First Things First’s Nick Wright speaks with FanSided’s Mark Carman about the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant during Super Bowl LIV week down in Miami.
It might be Super Bowl week down in Miami, but there was notably a somber tone on Monday morning. On Sunday, the world learned of the tragic passing of NBA and basketball icon Kobe Bryant, who he and eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died in a horrible helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
It’s been an emotional last 24 hours for us all, as Bryant affected so many of our lives. FS1’s Nick Wright discussed Bryant’s life and legacy on his morning show First Things First with Jenna Wolfe and Chris Broussard. He kindly took a few minutes of his time after Monday’s show to speak with his former Kansas City colleague in FanSided‘s Mark Carman about Sunday’s tragedy.
“I’m not equipped to talk about the totality of the loss because his daughter is involved and there are two other young girls involved and I tried to today on television and I broke down,” said Wright. “I’m gutted with what happened to Kobe. Gutted.”
Wright mentioned how polarizing Bryant was from a basketball sense. You’d often have to pick a side on a debate topic among peers. Are you Kobe or are you Shaq? Are you Kobe or are you M.J.? Are you Kobe or are you LeBron? Wright has often been a huge advocate for LeBron James over his radio and television career, but you could tell Bryant’s passing was very emotional for him.
“There are so many layers to the tragedy,” said Wright. “But one of the layers is we’re not used to NBA stars passing. So if you have the 35 greatest players in the history of basketball in a room, up until yesterday, 33 of them were alive. Only Wilt [Chamberlain] and Moses [Malone] were gone…Of all the guys who have won league MVPs, all are still with us, except for Wilt, Moses and now Kobe.”
Wright said earlier that Bryant was a top-eight player all time. Nobody disputes that. He won five NBA Championships and was the greatest facsimile to Michael Jordan we’ve ever seen. It was the “Mamba Mentality” of Bryant that made him so special and why he had so many fans worldwide. Few players were as passionate about basketball and were as committed to their craft as Bryant.
Wright wrapped up this part of his conversation with Carman by highlighting two important topics. Bryant sacrificed everything to be an NBA superstar, but “was going to make it up on the back-end”. Tragically, he left us at 41-years-old. Wright would add, “he was going to be an unbelievable advocate for women’s sports.” He loved his daughters so much and we will miss him terribly.
Nick Wright spoke with FanSided on behalf of FS1’s First Things First. First Things First airs weekdays on FS1 from 6:30 a.m. ET to 9:30 a.m. ET.