In another moment from his lecture series at Columbia University on Tuesday (Feb. 4), Jay-Z opened up about one of his final conversations with Kobe Bryant. The late basketball legend and his wife, Vanessa Bryant, attended Jay and Beyoncé’s recent New Year’s Eve party.
Naturally, one of the last things Kobe said to Hov was about his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant’s basketball skills.
“So Kobe was a guy that looked up to me, and we’ve hung out multiple times, and he was last at my house on New Year’s [Eve] and he was just in the greatest space that I’ve seen him in,” Hov recalled. “And one of the last things he said to me was ‘You gotta’ see Gianna play basketball.’ And that was one of the most hurtful things because he was so proud, and the look on his face…I looked at him and said ‘Oh, she’s going to be one of the best female basketball players in the world.’ So that’s really a tough one and my wife and I took that, and are taking that, really tough.”
Jay added that Kobe was “a great human being,” and reiterated that he was “in a great space in his life.”
“Just a great human being and was in a great space in his life.” pic.twitter.com/QJ1PTqkPmq
— Roc Nation Sports (@RocNationSports) February 5, 2020
The 41-year-old retired NBA player died with his daughter, and seven other victims, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26.
On Wednesday (Feb. 5), Gigi’s school, Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar, California, retired her No. 2 basketball jersey. Vanessa Bryant posted an image of the jersey on Instagram with the heartwarming caption, “My Gigi. I love you! I miss you. You’ve taught us all that no act is ever too small. Mommy is still and will ALWAYS be so proud of you mamacita.”