Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, is reflecting on the impact Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna had on the world of sports following their deaths in a helicopter crash. On Thursday, Pelinka, released his first statement since the Sunday, Jan. 26 crash, writing that “there has been an amputation of part of my soul.”
“He was, simply put, the most inspirational athlete of our time,” Pelinka said of Bryant, whose career in the NBA spanned two decades. “Kobe was a force of nature, deep and obsessed with excellence. He was wise, determined, passionate. A visionary beyond measure. A dedicated and loving husband, and a ‘girl-dad’ like no other.”
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“When he walked into a room, the energy ignited,” he continued. “He was high voltage, with a motor that had no limits. His mind has an infinite capacity to learn. He was, simply put, the most inspirational athlete of our time. What the world may not know, is that he was also the best friend anyone could ever imagine.”
Remembering Gianna, his goddaughter, Pelinka called her “pure joy,” adding that “her smile brought comfort to any and every occasion” before reflecting on the impact that young athlete had also had on the court.
“Like her dad, when she stepped onto the basketball court, she took on an entirely different nature, and boy could she play,” he recalled in part. “Her basketball destiny was apparent, and the world knew it.”
Pelinka continued, “what I am daily learning is that after the tragic loss of these nine souls, life on this side of eternity will never be the same. For any of us who knew them, there is an irreplaceable void left behind.”
He added that despite the tragedy, which claimed a total of nine lives, he is “finding that there is a hope” and that “each new step for me will be full of deep love and prayers, as a heavy sorrow for Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka and Capri, and all the families involved, is slowly redeemed into something healed and new.”
“I am coming to realize that nothing can separate any of us from the love and inspiration we’ve received from Kobe and Gianna, nothing at all,” he added.
“Their lives have shown me that death has no victory,” he continued. “Last Sunday is not the end of the story. It’s just a new beginning. Kobe and Gigi’s legacies will live on — and gain even more power and influence. All of us touched by them will now try to become torch carriers of their legacies. And, while we do that, we can be certain of this: Kobe and Gigi will continue on, forever, playing a joy-filled game of basketball in heaven above.”
