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  • I'm grateful to Vanessa and Bryan family for the opportunity to speak today.

  • I'm grateful to be here to honor Gigi and celebrate the gifts that Kobe gave us all

  • what he accomplished as a basketball player, as a businessman, and a storyteller and as

  • a father.

  • In the game of basketball, in life, as a parentKobe left nothing in the tank.

  • He left it all on the floor.

  • Maybe it surprised people that Kobe and I were very close friends.

  • But we were very close friends.

  • Kobe was my dear friend.

  • He was like a little brother.

  • Everyone always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I. I just wanted to talk about

  • Kobe.

  • You know all of us have brothers and sisters, little brothers, little sisters, who for whatever

  • reason always tend to get in your stuff, your closet, your shoes, everything.

  • It was a nuisanceif I can say that wordbut that nuisance turned into love over

  • a period of time.

  • Just because the admiration that they have for you as big brothers or big sisters, the

  • questions in wanting to know every little detail about life that they were about to

  • embark on.

  • He used to call me, text me, 11:30, 2:30, 3 o'clock in the morning, talking about post-up

  • moves, footwork, and sometimes, the triangle.

  • At first, it was an aggravation.

  • But then it turned into a certain passion.

  • This kid had passion like you would never know.

  • It's an amazing thing about passion.

  • If you love something, if you have a strong passion for something, you would go to the

  • extreme to try to understand or try to get it.

  • Either ice cream, Cokes, hamburgers, whatever you have a love for.

  • If you have to walk, you would go get it.

  • If you have to beg someone, you would go get it.

  • What Kobe Bryant was to me was the inspiration that someone truly cared about the way either

  • I played the game or the way that he wanted to play the game.

  • He wanted to be the best basketball player that he could be.

  • And as I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be.

  • To do that, you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls, or the dumb questions.

  • I took great pride as I got to know Kobe Bryant that he was just trying to be a better person

  • – a better basketball player.

  • We talked about business, we talked about family, we talked about everything.

  • And he was just trying to be a better person.

  • I remember maybe a couple months ago he sends me a text and he said, “I'm trying to teach

  • my daughter some moves.

  • And I don't know what I was thinking or what I was working on, but what were you thinking

  • about when you were growing up trying to work on your moves?”

  • I saidWhat age?”

  • He says “12”.

  • I said “12, I was trying to play baseball.”

  • He sends me a text back sayingLaughing my ass off.”

  • And this is at 2 o'clock in the morning.

  • But the thing about him was we could talk about anything that related to basketball

  • but we could talk about anything that related to life.

  • And we, as we grew up in life, rarely have friends that we can have conversations like

  • that.

  • Well, it's even rarer when you can grow up against adversaries and have conversations

  • like that.

  • I went and saw Phil Jackson in 1999, maybe 2000, I don't know, when Phil was here in

  • L.A. And I walk in and Kobe's sitting there.

  • And the first thing, Kobe said, “Did you bring your shoes?”

  • No, I wasn't thinking about playing.”

  • But his attitude to compete and play against someone he felt like he could enhance and

  • improve his game, that's what I loved about the kid.

  • I absolutely loved the kid.

  • No matter where he saw me, it was a challenge.

  • And I admired him because his passion, you rarely see someone who is looking and trying

  • to improve each and every day, not just in sports, but as a parent, as a husband.

  • I am inspired by what he's done, and what he's shared with Vanessa, and what he's shared

  • with his kids.

  • I have a daughter who's 30 and I became a grandparent.

  • And I have two twins.

  • I have twins at 6.

  • I can't wait to get home to become a GirlDad and to hug them and to see the love and smiles

  • that they bring to us as parents.

  • He taught me that just by looking at this tonight, looking at how he responded and reacted

  • with the people he actually loved.

  • These are the things that we will continue to learn from Kobe Bryant.

  • To Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, Capri, my wife and I will keep you close in our hearts and

  • our prayers.

  • We will always be here for you.

  • Always.

  • I also want to offer our condolences and support to all the families affected by this enormous

  • tragedy.

  • Kobe gave every last ounce of himself to whatever he was doing.

  • After basketball, he showed a creative side to himself that I didn't think any of us knew

  • he had.

  • In retirement, he seemed so happy.

  • He found new passions.

  • And he continued to give back, as a coach, in his community.

  • More importantly, he was an amazing dad, amazing husband, who dedicated himself to his family

  • and who loved his daughters with all his heart.

  • Kobe never left anything on the court.

  • And I think that's what he would want for us to do.

  • No one knows how much time we have.

  • That's why we must live in the moment, we must enjoy the moment, we must reach and see

  • and spend as much time as we can with our families and friends and the people that we

  • absolutely love.

  • To live in the moment means to enjoy each and every one that we come in contact with.

  • When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died.

  • And as I look in this arena and across the globe, a piece of you died, or else you wouldn't

  • be here.

  • Those are the memories that we have to live with and we learn from.

  • I promise you from this day forward, I will live with the memories of knowing that I had

  • a little brother and I tried to help in every way I could.

  • Please, rest in peace little brother.

I'm grateful to Vanessa and Bryan family for the opportunity to speak today.

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