Kobe Bryant Used to Say He Wanted to Die Young, Tracy McGrady Claims

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter, Gianna and seven other passengers, and the entire world is still in shock. One former NBA player who is still reeling from the death of Bryant is Tracy McGrady, who had something interesting to say about the Lakers legend. McGrady spoke to Rachel Nichols of ESPN, claiming that Bryant told him he wanted to die young.

“He used to say all the time, ‘I want to die young,’” McGrady said. “I thought he was crazy- … he used to say “I want to die young. I want to be immortalized. I want to have my career be better than Michael Jordan’s, and I want to die young.”

“I just thought he was so crazy.”

The thing about that statement is it was made when Bryant didn’t have any children. He ended up having four daughters and he loved being there for them on a daily basis.

“Clearly that statement was way before kids,” McGrady said. “I’m sure that when he had kids, he didn’t have the mindset.”

McGrady’s interview about Bryant led to a number of responses on social media.

“Like millions of others, I can relate to what McGrady is conveying here about Kobe,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Still hard to accept that he’s gone, and his beautiful daughter Gigi appeared to be an angel and a positive light for the future.”

“This is why we have to be careful what we sow in the universe,” another fan wrote. “That young Kobe did not know how much he would love being a dad to his daughters.”

“Kobe was an angel on earth man I’m truly convinced the good Lord or whatever spiritual energy u believe in sent that man to grace the world w his talent & philanthropy & his time was up here & he was called home,” another Twitter user wrote.

Bryant and McGrady came into the league at the same time. Bryant’s first year was in 1996 and McGrady was drafted one year later. Bryant spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers and he helped the team win five NBA titles while being named to the All-Star game 18 times. McGrady was a seven-time All-Star and was the scoring champion in 2003 and 2004.