At the end of a spirited debut on Saturday Night Live this past weekend, Houston Texans star J.J. Watt paid tribute to the late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant when saying goodnight to the audience. Bryant, 41, died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Byant, his 13-year-old Gianna Bryant and seven others died in the crash.
Thank you, @JJWatt, @lukecombs, and @ABFalecbaldwin! Goodnight! 💜💛 #SNL pic.twitter.com/hBWvmSPF3Z
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 2, 2020
While saying goodnight to the audience and sending his thank yous to the Saturday Night Live cast, Watt donned a Byant jersey and imitated Bryant’s famous jump shot as he threw a piece of trash.
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Castmember Melissa Villasenor could also be seen in the background wearing a sweatshirt with the Lakers logo. Heidi Gardner also showed her support for the Kansas City Chiefs, who won Super Bowl LIV Sunday evening.
The Saturday Night Live team also tweeted the end of the episode, including heat emojis in the Lakers’ purple and yellow colors.
Following Bryant’s death late last month, Watt paid tribute on Instagram by sharing a photo of Bryant and Gianna together.
“Still can’t comprehend or believe it. just devastating,” Watt wrote. “Truly devastating. Rest In Peace.” He included a paying hands emoji.
Although it has been a week since Bryant’s death, the tributes continues to pour in, even from outside the basketball world. Country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus told PopCulture.com he still feels “physically and mentally sick” since Bryant’s death.
“Oh man, my heart is still on the ground,” Cyrus said. “I’m physically and mentally sick. This one is going to be a tough one to get over but I honestly feel like if Kobe were here, knowing what he said, this is the time here most of all that he would want us and his family to unite in his name and positivity.”
Cyrus compared Bryant’s death to other major celebrity deaths, like Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and even President John F. Kennedy.
“This has got to be what it felt like, to be honest, when President Kennedy [passed] and any losses of greatness,” Cyrus said. “Marilyn Monroe, it’s up there with Michael Jackson, Prince. Whitney Houston, I still miss Whitney Houston so much and think about her so much.”
Blue Bloods actor Donnie Wahlberg also told PopCulture.com the tragedy has reminded everyone how fragile life is.
“I can’t really put it into words,” the New Kids on the Block member explained. “I think it just reminds us all of how fragile life is and how precious it is. And when somebody that full of life and that gracious can be taken away and with his beautiful young daughter, I think it kind of knocked everyone into a sense of reality that life is so precious and we really… We’re so buried into all this anger and politics and all this different stuff and then somebody so strong and gifted is gone in the blink of an eye, and young. He’s gone. I think it woke a lot of people up.”
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Photo credit: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
