I definitely agree. But the thing about it is, is that a lot of people just didn't know Kobe. They knew what they thought they knew. So they thought they knew him and they thought, OK, well, I heard he is this or I heard he is that. And that's what people can say that about any of us. You know, I heard Roland Martin is this, this and this. You know what I mean? Oh, I heard that Kevin is this, this, this, this and this. But they don't know you. Right. They have no idea about you at all. And that's what you're seeing with Kobe. You're having all these people saying all these

different things right now, though. It hasn't even been 48 hours after his death. His family is still there in mourning. They were still trying to discover the facts as far as, you know, how many people were on the plane. Right, because initially it was five. Right. And then with the news conference, then we found out the manifest was nine. Right, right. Oh, my God.

Then initially it was his four daughters were on the plane. No, it wasn't. Then Rick Fox was on the plane. Right. Then he wasn't on the plane. Right. I find Twitter like, yo, media people, chill the hell out. I can wait.

And that's my problem because then in the middle of all of that, now you want to have a conversation about his failures, about his shortcomings. You know what I mean? I just don't think that's the time to have that conversation. Now, if you want to have the broader conversation down the line and examine him totally, that's different. But right now, it's like just give the family,

and with TMZ reporting it before the family is even notified, that's a whole different issue that I have a problem with. You don't have to be the first person to report something all the time when you're dealing with death. Now, I understand breaking news, and you want to be, I understand that part, but with death? So the family has to find out by you reporting on it that they're family members. I think that's just, there's something wrong with that. So to have that conversation when all of that is going on and you want to bring up the person's past and the things that you don't like about them

and the criticisms and things of that nature, I think that's just inhumane. I do. I also think, Kevin, this thing is hitting, I think it's hitting differently, obviously, because he dies on a helicopter crash with his daughter. And then we find out the other people on the plane as well. And I think when a child dies,

we certainly look at it differently. And for the general public, we really were, folks were really introduced to her just a few weeks ago when they saw that video because since he retired, he hadn't gone to any games. He only started going to Lakers games this year. Right, because of her. And so I think that also plays such a role

in how people are reacting to this. This is a video, of course, them at home, and he's playing basketball with her. And remember, he has a total of four daughters. But this was the one who, and he would tell this story. He told it on Jimmy Kimmel, which was pretty funny, when people would say, man, you know, when are you going to have a son who is going to care for the legacy? And she would go, hey, hey, I got this. And now we find out just a month ago that he had already filed to get the trademark to Mamacita.

Yeah. No, I mean, look, I think kids are, they're precious, right? You know, precious in God's eyes and in ours, right? I mean, I think that, you know, we, you know, our heart breaks a lot for the loss of children. And he, those scenes of him with his daughter and teaching his daughter, you know, go back to what you said, Etan, about men and daughter, black men and their kids. You know, it's just so, it makes the loss even greater, right? And she, you know, was developing, right? And she was good, right? And so, you know, it's, going back to that thing you said about greatness,

which was sticking with me, I wish I could have been at that conversation. Dude, it was crazy. But I do think that there's so much greatness, and I'm an admirer of it. You know, I don't care if I'm in a jazz concert and I'm watching somebody. I don't care if it's Cyrus, Chestnut, or whoever, and I'm watching the keyboards and just thinking care if it's Cyrus Chestnut or whoever, and I'm watching the keyboards and just thinking, how did they create that? And it's a thing that I think we all in our professions

and disciplines, even if you do the thing, I'm reading some work and say, man, that's just some beautiful paragraphs. And you're just trying to absorb how does you, how does a person become what they become in their discipline. One of the things that people have mentioned about Kobe was just that fierce competitiveness. And then you're combining whatever talent, God-given talent he has with that ability to hone and sharpen and think that talent and be competitive, that edge. You know that from being in the league, that extra bit of thing that you will yourself,

that lack of fear. They played that clip many times where Matt Barnes, him having a little bit of a skirmish, and Matt does the ball like that and Kobe doesn't flinch. And just that sense of no fear here, you know? And you know in basketball, in any profession, this is great, people are going out making 99 straight free throws when they're in the gym with me.

But then in a high-pressure environment, you know, whether it's an NCAA tournament game, NBA finals, and that they're not able to perform like that. And so a lot of what he was able to bring was that sense that, you know, I got this. I can win. That confidence. And you know that better than me. I want to do this here.

To that point, this is a Nike commercial. They were going to bring in Mark Spears. He had to jump off, but he's actually back with us. So I want him to speak to that about Kobe Bryant. And so this was a Nike commercial they put together dealing with Kobe Bryant and his haters. Hmm. Kobe Bryant and his haters. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant.

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Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant. I've been hating you Too long To stop now You're retiring But you want to be free My hate was growing stronger

As you became a habit to me Don't make me stop now to me I hate my life. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop.

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Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. Don't make me stop. came into the league who said from the beginning, I, when this is all over, I want to be one of the absolute greatest and I want to be even greater than Michael Jordan.

People said he was nuts, but that's what drove him. Yeah, he's, that was great, man. and it's funny because they always say when when the players told that he sucks that means they're great you know you don't leave that for no average player um just that every time he showed up you thought you'd see something special. Like that game when Kobe had the 81, that Lakers team was trash, man. It wasn't a good team. But people kept going to the games because you never know, hey,

what is Kobe going to do? What is Kobe going to do? It was always about what is Kobe going to do? What is Kobe going to do? It was always about what is Kobe going to do? In the city of Los Angeles known for entertainers, actors, singers, Fred Astaire, Denzel Washington, Jack, I think he's the greatest entertainer they ever had. He was a man that was able to bring Hollywood out of Hollywood into downtown or to Inglewood. You think Kobe was greater than Magic Johnson? You think Kobe was greater than Magic? Well, I think Magic is the greatest player of all time.

You just said that, so I just wanted to make sure. But I do think he was loved more than Magic. As hard as that is, I don't know that there was a politician, a singer, an actor, Michael Jackson included, every actor included, Magic included, Kareem included, Shaq, that I think that city loved more than him.

You've got to really love somebody to hate LeBron James when he comes in. I think the Lakers fans love him so much that they felt guilty loving one of his rivals, which shows you how much they love him. The outpouring of people at Staples Center, the memorials around the world. And it's not just basketball. You see it in soccer. The Sports Center, Sky Sport of England. All they're talking about is Kobe today. They're not talking about soccer.

In China, memorials. Not many people can influence the world. Kobe was going to China and going to India and going to Europe before other players. He was just ahead of the world. Kobe was going to China and going to India and going to Europe before other players. He was just ahead of the game. He made the world love him. He's probably the only player in China more popular than Yao Ming. I truly believe in my heart that this is the most popular entertainer to ever be in Los Angeles. And the outpouring of love, the reason why you're talking about him today, the reason why why you're talking about him today,

the reason why the world is talking about him today is because of how great he was on and off the court. Journalist Jamal Hershey joins us right now. Jamal, welcome to World of Markets Unfiltered. Thank you for having me. Just your initial reaction to losing Kobe Bryant at the age of 41? I mean, you know, it was devastating, as you guys have said. You know, I think really the commercial you just showed kind of sums it up

in terms of him having all those haters, and he had haters because he was so good at what he did and he was brash. But it brings to light what we're going to miss in the second act of his career or his second career. Because I felt like, you know, I started to like him even more after he was retired. And he started to speak out on social issues like he had never done as a player because he was so focused as a player. You know, he praised Kaepernick for what Kaepernick was doing. He tweeted out against Trump. These are things that he didn't do as a player.

