Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a former client of Lakers executive Rob Pelinka. As Pelinka described him in his first statement since Bryant and his daughter, Gianna — who was also Pelinka’s goddaughter — died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Kobe was “his best friend.”
His extended thoughts on their loss alternate between beautiful, tragic and hopeful, and are worth reading in their entirety:
On Sunday, I lost my best friend and my sweet goddaughter. With that, there has been an amputation of part of my soul.
Kobe was a force of nature, deep and obsessed with excellence.