Athletes around the world are continuing to honor the life and legacy ofKobe Bryant.
One day after the NBA legendwas killedat age 41 in a helicopter crash, tennis champion Nick Kyrgios paid tribute to Bryant during his match-up against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open.
The Australian Open’s Twitter account shared photos of Kyrgios, 24, sporting Bryant’s No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers jersey as he stepped out onto Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena.
According toCNN, Kyrgios was “close to tears” when making his entrance.
Chaz Niell/Getty
“What can I say, I woke up this morning with this terrible news,” Nadal said in his on-court interview, per CNN. “It’s super sad. He was one of the greatest sportsmen in history. He deserves a big round of applause.”
“It’s one of these days that you want to forget but of course Kobe Bryant will be in our hearts and in our minds for the rest of our lives,” Nadal added.
Kyrgios, while wearing Bryant’s jersey, also spoke to reporters after the match about his legacy.
“I never met Kobe but basketball’s practically my life, I watch it every day and I’ve been following it for as long as I remember … it’s tough, it’s horrible news,” he said, according to CNN.
Nick Kyrgios.Quinn Rooney/Getty
Bryant and his 13-year-old daughterGianna, nicknamed “GiGi,” were on their way to ayouth basketball gamein Thousand Oaks with parents and players from the team when the helicopter crashed amid foggy conditions and burst into flames in Calabasas.
A number of prominent sports figures, includingLeBron James,Lamar Odom,Derek Jeter,Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal, have also shared their reactions to Bryant’s death, as well as posted tributes to the athletes.
The crash also took the lives ofSarah Chester and her daughter Payton, one of Gianna’s teammates on the Mamba Sports Academy girls basketball team;Christina Mauser, a girls basketball coach at Harbor Day School in Orange County and a coach for the Mamba Academy;John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa; and pilotAra Zobayanof Huntington Beach.
source: people.com