So, you know, if you weren't a Lakers fan, you might have hated Kobe. But as, you know, in retirement, I think you start to appreciate him as a person more. And I'm just sad that we won't get to see that that stage of his career you know i'm glad you brought that up so um i probably when um i know when i was in dallas and i covered dallas maverick games uh i crossed paths with kobe bryant never took a picture i mean so probably the interview whatever um but kobe and i did have a conversation so 2000 everyone probably might remember um in 2014 the new yorker did this article on kobe bryant and he made some comments about the Miami Heat and the photo that they took in hoodies paying homage to Trayvon Martin and a lot of folks don't realize that I've

been obviously one of the one of the voices who actually was pushing national media to make this a national story was communicating directly with Dwyane Wade and others saying, it's important to do something. And then it was after that D-Wade hit me up, thanking me for pushing this issue and pushing players. So when I saw the comments, I then said, because the year before, Jim Brown had made some comments about Kobebe bryant not understanding

african-american culture and i think i put some tweet some tweets out and i said yeah i remember what jim brown said he was right about kobe and i said it was a couple of tweets that i put out so i'm in boston i think i had spoken at mit and i'm at the airport and my phone rings and it's Kobe Bryant. And I'm sitting there like, I don't know how in the hell he got my number. And I think what happened was he hit me where people call my office. And my folks did not tell me,

but they told me later, call my office, got my phone number. And so he calls me. And he wants to talk about my comments. Now, here's the deal. I ain't scared of nobody. I've written and went after Oprah. I've hit all

kind of people, so I'm like, okay. Like, you ain't the first celebrity I've hit. And so we had this, it was probably about a 20-minute conversation as I was in the flight was boarding, but I got on last that he finished his conversation. And it was, it was a really interesting conversation of back and forth because, uh, I shared with him exactly why I felt he was wrong in his comments. And he talked about how he felt that, uh, his comments had been

taken out of context. And then I explained to him, I said, well, this is also why you need to understand when the writer is writing, they control what all comes out. And it was this really interesting conversation. And so and he said, hey, hopefully we can get together next time you're out in L.A. And Mark Spears, it bothered me that. And the crazy thing is, literally the last two weeks, when I went to Ghana, both of my phones got wet. And I realized my cell phone was not backed up. It was a bunch of numbers that I didn't have,

or a bunch of numbers that I lost. And I was just checking different names to see if I still had their number. And I checked to see if I still had Kobe's number. And in the last two weeks, I literally said, you know what, we never connected. That was the only conversation we had. I had his cell phone number the whole time.

I may have sent him a text or two, but we never connected after that. But it was interesting to me, Mark, that he wanted to have that conversation directly with me and he and he would have had it with you and my trick is i always ask for emails because them dudes change their phone numbers very true very true and i want my bosses there kevin barrett i want him to hear this. I was actually going to email Kobe today in hopes of getting an interview in the next couple weeks or next month or so about the Hall of Fame.

Because he's going to make the Hall of Fame, and that's going to be another emotional moment when he gets into Springfield in late August, early September. And I just wish I would have sent that message earlier just to have a last interaction with him I often talk to him via email and as I said he's a guy that cared about you as a person he actually I sent him an email when I got the job at the undefeated and he knew some of my frustrations before and he's like look congratulations and bring what you're capable of bringing i felt like he was my coach you know and he was good of

bringing things out of people and learning uh who he was going to meet and beforehand and making them feel comfortable and um anybody that met him and got time with him, you guys know what it's like when you talk to celebrities and they're just passing by and just shaking hands and kissing babies. He hugged you. He gave you a moment.

He asked you about you. I remember seeing Muhammad Ali doing autographs in Louisville, Kentucky for 90 minutes. I always remember Kobe Bryant giving every person that he met with after a game time, energy, asking them about themselves. It wasn't all about him. And I think a lot of athletes can learn from him, entertainers, singers, people. Jamal, you mentioned what he was doing now. And that's also, I think, also one of the saddest things

is that we now don't get to see the second act. He was really focused on his media company. We talk about the Oscar, but also they had just put out a line of books, a studio he was developing because he also understood how vile it was in terms of who controlled the storytelling. And I think if you look at what he's doing, what he was doing,

and what LeBron is doing with media, what Kevin Durant is doing, it's amazing how this generation of basketball players really understand. I mean, stuff that Etan, that you're doing as well with media, they understand the power of controlling the narrative. Yeah, no question about it. And, you know, Kobe especially, he was very careful with what he said to reporters. You could tell he was guarded, as a lot of great players are. And, you know, for him, and you could tell, once he was retired, he opened up and he decided to tell his story more.

And, you know, he brought his daughter into the mix in terms of opening up and allowing people to see what she was doing and that she was going to carry on his legacy. And he was very hands-on with everything he did. So yeah, it's clear that he was trying to take control of his own narrative and write his own story in the second half of his, you know, in his second career. And like I said, I mean, he had a great, great career with the

Lakers, five championships, an MVP, scoring titles. But personally, I feel like he could have been that and more, you know, after his career, this next career here. I'm just so saddened to know that we're not going to see that second act because the beginning of it was so promising. Um... Etan, Tracy McGrady, um... said on ESPN that... Kobe said he wanted to die young. That he wanted to be immortalized.

That he wanted to be known in even greater terms than Michael Jordan. It is still interesting to me that he had this fixation, I guess, akin to Ali saying, I'm the greatest, of wanting to be known as the greatest. Well, you know, wanting to be the greatest and then working to be the greatest are two very different things.

And he worked to be the greatest. When you talk to different people who played with him, you know, we talk about his unbelievable work ethic, how they would have, you know, these long two-hour practice or training camp, and he would come right back for a third practice, you know, after two days because he wants to perfect something else. You know, I played with Michael Jordan for two years. So, you know, then after playing with Michael Jordan and seeing Kobe,

I was like, wow, he really patterned his game after him for real. You know what I mean? So much to where, how he walked, how he talked. Like it was, it was weird when you, when you're with somebody every day and you see somebody else that looks just like them and moves like them is, is kind of eerie, but you know, that's who he was. But I wanted to mention something back to what you, what you said about the activism. Um, I, I do a lot of work lot of work with Emerald Garner, who is Eric Garner's daughter, and interviewed her in my book, We Matter, Athletes and Activism. And she talked about what it meant to her to see Kobe Bryant wear the I Can't Breathe shirts

after her father was murdered. And she said not only just him, but the entire Lakers team. She's talking about how much that meant, because a lot of times people will say, well, what is wearing a t-shirt? Is that really activism? What does that really do? You know what I mean? They were people who were trying to downplay what current athletes are doing in the realm of activism. But when you talk about the people who they're wearing it for, like the family members of Eric Garner, she talked about how she felt that they were finally heard, that somebody

was speaking out for them, that somebody was there, you know, representing them and saying that this isn't right. And she talked about how, you know, you have your loved one murdered and then you go on TV and then you look on TV and see everybody justifying why he deserved to die. So having an athlete coming out and saying, no, he did not deserve to die, and taking a stand like that, how much it meant something. And she talked about that with Kobe Bryant specifically. Kevin, I don't think people also understand, like, stuff that LeBron has done,

he's done a lot of stuff, and people say, well, you know, Kobe started, issued with homelessness and other issues. He started doing it after his career. Because I don't think they understand that when you have a quest to be the greatest in your career, it's a laser focus. I mean, there are videos where he's talked about

why he was flying in helicopters. Because he also was talking about the amount of time he would be sitting in traffic and know how he wanted to go pick up his daughters from school. Because every 15 or 20 minutes he can have with them, he, he, he, it was precious to him. You know, and so when you talk about activism, look, the greats retire at 35, 36.

