Twelve-time All-NBA performer and 2007 NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki is undoubtedly an NBA legend. However, according to the German power forward, Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant is the best player of their generation.

Bryant passed away this past weekend in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The accident also took the lives of Bryant's 13-year-old daughter and seven other passengers that were on their way to a travel basketball game.

“He was the Michael Jordan of our generation,” Nowitzki said of Bryant. “He was our best player,” per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

Nowitzki and Bryant were two of the best players in the NBA in the 2000s and early 2010s, facing off multiple times in the Western Conference Playoffs during their storied and highly decorated careers.

Bryant will absolutely go down as one of the best players in NBA history. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard spent all 20 seasons of his career with the Lakers, becoming a five-time NBA champion, 18-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA team member and two-time NBA MVP, just to name a few.

Dirk Nowitzki retired from the league last season after a 21-year career with the Dallas Mavericks. A legend in his own right, Nowitzki has taken Kobe Bryant's death hard.

“I can honestly say there hasn’t been a single minute of any day that I haven’t thought about it,” Nowitzki said. “It’s so sad. It’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get over.”