In spite of all the battles they had on the basketball court during their time in the NBA, it is clear that Allen Iverson holds Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant in very high regard. Iverson was devastated by the untimely passing of his foe-turned-good friend back in January 2020 and like most of us, it's still difficult for AI to accept that Kobe is no longer with us.

In a recent interview with Shaun Powell of NBA.com, Iverson looked back on his relationship with the Lakers legend. When asked about the last time he saw Kobe in person, Iverson was taken aback a bit and he needed a second to recall the exact instance:

“That’s crazy you asked me that,” he said. “Nobody ever asked me. I never even thought about it. Well, matter fact, I know now. At his jersey retirement. Last time I saw him. I remember hugging him. He had his baby in his arms, his youngest daughter. That’s wild.”

This was in December of 2017 when the Lakers retired both the No. 8 and the No. 24 jerseys in honor of Bryant. At that time, Kobe's youngest daughter was Bianka, who was born in December 2016. She was barely a year old during the jersey retirement ceremony. Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, had another baby girl in 2019, Capri, who is the youngest of four girls.

Iverson then got emotional as he spoke about the lasting impact of Kobe and his daughter Gigi's death. AI admitted that he continues to mourn their passing to this very day:

“So the same with Kobe, he was here today and all of a sudden that has to happen to his family, has to happen to us, we have to try to get through it the best way we can,” Iverson said. “We try to think like they’re in a better place. We try to do anything to make it feel better. That’s why my life is how it is. I live every day.”

Moments such as these just bring back all the painful memories from that fateful day more than two years ago when we lost Kobe and Gigi. Resit in peace, Mambas.