Basically what he's saying is there are things I can do the greats retire at 35, 36. Yeah. Basically, he's saying there are things I can do after my career is done. And so that's why when people are all of a sudden they say, oh, I didn't realize he was doing that and that and that because that was a fixation on I need to be completely focused on my career if I want to be great and that I can do those things

when my playing days are done and look I I think you he made in the same way he studied the game I mean the time mentioned uh studying Jordan you can see the pattern of gamers is you might have seen this video that was being recirculated that that is edited to show Kobe shots, fadeaways, moves, and then Jordan. And it looks like you're watching the same, exact same player. And the same way as he went in the media, he's studying other people. You know, he's studying writers and filmmakers.

He wants to learn the craft that will give him the inspiration and also the knowledge to be great in that next realm. I mean, you know, to win an Oscar after like two years after you started doing it, and even if it's just about getting with the right people, you know, to be able to make your animation, it shows a certain kind of precision and intellect. And I remember watching Deer Basketball. I think the first time I saw it was performing live. It was live, showing with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra.

And it was just the notion of seeing this animated thing and the orchestra playing it live. And it was like a high-level execution, you know, just the thinking about it from an athlete's standpoint. And here is a trailer of that. Let's go ahead and play it. All right, guys, let me know when we have the trailer of that Oscar-winning short ready. In the meantime, folks, I do want to share with you, there have been so many reactions from people,

especially a lot of players. Dwayne Wade initially posted a tweet saying, no, don't let this be true. And then he posted this video of his reaction once it was confirmed that his good friend, Kobe Bryant, had died in a helicopter days in my lifetime. It seems like a bad, like a bad dream. You just want to wake up from. It's like a bad dream that you just want to wake up from. It's a nightmare.

I know we all feel the same way about such a great leader, just a great champion, just a great person. If you got a chance to know Kobe, you got a chance to really know Kobe. Ain't nobody better, man. Emotions are all over the place. These are the moments when you ask why. Here's a video of the greatest score in NBA history, the great Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

It's very difficult for me to put in words how I feel about the loss of Kobe Bryant. As a young boy, I met him when he was 11 or 12 years old. I was friends with his dad, Joe. We were former adversaries. Joe played for the 76ers, but he was a good friend and someone that I shared a friendship. And it's hard for me to understand now how this is affecting Joe and his wife. So to Kobe's family, I want to send my most sincere and heartfelt regrets and prayers, and my thoughts are with you guys. Kobe was an incredible family man.

He loved his wife and daughters. He was an incredible athlete and a leader in a lot of ways. He inspired a whole generation of young athletes. He was one of the first ones to leave high school and come to the NBA and do so well dominating the game and becoming one of the best scorers that the Los Angeles Lakers has ever seen. I had the privilege of being there when he scored his 81 point game and it was something that I will always remember as one of the highlights of the things that I have learned and observed in sports Kobe my thoughts are with you absolutely

rest in peace young man this loss is it's just hard to comprehend go with God uh here are some of the tweets that were also posted. First off, by the Hall of Fame. We can pull those up. First of all, like I say, so many people have been posting videos, have been posting photos, you name it,

with their responses. This, of course, right here is Kobe Bryant will be a first ballot enshrinement to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2020, expected to be arguably the most epic class ever with Kobe, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett. Hall of Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo said,

Kobe will be honored the way he should be. This is President Barack Obama. Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful, a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day. Wu-Tang clan. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of Kobe Bryant. Shocked and saddened to hear he has died in a helicopter accident. A man that transcends basketball and sport in general. One of the all-time great athletes.

Colin Kaepernick shared these thoughts. I will remember Kobe as a basketball legend. Father and a man. Watching him and Gigi share their relationship with us is something I won't ever forget. My heart aches for his wife, children, and family. I hope the waves of love being sent to his family can ease some of the pain they feel. His teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, tweeted, there's no words to express the pain I'm going through with this tragedy of losing my niece, Gigi, and my brother, Kobe Bryant. I love you and you will be missed.

My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. I'm sick right now. And as his son had also released that. He and Kobe were actually texting that morning before he took off on that fatal helicopter. Magic Johnson, of course, the Laker great, my friend, a legend, husband, father, son, brother, Oscar winner, and greatest Laker of all time is gone. It's hard to accept. Kobe was a leader of our game, a mentor to both male and female players. Whoopi Goldberg, the actress. Rest in peace, Kobe. Hero to many, including my grandson,

extraordinary athlete, and always kind to me and my family. My deepest condolences to his family. John Legend, of course, who performed last night in a tribute to Nipsey Hussle that also turned into a tribute to Kobe Bryant. He tweeted, I'm so sad and stunned right now in Staples Arena where Kobe created so many memories for all of us,

preparing to pay tribute to another brilliant man we lost too soon, Nipsey Hussle. Life can be so brutal and senseless sometimes. Hold on to your loved ones. We miss you, Kobe. And the final one here is Bruno Mars, tweeted, Kobe was a real-life superhero on that court, and I'm sure he was one to his family, sending love and prayers to them. This is heartbreaking. Folks, I'm going to go to break when I come back. We're going to talk with Hall of Famer

and Lakers legend James Worthy. We'll continue talking here with Etan Thomas and Kevin Merida as well. You're watching this Roland Martin Unfiltered tribute to one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Kobe Bryant, dead at the age of 41. We'll be right back. See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, folks. Welcome back to this special edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered, as we honor and pay tribute to Kobe Bean Bryant.

Passed away yesterday at the age of 41, dying in a helicopter crash, along with eight others in California. So many people are just shocked and saddened by this news. Again, one of the all-time greats of the NBA. Joining me right now is Roy Johnson, columnist with AL.com, long-time sports writer with Sports Illustrated. Roy, glad to have you here. Just your initial thoughts on Kobe Bryant. Well, it was a shocking day, Roland, for many of us, for most of the world, much of the world. As I mentioned to you earlier, it was reminiscent for me of the day that Irvin Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive in November of 91. And the reaction around the world, this was obviously worse.

