Kobe Bryant Tribute Planned for PGA Tournament in Los Angeles

There have been a number of tributes for late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as he died in [...]

By Brian Jones

There have been a number of tributes for late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as he died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna and seven other people on Jan. 26. And the tributes will continue this week as he will be honored at the Genesis Invitational, a PGA Tournament in Los Angeles. The tournament announced on Monday that Riviera's eighth hole will serve as a memorial to Bryant with a purple and yellow flag with a "Mamba" adorned sign at the tee. The tournament posted a photo of the hole on their Twitter page.

Tiger Woods is the host of Genesis Invitational and he became good friends with Bryant over the years.

"We really connected on more the mental side of it, the prep, how much it takes to be prepared," Woods said on the day of Bryant's death via Golf Digest. "That's where he and I really connected, because we're very similar. We both came in the league—well, he came in the league and I turned pro right around the same time and we had our 20-year run together. It's shocking.

"Life is very fragile, as we all know. You can be gone at any given time and we have to appreciate the moments we have."

Woods was playing in a tournament when he first heard the news.

"I didn't understand why the people in the gallery were saying 'do it for Mamba,'" Woods said. "But now I understand. It's a shocker to everyone. Unbelievably sad, and one of the more tragic days that ... for me, the reality is just setting in. I was just told probably about five minutes ago."

Bryant was a member of the Lakers from 1996-2016 and led the team to five championships. When Bryant announced his retirement in 2015, Woods paid respect to him for playing in the NBA for 20 years.

"Twenty years in the NBA is more than 20 years in most sports," said Woods during a press conference via Golf.com. "At [Bryant's] position — I mean he was a flyer — you only have so many jumps in the body, and on top of that only so many landings. The last three years he's gone through some pretty tough injuries. He's also been as durable as durable gets. On top of that he played both ends of the court. He played two Olympic teams, all the qualifiers. The guy played a lot of basketball."

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