LOS ANGELES – Before he became a superstar in the NBA, Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George was simply a kid in Palmdale who looked up to the same hero as everyone else in Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Lakers legend tragically passed away with his daughter, Gianna, and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning.
From coaches and front-office members to players and fans, the news of Bryant's passing has shattered hearts throughout the NBA world. For players who grew up in Southern California and watched Bryant dominate on a nightly basis, the impact appeared different.
“I mean we grew up, we from here, so it’s different when you talk about what guys thought of him from another state.” George admitted about Kobe Bryant in his first media availability Wednesday. “We grew up here, we saw him every day on TV. He’s the reason all of us played the game so it’s different, it hits different for us, from Russ, DeMar, myself, Kawhi, just all the SoCal guys, it just hits different. He was our MJ, he was our hero. He was our GOAT. It’s just going to hit different for us.”
Bryant had a relationship with multiple members of the Clippers organization. He had a heavy influence on George and Kawhi Leonard, two guys from SoCal. Tyronn Lue won a championship with Bryant. Lou Williams played with Bryant, and was even present for his historic 60-point finale. Doc Rivers had developed a relationship with Kobe following a pair of tense NBA Finals matchups in a three-year span.
The more people you talk to around the league, the more you see how differently Bryant touched each and every one. A lot of players from two generations ago, including Bryant, had Michael Jordan to look up to. Players from this past generation used Kobe and his incredible Lakers tenure as their Jordan-esque figure.
“He was my Michael Jordan,” continued George. “Growing up as a SoCal kid he was what everybody, every kid wanted to be here. I started playing basketball because of Kobe. I attacked the game the way he played both ends. I took so much things away from him and he made a big impression on me as a kid, just about how to go about playing the game. I credit everything, aside from God-given talent, I credit everything else from him.”
George says his lasting memory of Bryant is one that he sees every day. Bryant is the reason George got into basketball, and it's something he'll never forget.
“If there was no Kobe Bryant, I don't know who I would've looked at and idolized. When I think about me and basketball and how I got started, first story to be told is — for the generation after myself, for young kids who won't know who Kobe Bryant is — it'll be an amazing story to tell, that I picked this ball up because of this man. So, that's going to be the best memory. Regardless of my last time seeing him in Thousand Oaks, it's gonna be how I started playing this game.”
George has said he's considering changing his number back to No. 24 in order to honor the late Bryant, but has still not decided on what he'll do. The Lakers haven't announced their plans, but have already retired jerseys No. 8 and 24.
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You can watch George's full comments on Bryant here:
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