A young man and his daughter, his 13-year-old daughter and other tremendous people, family people, died in this fiery crash. It was just shocking for this Sunday afternoon. A young man who had so much fire in him and so much fire left to live, certainly demonstrating that he was able to not just be a great bridge. He was the bridge of greatness between, you know, certainly Michael Jordan and LeBron James and the standard that the league needed at that time. He demonstrated the competitiveness

and just an outright fire that, you know, some people may have rubbed some people the wrong way, even some teammates, but you could never doubt his competitiveness. You could never doubt his drive. You could never doubt his desire to win championships. So he carried the league for a long time, for many years, and passed the baton on to LeBron, and certainly later on demonstrated an acumen in places like Hollywood,

in business, in technology, and probably first and foremost as a father, as a father to four daughters. And you heard many women come out today and speak to his efforts on behalf of female athletes. Certainly we all know he had a complicated past, and we shouldn't dismiss those who are feeling a little bit untoward,

who may have been victims of sexual violence, who referred back to the rape charge in 2003. But certainly overall, Kobe was demonstrating an effort and a desire to become a better person, to be a better father, and to be the kind of model that even his predecessor, Magic Johnson, is now being off the court. So it was a tremendous loss. It is a tremendous loss. The NBA is in mourning. Sports world is in mourning. And many people who follow sports are still a little bit shallow today because of what happened yesterday. First of all, Jamal, are you still there, Jamal?

Yes, I am. So I just want to get your final thoughts on how people are going to remember Kobe Bryant. Obviously, it is still fresh. No funeral plans have been announced. NBA All-Star Game is week after next. I think it's going to totally change how people look at that weekend in Chicago. And I checked the NBA February 17th and 18th, there are no games on those days.

I would not be surprised if his funeral, that of his daughter, is going to be held on one of those two days when there are no games to allow as many players as possible, league personnel, to be able to go. What's your final thoughts? Yeah, no, I mean, he's going to be remembered first and foremost as a tremendous basketball player, one of the best to ever play the game, easily top 10 ever to play the game, his fiery competitiveness, his unquestionable work ethic, the mamba mentality. I mean,

that's what it's going to be. And we see already players now of this generation are trying to copy that, you know, have learned from Kobe and are trying to come with that same work ethic and that same athletic drive that he had. So he's not going anywhere spiritually for sure. We will all remember him. He's put a stamp on the league, and the players that are playing now are representing him. All right. Jamal, we sure appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

There are not a lot of people who know what it takes to be a basketball great, Roy Johnson, but our next guest does. He is one of the greatest to ever play in the NBA. Welcome to Roller Barton on the filter. Filter, Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor. Hello? does he is one of the greatest ever play in the nba uh welcome to uh rollerbar unfiltered filtered hall of famer elgin baylor hello elgin roland martin how you doing okay i'm doing fine um certainly for uh someone uh like you uh one of the league's greatest uh one of the 50 greatest players in nba history um and of course, a legend there in Los Angeles.

It just has to be a lot to know that Kobe Bryant is no longer with us. I know it. You know, I heard it. I just, you know, couldn't believe it because, you know, Kobe, you know, I really like Kobe. You know, a lot of people, you know, thought Kobe was snotty, you know, different things like that. But I would talk to Kobe a lot.

You know, we'd talk about basketball and things like that but i would talk to kobe a lot you know we talk about basketball and things like that and then he admired a guy because the guy was really you know very athletic and was a heck very talented player you know and the only problem kobe had was just holding back you know some of the things that he wanted to do or say or something happened on the floor and you know kobe was one of the stand-ups for what he believed in. But the guy was just a tremendous player, you know, very athletic. What, you know, we had Mark Spirizani was talking about, I mean, look, you've had some great people come through Los Angeles.

Obviously yourself, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We can go James Worthy. We can go, I mean, geez, Jerry West. We can go on, Will Chandler. We can go on and on and on. But describe for folks how significant Kobe Bryant was to Los Angeles. Well, you know, Kobe, you know, it's like, first of all,

as you said, Sheldon, you know, people want to see, you know, Kobe was so athletic, you know, talented, he could do things out there and body thanks you know in the air shoot everything else and he was interesting to watch you know because when he got once he got the ball you know he's everybody was just work you know curious what what is he going to do what movie is going to make this time or that time and it was fun interesting you know what, she was a great talent. And people loved her. Absolutely, absolutely. And I also want to just get your thoughts on this in terms of,

because I said this to Etan Thomas, on the set, Etan Thomas, he's with me right now, along with Roy Johnson, a journalist, and Kevin Merritt, a journalist as well. And, matter of fact, let me just do this here. Roy, Etan, Kevin, y'all got a question for Elgin? Oh, my gosh. I mean, let me jump in there. I mean, because you're a legend.

And, you know, a lot of times young guys now, they want to be great, but they don't know the work ethic that it takes to be great. And one of the things that Kobe had was he had that work ethic. You know, you had that work ethic. You know, you had that work ethic. You know, a lot of the players, you know, Kareem, you know, Magic, had that work ethic. Talk about that, what kept Kobe and set him apart from everybody else was his work ethic. Because I think a lot of times young people don't quite understand that.

Well, you know, you have to have the work ethic, you know, to do that. But also not being, you know, cocky or anything like that. But you also have in your mind, you have to believe that you have the ability, the talent to do the things that you love most, you know, playing, you know, like I don't think people think about that. You know, me, you know, I go out there and play and they say, well, what do you think about this player? What do you think about that player? You know, I said, Hey, what do you think about me? You know, he's got a guard beat, you know, me, you know, I go out there and play, and they say, well, what do you think about this player? What do you think about that player?

You know, I say, hey, what do you think about me? You know, he's got to guard me. You know, so you just go out there with the attitude that, hey, you can do the things that you want to do. You don't, you know, really, and I'm not putting the opponent down or anything like that, but you have to go out there with the attitude that you can do the things that you want to do, see, and nobody can, you know, guard you. I used to think that when I'd go out there, I'd say, well, nobody's going to guard me.

Nobody can guard me. Nobody can guard me. Not being cocky, but I just put that in my mind so I can go out there with the mindset that I can do things that, you know, people wouldn't expect me to do. That's great. Roy, Roy, I think I heard you trying to ask the Elgin a question, and then I'm going to go to Kevin.

Absolutely. Elgin, this is Roy Johnson. You touched on it, that Kobe was an extremely confident player, always thought he had the ability that he needed to accomplish whatever goal he needed to accomplish. Talk about his coachability and how difficult it was for him to absorb teaching, to absorb lessons from other people, or was he good at it? And who were the coaches and players and maybe the team executives that he listened to most?

You know, I don't know because I really wasn't, you know, close to Kobe. There's just like seeing the games where you're seeing, talking, watch him practice, say hello. But Kobe was, you know, just watching him, you know, a couple of times talking to people. I mean, he was a really unbelievable competitor, you know. And Kobe believes that, you know, what you have to believe that you can do certain things. And probably like his coach wouldn't want him to do certain things. But Kobe would go out there and do the things that he thought that would be beneficial for him.

