The kala bass sass area. Four others in the helicopter have been confirmed dead according to the l. A. County sheriff. Among them bryants 13yearold daughter, gianna, his second daughter, who was an aspiring basketball player, the teammate of giannas, the parent and the pilot. He was considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was an 18 time nba allstar. He won five championships with the los angeles lakers. He was expected to be inducted into the hall of fame on the first ballot this summer. He was 41 years old. Joining us now on set, the host of politics nation, the president of the National Action network, reverend al sharpton. He has worked with him and known kobe bryant for many years. Mike peska, the greatest what ifs in sports history. Rev, one of the things you were reflecting on with us during the break was that you had a conversation of what individuals like this, super stars, if you will, that supersede the sport or that which brought them to fame and what death might mean to not only our country but the fans of that very superstar. The first thing that hit me when i got the news was kobe bryant was there when i did the eulogy at michael jackson, the pop singers funeral, and he said it was very brief but impactful conversation. He said, wow, its something when somebody of that kind of magnitude and fame goes unexpectedly. He said, reverend, you handled it well, he said, because how do you make sense out of that . And now were dealing with this with kobe. As were trying to pull pieces together and make sense out of what happened. The details well know, but the magnitude of it. I thought about that conversation that he and i had in the Staples Center. There you are at that time. When you were speaking with him at that time and thereafter, how did kobe change over the years . You got a lot of personal conversations, special moments in our history. We run into each other at events. Right. And the kobe that as he got older, you never had a long, deep conversation with, but you kind of would like speak. Youd notice that he became more less competitive, less edgy in his encounters. You know, it was like in the beginning that you run into him, it was almost like, yo, how you doing, and keep going. But he was a little more into talking, hows everything . Whats going on, and move on. He was not a social justice activist like that, but you could tell that he was he knew what was happening. He wanted to be in the know and he would say certain things i think in his mature years that he would never say when he was younger. He was talking about do the right thing. He started saying, theres a reason to stand up for things in interviews where the early kobe would just stay totally out of that. One of those things, mike, one of those very important issues for him that was difficult for him in his younger years but he took responsibility and he moved forward with it was his commitment to the wnba, his commitment to gender equality, his commitment certainly to his four daughters. I was listening to a podcast called the knuckleheads with ron artest. Then i said, let me check in on the kobe one. He talks about the 13yearold daughter who tragically died today. Its amazing. He talks about running the triangle offense with the 13yearold daughters team. He talks about things he would do to teach her to use her left hand, things that he he was great with both hands. He would say brush your teeth with your left hand, eat with your left hand. The amount of basketball that he talked in relationship to his daughter surpassed Everything Else that he talked about with anyone younger than him. He reflected back, and you can see that in his eyes the future of basketball was through his daughter and through maybe Womens Basketball as well. He was just this interview and really imbibing all of this information about kobe, it really makes you realize that as much as sports fans we kind of nurse our hatred and its kind of a fun way to supplement our emotions. When Something Like this happens it cuts through and everyone who ever said i wasnt a fan of kobe bryant is absolutely devastated because they know what he meant for the game. Always debates between the nba and the wnba. We can go through that back and forth in terms of equality, pay, et cetera, et cetera, but whats very focused here is that kobe believed his daughter could become him. Yeah. Kobe had a great belief in himself, and when you said that later in life he maybe lost a little bit of his edge, i think he just got socialized. I dont think he lost his edge at all. If you looked at that guy 19 years old, 20 years old in the nba and feeling that he had to outwork everyone, that was exactly the case in his last season in the nba and in his professional life as well. He was such a relentless competitor. He once told newsweek he doesnt believe in happiness. Maybe later he would back away. It was amazing. As much as he was in the top 1 of basketball talent, he was probably in the. 1 for mentality of greatness. When i say edge, i dont mean Competitive Edge. I dont mean he ever lost that. He never lost his edge. But i think that part of what helped to socialize him, i would agree with what you say is watching his daughter grow up and getting in the game. And it became personal to him about the wnba, which someone of his stature in the game to stand with them and fight for them at the times he did was not a given. Right. So i think that it was a real statement. And he wasnt just a guy that just say, yeah, yeah, its nice, he really was a promoter and engaged with that. And i think the fact that its very, very poignant when you say he saw his daughter being able to be him because that wasnt a normal thing for a lot of athletes to imagine their daughter. Thats a great statement about gender equality and about how kobe bryant saw the world. What do you think drove him, to both of you here, to make that change . The kobe bryant as i was saying earlier in the last hour was 18, was certainly different than the kobe bryant that was 41 that tragically died today. Well, you know him personally, but i would just say that as we mature, we sometimes our apertures widen. So he had to be so narrowly focused when he was really the first guard ever taken out of high school. There were three or four High School Players who went to the nba before him. I think literally