Jack Nicholson Reacts to Kobe Bryant Death

Lakers superfan Jack Nicholson is speaking out following the loss of his close friend and NBA legend Kobe Bryant. Just hours after Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed when his helicopter crashed into the hills of Calabasas, California, Sunday morning the Oscar winner expressed his heartbreak when speaking to CBS Los Angeles, reflecting on their years-long friendship and the impact of Bryant’s loss.

“My reaction is the same as almost all of L.A.,” Nicholson said. “Where we think everything’s solid, there’s a big hole in the wall. I was used to seeing and talking to Kobe that…it kills you. It’s just a terrible event.”

Nicholson, who sat courtside at an L.A. Lakers game just days ago, went on to recall how he and Bryant met at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“I teased him the first time we met,” he said. “It was at the Garden in New York and I offered him a basketball and asked him if he wanted me to autograph it for him. He looked at me like I was crazy.”

“I sat right behind his jump shot on the left hand side. I can see him going up and I can tell the first instant if it’s going in,” he continued. “I remember the totality of how great a player he was…We’ll think of him all the time and we’ll miss him.”

The Oscar winner has been a long time Lakers fan and has been a staple at L.A. Lakers games for decades. When Bryant retired from the game in 2016, having spent two decades playing for the Lakers, Nicholson had appeared in a goodbye video for him, telling the basketball star, “You’ve been an inspiration to us all, and L.A. loves you,” Entertainment Tonight reported at the time.

Nicholson had also been courtside during Bryant’s final game and reflected on Bryant’s retirement when speaking with Extra.

“Very sad to see him go. 20 years? Very melancholy right now…it’s been great seeing him,” he said, adding that he almost shed a few tears. “Well, I started to in the car on the way down, and then I thought, ‘I’ll wait till it’s really happening’…I’ve been thinking about it a lot, I will tell you that.”

At the time, Nicholson also reflected on his fondest memories of Bryant’s time on the court.

“The nights that he won a championship… He’s had so many great moments,” he said. “The only thing I can tell you that I don’t like – I missed his 81-point game. My daughter came. We love him here in L.A.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Sunday that the cause of the crash is the subject of an ongoing investigation, with weather conditions and mechanical issues both being investigated as possible factors

Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa and three of their four children – Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months.