And I understand that because separation, these guys have got to make the play, take the foul or make the basket. And Kobe would go out there and would think that, hey, you can't guard me. I'm going to go out there and just do my job. Kevin Merida. Well, just to have a little fun, Elgin, this is Kevin Merida from the Undefeated. Magic Johnson said that Kobe was the greatest Laker of all time.

I mean, as you know, the Lakers could have their own Hall of Fame, you know, because there's so many great Lakers. Where does Kobe rank to you in the kind of Laker Pantheon? I don't know. Kobe's been a great player, but I don't know, see, when I played, the game was a different game. When I played, you know, like, to be honest, I'd rather play today than I did when I played because the game was such a physical

game. They could hand check you, you know, that down. They can't do that. And, you know, by not being able to hand check you, you know, you can do a lot of things that you normally couldn't do. You know, if you have, excuse me, the phone is ringing the other way. But anyway, but I mean, it's like, you know, you know, play it then, you know, guys would handshake you. And you have guys that were strong guys, you know, big, good hands,

and they can almost direct, guide you and direct you the way they want you to go. Position, you know. And so it's different, you know. Once you don't have that, you know, you can do the things you want to do. It's a different, it's a different, different guys are different today

than it was when I played. So basically what you're saying, Elgin, I am not going to say he was the greatest league of all time. Terry, further, Elgin, if you guys are playing to 11, one-on-one, you and Kobe, with the rules of your era, who's winning that game? If we had to play, what you mean? You and Kobe, one-on-one with the rules of Your era who's who's winning that?

No, you would be difficult. It would be difficult. I mean with the rules that you know, they have Rules they have now, you know when I play guys could you know with the foul you you give your foul, and everything else. No, I know. What Kevin is asking, Elgin, if you were in your prime and Kobe is in his prime and y'all going one-on-one, you could have took him? Oh, yeah. They said, oh, yeah.

See, that's what you know you're talking to is great. It don't matter what their age is. Yeah, I'm going to take him out. Not being cocky or anything, but, you know, you have to believe that. I don't believe anybody can check me. I have no problem if anybody guards me. I like that.

That's not what Gus Johnson said. What do you think about so-and-so and all that stuff? I said, what do you think about me? I like that. He's not guarding me. I'm, what do you think about me? I like that. There you go. Elgin Baylor, always man good talking to you. Tell your wife I said hello.

Okay, hey, thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Okay, go do that. That was great. See, look, let's be real clear. That was great. See, that's also what I think is always interesting whenever you have these conversations. When cats talk about Jordan was the greatest or Kobe was great or LeBron. People who never saw Bill Russell, never saw Oscar Robinson, never saw Earl the Pearl Monroe, never saw David Thompson.

Cats like that. I mean, you know. So it's always interesting. But, yeah, because Elgin, he's 80. It's like, no, let's be clear. Let's be clear. I could have took him. I love that, though.

I love that. I love going through retired players' association meetings and organizations and doing stuff with them events. And you hear the older generation talk, and they talk like they take you out right now. You know what I mean? We got a court out there. That's great. That's great.

Spike Lee. This death of Kobe Bryant has been real difficult for him. We did reach out to him. Spike is my man, but it declined to talk about. A lot of people, just so people realize, a lot of people

really, really it is still, the loss of Kobe Bryant. Spike did tweet, posted this on Instagram. Go to my iPad, Henry. When Kobe dropped 61 on the Knicks on February 2nd, 2009, Kobe signed the score sheet and gave it to Spike. And what's interesting is what he wrote on here. He wrote on here

it said to Spike, you're the best. Kobe 24. P.S. Spike, this shit was your fault. He'll drop in 61. Spike also did the film, Kobe doing work. And after the game, they recorded Kobe's commentary for this. The thing, we were just joking, Roy, there with Elgin Baylor.

But the thing, like we'll never forget, when Kobe went up against Jordan, Kobe's whole deal was, I am not scared of Michael Jordan. I mean, he went at Jordan like, okay, you want a ball? Let's ball. Well, Elgin said it. I mean, that's what greatness is.

Greatness is confident beyond what most of us, other than maybe Etan, really understand. Confidence is unbridled. It is unwavering. When confronted with more greatness, it only elevates the level of confidence. So when you see those kinds of matchups, you just want to shut out everything else and just watch what greatness does when it confronts greatness. And each time when each had the ball, they thought that the other was not going to be able to stop them. But if the other one was playing defense, they were like, no, I'm checking you right now. So, you know, those were the great moments when you love to watch, particularly when it was a generational shift, that either the elder did not back down and the youngster wasn't scared?

It has been, again, folks, not even, actually about 36 hours now since we actually got word of Kobe Bryant dying in this helicopter crash along with eight others. So many different players, league personnel, so many people have been just commenting, remarking. One of the folks who played with him and has a ring for it is John Sally. And John Sally joins us right now. You hear John laughing there. John, what was it like putting on the purple and gold with Kobe Bryant sitting across from you in the locker room?

Well, let me say, everybody called me today. And I said no. And then I got a text and I said yes to be it on your show I love everything you do I watch you daily appreciate it make sure I did that I appreciate the funny thing is me being a piston first I mean I hate everybody else you know they don't have whites. They play in yellow. And my brother goes, how does it feel having that yellow all over your back?

You're a yellow back now. Because that's what we used to say, they're cowards. It was sticky, but it felt great. And I was the first to wear 16. I got to be with Cobes when he was 21, 20, 21. We talked about everything before in the league. He watched tons of tapes to the point where the tape he was watching was VHS. They would bring a VHS, set it up in his room,

and he would watch players from the past. And he would take something from all of them, as we would say, from all of the masters and became a grandmaster. He was an unbelievable person. And he said he did everything young. And he, in the amount of time, 41 years, he got so much done. The thing that, we were talking about this earlier, and all these people have their own thoughts based on what they heard and understand about Kobe as a person,

being moody, challenging other players, not wanting to listen to coaches, things along those lines. You were in that locker room with him. What you saw up close, what made him him? What was it? It was his desire not to be the next Michael Jordan to be the first Kobe Bryant. I literally said that to him.

I said, so you're going to be the next MJ? He goes, no, I'm going to be the first Kobe. He's asking, so what do you want? He said, I want to be the greatest player to ever play in the NBA. That was his answer at 20. And arguably, which I have gotten in tons of trouble on ESPN about when I was saying Michael wasn't the greatest player ever. I said, because, you know, time is still going. Great entertainer, great time.

Kobe just expounded on everything MJ was doing. He may have laid the path, but Kobe was a trailblazer as well. From his shoes to his commercials to his court case to literally he showed you how to be

humiliated in front of everybody, how to do something that puts you in a crazy position. He was vindicated, thank God. But then he just kept going on being great in his sport and let all the rest of it fall away at me. Like, have your idea about what you may have, but he was a human being human. And he was a great one.

And I'm telling you, when you just talk about the basketball, I played on one-on-one every day. I'm 36 at the time. I'm tired as hell. But he stayed there. He got up early. He was in the gym. I'll tell you this one story.

