“You did it, you are a real champion” : Almost fourteen months after his disappearance, Kobe Bryant was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday in a ceremony marked by the moving words of his widow Vanessa, accompanied by his idol, Michael Jordan.
This ceremony of the 2020 class, postponed last year because of the coronavirus and relocated to Uncasville (Connecticut), was also that of two other NBA players who marked the league, at the same time as the former five-time champion with the Lakers: Tim Duncan, also five times titled with San Antonio, and Kevin Garnett, winner of a ring with Boston.
The most anticipated moment was nonetheless when Vanessa Bryant would speak in place of her late husband. Delicate exercise which she had carried out with as much courage as tears at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, in February 2020, during the tribute paid a few weeks after her death in a helicopter accident, which occurred on January 26 in Calabasas , near Los Angeles, and also fatal to her 13-year-old daughter Gianna and the other seven crew members.
“I’m sure he’s laughing in Heaven”
Once again, the emotion was at the rendezvous in front of an audience of stars of the league who had made an appointment for the occasion. Michael Jordan, standing next to him, struggled to suppress a tear when Vanessa Bryant thanked him for agreeing to introduce Kobe: “He admired you. It means so much to us ”.
“I wish my husband was here so much. He and Gigi deserve to be there to see this. He would have a long list of people to thank who inspired him and empowered him to enter the Hall of Fame. Family, friends, mentors, the Lakers, teammates and opponents ”, she said. “I always avoided praising my husband in public because I felt like he was getting enough from his fans all over the world and someone needed to bring him back to reality. Right now I’m sure he’s laughing in Heaven because I’m about to congratulate him on his accomplishments on one of the most public stages ever. “
“He said to me one day: “If you gotta bet on somebody, bet on yourself”. I am happy that you bet on yourself because you excelled (…) you are one of the greatest of all time ”, concluded Vanessa Bryant, in front of her daughters Natalia, Capri and Bianka.