The Los Angeles Lakers, the team that Kobe Bryant spent his entire career with, recently honored the late basketball player during their first home game since his passing. On Friday, Jan. 31, the team didn’t just honor Bryant by wearing his #8 and #24 jerseys or playing a montage of his greatest moments on the team, they also honored him with a performance of “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.
During the halftime portion of the game, Khalifa and Puth took to the center of the court to perform the emotional song, which originally honored the late Paul Walker. The pair’s performance simply added another, moving layer to a tribute that was already full of special moments.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In addition to the performance, Staples Center also decorated the stands with Bryant’s #8 and #24 jerseys. Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, even highlighted the move on her own Instagram by posting a photo of the place that the venue set aside for both the NBA legend and his daughter Gianna, who was also killed in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash.
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth performed “See You Again” during halftime. pic.twitter.com/9hf1BBpRjR
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 1, 2020
LeBron James, a current player on the Lakers and a friend of Bryant’s, also made a heartfelt speech during the tribute to honor the late icon’s legacy. He started his speech by reading a list of the names of the nine victims who perished in the tragic helicopter crash.
“Alyssa Altobelli. John Altobelli. Keri Altobelli. Payton Chester. Sarah Chester. Christina Mauser. Ara Zobayan. Gianna Bryant. And Kobe Bryant,” he began. James went on to say that he wasn’t going to stick to his prepared notes. Instead, he was going to speak from the heart.
“I got something written down, they asked me to kind of stay on course or whatever the case may be,” James said. “But Laker Nation, man, I would be selling y’all short if I read off this s— so I’m going to go straight from the heart.”
“Now, I know at some point, we will have a memorial for Kobe,” James said. “But I look at this as a celebration tonight. This is a celebration of the 20 years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the broken-down body, the getting up, the sitting down, the everything. The countless hours, the determination to be as great as he could be. Tonight, we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad we’ve seen over the past three years, man.”
“Tonight is a celebration,” he said.