When we were in Miami, he just turned 21. So he goes to the club with me. He never gone out because he wasn't 21. We in Miami. So I don't need this one story. When we were in Miami, he just turned 21, so he'd go to the club with me. He'd never gone out because he wasn't 21. We in Miami, so I don't need to say any more. And to the point where we're all in a series, girls were like, that's Kobe Bryant? And the bathroom was crushed.

Really, it was just for the mirror. And as they were coming at him, he was deflected. He was like, Sal, I got to go back to the hotel. I said, it's 12 o'clock. No, no, no. It starts at 12. He goes, no, I got to train in the morning hotel I said it's 12 o'clock no no it starts at 12 he goes no I gotta train in the morning I said we don't have practice until 12 he goes no no my train is flying in and he flew his trainer into every city on the way game and they train six

o'clock in the morning to eight o'clock wow that that that and I would tell people, I said, this stuff that y'all wouldn't know, that he was definitely an outlier when you put more than 20,000 hours into making him the best he could possibly be. He was in that thought process. Challenging players, let me tell you, if you show up to work and the work counts on everybody doing their job and you get to work and you're thinking about something else something you left in the room something you got to do tomorrow you're going to make you pay attention to those 48 minutes think about how many times he had to take a private jet to a plane play in the game then go right back dealing with

not being put in jail forever focus the best focus ever got uh three folks here, Roy Johnson, Etan Thomas, as well as Kevin Merida. Etan, you got a question, John Sally? Well, you know, you told me... They all owe me money, too. You know, I like to hear former players tell personal stories about Kobe, you know, pretty much to negate a lot of the negative stories that

I've been seeing. We talked about this earlier, and it really irked me that people would use this time to talk negatively about someone that just passed. But could you share a personal story that you've had with him, this that people don't know, another one that is a heartwarming story, that why he is such a special friend off the court um you know outside of basketball all right so i i went to the studio with him some people didn't think he could rap i thought he could rap i went to the studio he can play basketball he raps kid did it all and uh you know i'm in this unbelievable fraternity probably the best fraternity on the planet omega phi phi. You lost your damn mind.

Yes. You know that's a little youth group. Yes. If you ain't an alpha, you're a imposter. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. You can tell by the greatness. But listen, and his brother-in-law was an Omega, too.

And as the brother said, there's a word we use in Omega. It's called discretion. And I was like, word. He taught you something. That's good. we use in Omega. It's called discretion. And I was like, wow, he taught you something. That's good. And so we point. Omega's had discretion? Shocking. Go ahead.

I'm sorry. Go ahead. And we pointed. And he was pointing at Vanessa. And I said, well, hey. He goes, yeah, that's my girl. I go, what? When did you get a tie?

He goes, yeah, man, you know. He said, that's it. I'm going to marry this girl, man. This is it. I said, man, you come on. said, that's it. I'm going to marry this girl, man. This is it. I said, man, come on. You just turned 21. Don't give up your 20s. Take it from somebody who's been married 26 years.

Keep your 20s. He was like, nah, that's my wife right there. She's going to have my kids. We're going to have an unbelievable family. He said, yeah, that's the one. At 21, he knew this. This kid would literally come in. and I asked him, I said, why did you go pro?

Why didn't you go to Duke? Why didn't you do any of that stuff? He was like, I wanted to play against Michael. I heard he was retiring. I wasn't going to have a complete career unless I played against the guy I looked up to, which was funny because he looked up to his father. Everybody needs to know that Jelly Bean was his hero. Michael Jordan, he emulated his moves behind,

but his tenaciousness and his way of playing is like his father, Jelly Bean, who was a great pro. He just didn't get as many chances because he was playing behind and next to Dr. J. Roy Johnson, question for John Seller. John, how you doing? As you know, back in probably when Isaiah Thomas said that people don't appreciate how hard athletes work to be great. He said that

sometimes people think that he became. You've talked about Kobe's work ethic back in your early years. Eating habits were not great in the NBA. I was on the road with a lot of players and they would take their meal money and go right to the fast food place. Can you give us some insight into some of the non-workout things that Kobe did to continue to make himself great? And did you ever see him fall off from that as his career? I know you weren't playing, but as his career continued, did he set that standard in terms of fitness that somebody like, say, a Tiger would set in golf? Yeah, I would say when we would go to DJI Fridays and I was a vegetarian. Now I eat a plant-based

vegan diet. Roman, I know you hear me but anyway i i i would literally i watched him build his muscles and his shoulders i watched him literally he got some tattoos too which was weird for me because he was so i get doing what everybody else is doing but he he wind up his wife wanted to give him some flavor he He wound up getting a chef. He wound up realizing food was a direct correlation to how you were going to perform, what you were going to put inside your race car. Me getting to him, trying to get people not to eat steak and fish and all that, I said, you can't have something dead in your body

and call that a healthy lifestyle. He obviously was doing it to the best of his ability. That's the best way I'm going to look at it because, you know, every day we're all trying, right? So I would say him eating, knowing, and he was regimented. I mean, I remember when he first was talking about the helicopter, it was for convenience so he can be more of a family man. It wasn't so he can ball out. It just, he had to train and he had to be a father and husband. And he couldn't do that with traffic in between.

So the guy thought literally of the easiest way he can be accessible and true to himself at the same time. Kevin Meredith. Hey, John, this is Kevin Merida at the Undefeated. You played, you know, certainly with the Pistons, and that was its own iconic team, and as you mentioned, the Lakers, and so you had some different models of leadership on teams, and what was the model of Kobe as a leader at the Lakers when you were there? How would you describe that? Well, the difference is Kobe was quiet when I was there.

Ron Hoffer came in. Shaquille was just a born leader. Kobe was quiet to himself, but his leadership came through his basketball. He realized he would talk to Tex Winter, who is the creator of the triangle offense, or I would say the one, yeah, I'm going to say creator. And he would literally see where his spots were to score. He realized what it did for Michael within the system.

Within that triangle system, it looked like Michael was getting the Michael within the system. Within that triangle system, it looked like Michael was getting the ball all the time. No, Michael was just in the position of scoring one-on-one all the time. No one's going to be able to guard you one-on-one. Not when you're that talented. So I would say his leadership was we knew Kobe was the man.

He didn't have to say it. He put his headphones on, listened to music. He didn't play to say it. He put his headphones on, listened to music. You know, he didn't play cards that much. He was quiet to himself. I would just go sit with him, talk to him, just to get in his head. And remember, he was only 20 years old. After they won their second and third championship, after Shaq was traded, Kobe then had to take on the leadership,

and he knew it took being on top of somebody. Bill Ambeer, when I was on the Pistons, was like that. And it seemed like he was always pressing me, pressing me. And he would say, because I know you got talent. And that's the way Kobe was. He knew these guys had talent. He knew what he could do, but he wasn't going to be great until everybody around him.

He made everybody around him better, if not better than they thought they could be. And that proved in 2010. John Sally, I appreciate it, man. Thanks for joining us. Next time I'm in L.A., we'll go out and go for some ribs. That's right.

Get some vegan ribs. I appreciate it, Doc. Thanks a lot. And tell the rest of those guys, especially undefeated, cash at me. That was for you, Kevin Mariner. I got it. That's right, Kevin. All right, John, thanks a bunch.