four. They were always big men. It was always thought he could never make it in the nba. Drafted 13th and traded. He wasnt seen as the next great thing. Maybe a possibility. He was so relentlessly focused and probably didnt enter his consciousness that much. Of course when youre a young male in the nba youre surrounded by that as your milieu. As you grow up and mature. Lets not sugar coat everything he went. He went through i shouldnt say he went through. There was a Rape Allegation against him. He settled civilly with the accuser, but he did say he learned and grew from that experience. So the person he was tragically by the end of his life is both a summation in sum total of who he was all along but also a very different person from what he was 10 or 12 years ago. I agree with that. As i said, we had encounters at social events. I wasnt one that sat and delved into him as others, but i would say life is what happened to him. As he grew up and in the game and outside and went through certain challenges like the allegation and all, i think it gives you a different view of the world and it makes you also understand that your superstar come superstardom doesnt make you beyond the reality of the social environment in which you live. Also having children growing up can change you, and i think that all of that he handled well and kept his fierce Competitive Edge because he never disappointed us on the court. I think that he showed a growth curve in the off the court. Yeah. But on the court he was the same guy with the same hunger and drive. I dont think ive ever watched a game that he would play where he seemed relaxed or like that he, you know, felt that tvs a given. Im kobe bryant. No, he came out there like he was that same kid that had something to prove. I remember the interview right before his last game and thats exactly what he was reflecting, that same Energy Despite he being an older interview, two years ago in 2017. He was saying, i cant believe this is going to be my glaims because i still have the same angst, the same desires. Im about to play my final game as an l. A. Laker. I want to bring somebody else in here. Jerome williams, thank you so much. Former detroit piston as well as a spur and i thank you for being with us. Jerome, talk about kobe and the loss of kobe today and how you knew him. You know, just a huge shout of condolences to his family, to vanessa, his wife, his children, his parents. I knew kobe ever since the draft back in 1996. I was a part of. And vividly remember him just walking around, you know, at the predraft and didnt really know anybody and a lot of the guys that we played against each other in college, we kind of had a little camaraderie and then he was almost like a little outsider in that sense. But his game, you know he ended up being the number one from that 1996 class in terms of, you know, where he started and where he ended up. Jerome, just for our viewers here, we have two live pictures that were sharing with you as well as our viewers. On the lefthand side you can see fans gathering at Staples CenterDowntown Los Angeles and there you can see on the big screen in loving memory of kobe bryant. And that has been up for a good amount of time, and many are just trying to figure out what this means. Weve seen fans crying. We have seen fans old and young reflecting in so many different ways. And the righthand side hugs. The nba lakers coming back from philadelphia. Wheels down just moments ago, and certainly when they were in the air, they had to reflect in a way they did not want to in that sixhour trip now landing at l. A. X. You can certainly see the grief thats being shared at this moment. So on the lefthand side, a sad moment for southlanders and fans of basketball all around the world. On the righthand side you can see current nba players landing lakers coming in from philadelphia, getting the news potentially when they were in the air from a game today. And well continue, of course, to follow all of that video coming in. Jerome, what do you think it means as we watch this video, fellow l. A. Lakers, finding out in transit after a game . Yeah, its its devastating. I mean, this kobe bryant is an icon. Hes an nba legend. He is a person that, you know, my son you know, we were at a tournament in california and we were in the he just got finished playing his game, you know, and just made the allstar team and he gets the news that kobe bryant, you know, is in a tragic accident and just its just devastating because these kids, you know, looked up to you know, put that they want to be like the best and kobe bryant was one of the best. He was one of the players that people considered to be in comparison with Michael Jordan and that is no small fete. His work ethic was impeccable. His leadership in terms of, you know, coming to the office every day. He never disappointed the fans because when they paid to see him play, they were paying to see greatness. They were paying to see someone who was at the top of their class and he he was just so competitive. He had to go up against guys like me and other great, great play e players. I heard you speak about earlier about his family and what he was doing sort of after the game, and he comes out to las vegas to support both of his daughters and one of his daughters was playing volleyball with against my daughter. And wed have conversations that and i just want to say that, you know, he was one of those guys thats just very special. Hell always be remembered as one of the greats. Jerome williams, former nba professional, thank you, jerome. Were sorry for your loss of your friend, kobe bryant, and i appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for having me. Id now like to bring in kobe bryants former lakers teammate, meadowworld peace. He joins us on the phone now. Thank you for being with us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How did you learn about today . I know this is a tough loss for you. People text you and then, you know, just you hear one text and youre like, you know, maybe theyre wrong. Then 30 more coming in. Its confirmed, you know . Its not good. Not good. Im not going to be able to talk. It was good, you know. Yeah. Kobes great. We started out watching his greatness early, i was 19 years old, he was 20. We know one day he was going to get a championship. You know, just