Vanity Fair held its annual Oscars after-party on Feb. 10. The event was attended by numerous stars including Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade. Considering that the event was held two weeks after Kobe Bryant‘s shocking death, the athlete was on everyone’s minds. And Union and Wade, a former player for the Miami Heat, took some time to speak with Extra about Bryant’s legacy.
“In every aspect of his life, he became a winner,” Wade shared, when asked how he believes people should remember Bryant. “He mastered whatever it is he needed to. And it comes with mistakes along the way, but, eventually, he mastered how to be an amazing basketball player, an amazing father, an amazing husband. So, just remember him mastering being a champion.”
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The conversation then turned towards the shock that the world collectively felt over hearing the tragic news.
The interviewer asked both Union and Wade if they were surprised by the intense reaction from Bryant’s fans across the world, to which the Bring It On actor replied that she felt that fans’ shock was incredibly understandable.
“No, I think two weeks later people are still in shock,” she remarked. “I think we won’t really have a full grasp of the magnitude of this loss for a while because I think people are still in shock.”
Just like Union said, many are still reeling over the news that Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on Jan. 26. Union and Wade themselves expressed a great deal of shock on Instagram over the sorrowful news when it was first reported.
“RIP Kobe + GiGi,” Wade wrote on Jan. 26, captioning a short clip that he reposted that featured both Bryant and his daughter’s skills on the basketball court. “I know you said keep going but today we can’t. We love you and we’re gonna miss you brother.”
“Yesterday watching my husband [and] the kids in stunned silence, just staring at them, all of us thinking about @vanessabryant [and] her children and the families that lost pieces of their heart in an instant yesterday,” Union wrote on Instagram, captioning a photo of the Bryant family. “Please remember that as life moves on for everyone else, the grief these families are experiencing just started. Please dont forget about them. Please dont forget about all the ppl who are suffering and frozen as life around them goes on. We love you. We are praying for you, for all of us struggling with unimaginable challenges we dont speak of.”
Photo Credit: Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