I appreciate it. Folks, certainly we'll be joined by James Worthy, another Los Angeles Laker great and Hall of Famer. Folks in the control room, let me know when we have James on the phone. It is interesting, Etan, the point you made earlier when you talked to guys who played with him.

I just played against him, who played with him. And again, for people who don't realize, the amount of time you spend with teammates. They see them at... If they had drama at home, they see it walking to the locker room. They, things in terms of stuff with family and kids and seeing on the road, I mean,

all those different things go with it. It is a different understanding when they're sharing those thoughts about that particular person. No, completely different. And that was my point that, you know, people outside that are doing all this criticizing and demonizing, they didn't know Kobe. You know what I mean? They don't know anything about him.

And that's why I asked him. I was like, well, share some personal stories. Because these are the stories that people didn't hear. And I remember, you know, social media is relatively new. You know, so back then, even when I was playing, there wasn't any social media, you know. And so they're just knowing what reporters write about them. So that's why when you have, you know, Kobe Bryant making a statement about, you know, the players after Trayvon Martin was murdered, you know, the reporter completely misinterpreted his words. But now you have guys that can go to their own social media

and say exactly what they want to say. No, this is what I have to say. I don't need you as a media to be able to interpret what I say. Now we could do a conversation after what I say. You know what I mean? You could do the follow up, but if I really want to say something,

I could use it on my own. Players back then didn't have that. You know, John Sally didn't have that. James Worthy, who were going to be Elgin Baylor, they didn't have that. So it was a lot different. But yeah, people don't really, they didn't know Kobe. And when you hear people who played with him,

on the team with him, you know, you hear a completely different story. It's a different life when you have to slip on that purple and gold, knowing full well you're walking in the footsteps. You look at the rafters, you walk in the footsteps of the Jerry West, of the Elgin Baylors, of the Wilt Chamberlains, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. One of those folks is James Worthy, North Carolina great, and of course, Hall of Famer himself. One of my golf buddies, James Worthy. Welcome to Roland Martin and the

Filter. Roland, how are you, buddy? Man, doing great, doing great. Hate to have to talk to you under these circumstances as we pay homage to the great Kobe Bryant. Yeah, yeah, it's a tough topic right now. You know, unexpected death that happens so quickly and so suddenly. And it happens to someone that you've watched grow up over the last 20, 21 years. And, you know, his daughter, Gigi, who they had a remarkable relationship as she was starting her journey, trying to learn the game and be like her dad.

And then, of course, the other families involved in this tragic situation. It's just something you don't expect, but something you do have to accept and acknowledge and move on. You know, when we had Elgin Baylor on earlier, and obviously one of the 50 greatest in NBA history, Hall of Famer, you a Hall of Famer, just share with the public what you have to do to be great, what you have to go through mentally and physically to be one of the greatest to ever play the game. Yeah, I think once you set your mind, as did Kobe.

I mean, Kobe had a vision and he followed it. And, you know, once you set that goal, I mean, Kobe had a vision and he followed it. And, you know, once you set that goal, I mean, you have to set that seed in your mind that no one's going to deny you that opportunity. And followed by that is a remarkable, you know, discipline and commitment to the craft and sacrifices. You know, when you're in high school or college and everybody else is at the mall or, you know, hanging out or partying, you have to make that sacrifice to really, you know, enhance your game. And Kobe did that. He sought out the best, and he tried to defeat that.

Michael Jordan was like that, another assassin-type player. And Kobe just took it to the next level. I mean, not only did he want to be the best, he wanted to break records and dominate. And so he had a really good percentage of time doing that throughout his career. Did he come to you to pick your brain? He did. I remember Kobe as a rookie, and I was also a rookie role, and I was a rookie in the broadcast business.

And I remember my first interview with Kobe, and he was, yes, sir, no, sir, Mr. Word. And I had to remind him that he didn't have to do that. And then I watched him, you know, really start to hone in on his craft. And then, you know, later on, about his eighth year, he called me. And he wanted to pick my brain because my specialty was footwork down in the post. I didn't see where I could enhance his game at all, but he wanted to pick my brain on certain things that he was trying to do. And then later on when Byron Scott was coaching and I was helping Byron with some of the big things,

again, he would call on you to try to pick your brain about stuff that he was already great at. So he never stopped learning. That was something that was just really fascinating. Up until his 17th or 18th year, he was still figuring out what he could get from Hakeem Olajuwon, what he could learn from James Worthy, how he could, you know, learn from some of the great players

that he, you know, picked their brains. So, yeah, he was constantly trying to get better and trying to, you know, have an edge. I'm joined here by Kevin Merida, Etan Thomas, Roy Johnson. Each one of them got a question for you. Kevin, you go first. Well, you're one of the legends, James. And, you know, Magic has said earlier that Kobe,

he thought Kobe was the greatest Laker of all time. You know, I wonder where you saw Kobe and how you evaluated him in the Laker pantheon, because you guys got your own Hall of Fame. Yeah, yeah. You know, for a long time, man, Kareem's been my guy. When they said, who's the best player ever to play in the NBA? You know, Kareem, four years of college, academic All-American,

three years of varsity and once on the JV when freshmen couldn't even play on a varsity. But I remember when Kareem came here from Milwaukee, it took Kareem a couple of years to get things going. And then it wasn't until Magic came to the Lakers that then the success started to roll. So I might have to agree with Magic. The greatest Laker to ever play the game. I know Shaq, you know, was a dominant player.

But what Kobe did after Shaq left, winning two more championships and dominating the game, the way he scored, the way he was viciously dissecting people, 81 points against Toronto, 60 points somewhere else in New York. So I'm going to have to agree that he's been the greatest in the Lakers' uniform for what he's been able to achieve. Etan. Mr. Worthy, this is Tom Thomas. First of all, my wife is a huge fan. She grew up in L.A. in Englewood.

She wore number 42 at Syracuse because of you. I have to tell you that. But I wanted to ask you, you know, you've been there for Magic as a leader, for Kobe as a leader, and LeBron as a leader. And if you were comparing their leadership styles, you know, is there a common thread in their leadership? Or are they completely different styles? Well, first of all, Etan, we love everything that you do, man. Post your career. You're a conscious brother, and you keep it real. We support everything that you do.

I appreciate that. But, you know, Magic was a leader. You know, Magic enhanced everybody around him. He was a distributor. Magic knew how to monitor people constructively. You know, I remember when I was going through a shooting slump and I needed some extra shots. Well, I'd come into practice early, and instead of a ball boy, you know,

throwing me balls or throwing me back my rebounds, Magic would be out there, you know. That's the kind of leader he was. Magic was a – and Kobe was a different kind of leader, you know. That's the kind of leader he was. Magic was a, and Kobe was a different kind of leader, you know. Kobe was like, in your face, you got to work hard or else, you know. He really pushed you, you know, to the limit, almost antagonizing you in practice. He was a beast, you know.