playing with him, watching him doing the majors stuff. Focused guy. You know, he was very he was very focused guy. I remember voted offense, see all the books that he was writing. Talk about stuff. Meta, ive also got mike peska with me, too. He would like to ask you a question. Hi. How are you doing . I know that youre involved in many different projects outside of basketball, rap, writing, selfexpression and kobe used to talk about writing as part of his process. I wondered if you guys had any conversations about that sort of stuff, things that werent basketball and how to incorporate that into your life . Well, you know, i mean, kobe was a writer. Hes a writer, first. Rapper, writer, but he can write books and he comes to the room and say, hey, meta, im about to come up to your room. Put on the beat. We start rapping. You know, it was really amazing. Just like hes not rapping to a current album, but he writes. He would just rap for like 30 minutes, 20 minutes. You know, he was an amazing writer. He knows how to put together words. He also knows how to say one word answers, you know . Hes very efficient with his words. You know, i just remember a lot of things about kobe. When we were playing, we were very competitive towards the end of our career. During the end of our career we had lunch together. Our careers was almost over. In the trenches, go to practice, go to game. That was pretty much it. You know . Very similar. I wish i could have spent more time in that you know, i thought that, you know, he was teaching me some things and i wanted to show him what i was doing and come to fruition. I didnt think that i thought we would have time. Reverend al sharpton is here, meta. He has a question for you. You obviously have done a lot of work on the court and off the court. As you had discussions down through the years with kobe and toward the end, more when yall were not as competitive, did he also seem sensitive to a lot of things that he never really would publicly get involved in . If you had encounters like i had with him, he seemed to have a sensitivity that he really never was that public about. Did you find that . Because obviously you personified that and was involved on and off the court. How was the sensitivity level to you that kobe would share . Yeah. It was you right, reverend. He was great to speak to. Really good to speak to you. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. You know, so he was more vulnerable at the end of his career. In the beginning he was trying to win his sixth title, fifth title. He was all business. Practice was more intense than the games. At the end, have lunch, talks, have some drinks together. You know, whereas before during our championship days, there wasnt a lot of that stuff going on. You know, and then you see him with his daughter, you know, hes put a lot of time in. He was so focused on basketball. People understand. People dont understand. When his career was over, i was so happy. I was so happy for vanessa, that she gets you for a long period of time instead of just after games. But, yeah yeah. God bless you and thank you for being on with us because you are a role model, too, and im sure it was a hard shock to you, but we wanted to hear from you because of what you represent and a competitor that also understood and bonded with kobe bryant. Absolutely. It was great speaking to you. You just continue the great work, reverend. Thank you. And if i can ask you a question that pulls back a little bit from the very deep conversation you just had. Can you just give me a sense of what it was like to guard the guy wherp an opponent . You would have to try to study for him. He must have been incredibly difficult from a mental and physical perspective to try to put a hold on. Metta, are you still there . Metta world peace taking the time. As he said to us on the way in, its been a difficult day for him. Yeah. Hes been asked by so many who was kobe bryant. And he took the time. You could clearly hear, especially talking to you as often does happen, he thought of things in a different way in thinking about his good friend kobe bryant. The thing i think also that is very important, i heard someone say earlier, mike eluded to it, this was a guy who was not naturally in terms of his own mind coming up to be as good and great as he became in the sport. And which made him work harder. I mean, if you talk about role model, metta used that term. Heres a guy that said, you know, im going out here and make myself become great. It wasnt a given. And i think that that is one of the real messages of kobe bryants rise is he would when you hear metta say hed been in the office every day. He would it was legendary. He would over practice if theres such a way of doing that because he didnt take greatness for granted. Some people are gifted and he didnt take it as a gift that he could assume he had. He worked at it. And if there was an exa a. Exampf that, it was kobe bryant. He worked hard and made it appear natural, but he worked at it. Never stopped working at it. Were clearly watching an individual mid arc who died today at the age of 41. Right. Right. I want to in fact on that very point because weve been talking about his family and being taken away mid arc here, was the relationship with his daughter gianna and heres a little bit of sound on that very topic. Only time i touch a basketball now is to shoot with gianna so but she would challenge me. Im sure. She would. My best day, when we go out people will come up to us. It will be me and gianna, kobe, when you going to have a boy . When you going to have a boy . Giannas looking at them like we need a boy to carry on your legacy. I got this. Thats good parenting. You saw the smile on his face reflecting on who gianna was to be. And the smile and the pride and the fact that he would tell the story in an interview which showed a fathers approval. I mean, it wasnt like something that he would just say cause youre having dinner, he wanted the world to say gianna say she got this which is his approval by saying that. Thats a very moving tape, especially when we have such a sad day with losing him and her. Yeah. So reflecting on what you just said about kobe being mid arc. I saw an interview where he quoted one of his high school teachers, mr. Fisk from lower Marian High School there in pennsylvania. Mr. Fisk used