If you were weak, he would just trample all over you and wouldn't give you, you know, that's the kind of leadership he was. You know, I'm going to trample over you, then you follow me. You know, he expected excellence. You know, if he was working hard, he expected you to work hard. Different kind of leadership. LeBron, similar to Magic in a sense. Distributor. Enhancing everybody else around him. Think pass first

kind of a leader. So they all have leadership qualities. Kobe's was, if you're not ready, then your ass is going to get left behind or I'm going to run over you. He was just that kind of assassin night in and night out. Roy Johnson. James, we've talked a lot about Kobe's greatness on the court, and I'm interested in his evolution off the court. You played with Magic, and you know that Magic was preparing for his post-career

from the day he arrived. He would pick people's brains. If they're the people who were sitting courtside, if he ran into you in an airport or someplace like that, he was always picking the brains of smart people and successful people. You were able to observe Kobe for most of his career. When did you start to see that greatness begin to translate off the court and did he share some of the same traits and strategies of magic and other lakers by really immersing himself with people who were coming to the games and picking their brains about how they achieve success yeah kobe was a was a

quiet gatherer of assets and information you, I can't think of any athlete that upon his retirement goes out and wins an Oscar. This doesn't happen. And, you know, I had an opportunity to go down to Orange County once and do a one-on-one interview in his office. And Kobe's up at 5 o'clock, you know, every morning, and he's in his office, and he loves to tell stories.

That's why he wrote that short documentary that won the Oscar. And one of the things that's really upsetting is that we didn't get to see the second half of his career. He gave us everything, man. He gave us blood, sweat, and tears as a basketball player, as an athlete. And really, we were looking forward to his second career, whatever it was he was going to do. He had Mamba Academy. He loved to write short stories he had a plethora of global exposure and deals globally huge

all over China so he was getting ready to do some big things and of course he had committed to the daughter that really loved the way he played the game and really wanted to carry on, you know, the Kobe brand. I mean, he didn't have any sons, and she was going to do it, Gigi. So his commitment to his kids, you know, Kobe had evolved. We all do. You know, we all as young athletes coming in, no matter if we come from high school or we come out of college, we all go through this evolution of growing up.

And sometimes we all have to sit with ourselves and, you know, take constructive criticism. And then we evolve as something authentic and real. And so I think that's what happened to Kobe. And he had, you know, kind of ascended into a really cool guy and a good dad and someone you could appreciate, you know, where he had come from and what he was trying to do going forward.

James Worthy, we certainly appreciate you joining us to share your thoughts about Kobe Bryant. Thanks a bunch. You got it, brother. All right, folks. Final thoughts. I'll start with you, Roy Johnson. Again, I think what James said, he said many great things.

He said it was a quiet gatherer of information. But I think what I heard most was that we didn't get to see the second half and that the second half was probably going to be as exciting. It was certainly going to be an embodiment of his work ethic, as embodiment of his intellect, an embodiment of his evolution as a human being, as a man, as a father, and someone who just was going to continue. We'll all have the highlights. We will see the great plays. But we all wonder, what could Kobe Bryant have done off the court as a father, as a husband, as a business person, as a producer in Hollywood, and as just a script that never got to be written? Kevin Merida.

Well, just to pick up on what Roy said, the next act was an important act. It reminded me of something my colleague Dominic Foxworth said on one of the shows this morning, that a lot of times athletes, when they lead the profession, he said for him, he was kind of lost. It's hard to find your footing. And the bigger you are in your initial profession and as big as Kobe was, to then segue into the next thing, all eyes are on him and to have and to look and see some early accomplishment, but we didn't quite know. That's the part that kind of sticks with me, that just how difficult it is to really, man, establish yourself as a Hall of Famer in one profession, and now you've got the next half of your life

and you've got to try to live up to your own greatness. And I was really looking forward to seeing how that was going to evolve. Eton? I think that was beautifully said by both of you. I want to repeat everything that you said, but I'll go in a different direction. You know, on social media, there's a lot of people who are kind of criticizing people for sending condolences and being torn up and grieving

for someone who they didn't know. And so I would say to them, keep that same energy when you lose a loved one and you're asking social media to pray for you and pray for your family who people also don't know. It's important to allow everyone to grieve. And everyone is grieving this incredible loss of Kobe Bryant. You don't have to know him to be able to grieve. You grieve for his family.

You grieve for his surviving daughters who are now gonna miss a father and a sister. You grieve for the pain that they're going to feel. And that's what makes us human. So allow people to grieve, and this is definitely an incredible loss. You know, people say that, I think that, I mean, the reality is... One, it's a silly statement, because...

they don't know the impact that someone has on someone else they've never met. I mean, people all around the country. People have stopped me in other countries. I mean, just yesterday, I'm flying. I did ABC This Week yesterday. I'm in the airport. I'm at JFK.

And I walk by the sister goes, oh, my God, Roland Martin. I was like, how you doing? She walks over. She shakes my hand. She said, I watched you when I was 16 years old when you were on CNN. And you have no idea how you changed my life. I just want to shake your hand. She had no idea she was ever going to meet me.

So when people... And so that's just the reality. People impact us who are musicians, who are actors, who are entertainers, who are politicians. There are people... When Rosa Parks' body was lying in state in the U.S. Capitol, in the rotunda,

the lines... I mean, they had to actually stop. Those lines would have went on for an entire week. Most people never met her, but it was what she did. And that's the reality. It's what people do. I was just looking at a video on Twitter. Ice Cube said when he heard the news,

the first thing he did was text Kobe to see if he'd text him back. And I always talk about this all the time, that when someone passes, do you delete their numbers out of your phone? So Dick Gregory passed, but I still got Dick Gregory's number on my phone. Other people have done the same thing. I sent this text today. And it was just because I hadn't posted it, but I still got Dick Gregory's number on my phone. Other people have done the same thing. I sent this text today. And it was just because I hadn't posted it, but I sent this text today to Kobe's number.

And obviously, he passes away. You know cell phones with him. But it also is a way for you to still remember somebody. Go ahead, Henry. And it was simple as this. Rest in peace, my brother. Real simple. It doesn't matter if you only had one conversation or more,

but you still appreciate who somebody is and what they have done in their life and how they've touched people. We've talked about how he was a tremendous family man, and I want to end the show with this compilation that we put together about Kobe and his family. We'll certainly be covering this story, talking to many others over the next week who knew him, who worked with him to get their thoughts. We'll be doing so. Folks have been hitting me up who we couldn't reach today who'll be coming on.

I certainly want to thank Elgin Baylor and James Worthy and John Sally, as well as Jamal and Mark Spears. We had Jamel Hill, but she had to go on assignment, so we'll try to get her tomorrow. I want to thank Etan and Kevin and Roy Johnson as well for sharing their thoughts and reflections on the great Kobe Bryant, passed away yesterday at the age of 41, along with his daughter, Gigi, and seven others in a tragic, tragic helicopter crash there in Los Angeles. Folks are still trying to get details of what happened in TSB, as well as the FBI and others are still investigating.

Hopefully we'll know exactly what took place. But we want to end this tribute to Kobe Bryant with this compilation of who he was in terms of how he we want to end this tribute to Kobe Bryant with this compilation of who he was in terms of how he would want to be remembered, and that is as a husband and a father. © transcript Emily Beynon Thank you. This is an iHeart Podcast.