WEBVTT - VOID 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.640 Kobe Bryant's talents on the court were obvious and unmatched, 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.920 But what about his work off the court. He's talked 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:23.599 about the need to combat violence in the community. He 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:27.320 also talked about police abuse and police misconduct, so he 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.400 was talking about violence across the board. That to me 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.040 indicated someone that had a social consciousness, of social awareness. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.960 I'm Steve Gregory and this is the death and life 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:53.680 of Kobe Bryant. Well known writer and civil rights leader 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.680 Earl o'fari Hutchinson lives in Los Angeles and says he's 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.440 not much of a basketball fan, but he is a 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.760 fan of Iyant, mostly for what Briant wasn't known for 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:07.120 would intrigue me was oftentimes was miss with individuals like 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:11.200 a Kobe Bryant, namely what do they do off the court? 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:14.680 One thing that struck me and and reading some of 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.000 the common charities and some of the articles in pieces 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:21.039 after Kobe, you know, after the tragedy, he made a 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.080 statement and this is what really caught my eye, and 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.840 ear he said, life is more I'm paraphrasing, life is 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.399 more than just putting the ball in a hoop. Now 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.440 I reflected on that and I said wait a minute, 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:38.520 there's some depth here, there's some consciousness here, there's some understanding. Look, 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.360 I gotta have a life, and there's a world outside 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.600 the sports arena, the basketball court, the superstar celebrity thing 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.040 that you know, most people relate to him as namely, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.640 I have to deal with people or I want to 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.040 deal with people namely, and many people have problems and 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:59.760 we long checklist of things from you know, I mean housing, 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:04.880 the eats, food, um, poverty, all the things that you 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.760 know confront many, many people. So it seemed to me 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:12.920 that Kobe Bryant was getting something about I want to help. 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:14.880 I want to be a part of that. I want 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.799 to use my fame, in my celebrity hood, I want 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.639 to use that for good, um, to help humanity. That's 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:24.560 what intrigued me about him, and that's what I wanted 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.040 to write about. So I began looking at things and 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:33.560 I remember from a personal experience, UM Nipsey Hustle. Kobe 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:35.840 Nipsey was doing things, well, a number of things in 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.440 the community, but one thing he was really trying to 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:41.440 deal with the whole issue of violence in the community. 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.520 So they had a series of forums that Nipsey Hustle 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.640 put on. Kobe became to that and he talked about, 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.959 you know, the need to combat violence in the community, 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.040 and he also went a little bit further. He also 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.200 talked about police abuse and police misconduct and police find 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.400 So he was talking about violence across the board. And 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.119 so that to me indicated someone that had a social consciousness, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.079 a social awareness. I felt that that is the thing 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.800 that needed to be spotlighted. I felt I did not 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.200 want to see that get lost in the adulation and 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:20.120 the recriminations, uh, and the tears and the sadness and 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.880 the tragedy, which I mean is legitimate, But I thought 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.040 there was more than Kobe Bryant, and quite frankly still 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:38.559 do okayr L Los Angeles is ONOD syndicated radio personality. 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.320 Kurt Alexander, otherwise known as Big Boy, was a close 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.880 friend of Bryan Bryant was a frequent guest on Alexander's 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.640 morning show, Big Boy's Neighborhood here in Los Angeles. Alexander 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.760 says Bryant was more to l A than just basketball. 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.960 You know what, man, It gave it gave people something 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.520 to believe in. And not only was there something shiny 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.400 like Kobe always said you know, hard work. You know, 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:08.080 we rooted for him, and so many people love Kobe Bryant. 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.920 But it's different when it's your own too, and and 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.360 it's an example being shown to the world, and it's 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.280 a positive example. It's a person that works hard. So 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:21.280 we would see those kind of things that I've done 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.560 a lot of things with Kobe that was you know, 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.280 it wasn't about radio. It was about feeding the community, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.359 you know, taking care of the home. It's like Kobe 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:39.360 was very big on that. I was taken her back 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:47.479 by really how authentic his interest and commitment to and 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:51.440 the homelessness was. Another Carmichael is the executive director of 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.040 My Friend's Place in Hollywood, a nonprofit dedicated to helping 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:59.000 young people who were dealing with homelessness. Carmichael remembers how 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.560 Brian became interested in her organization so many years ago. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.200 Um I think when he and Vanessa were leaving the 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:14.360 Staples Center and really starting to see homelessness right outside 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.960 in the Staples Center. Like right, I can only imagine 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.160 what it was like to win a game, being that 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:24.880 state of euphoria, being a champion for Los Angeles, a 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.480 revered person, and then to pull out and see people 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.560 sleeping on the sidewalk. I can like, I think that 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:38.480 contrast really caught his attention. Um and as he went on, 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.839 I think what was a learning journey about what the 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:49.440 issue was and looking for organizations that were effective and 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:56.480 having impact in their exploration of the youth population. I 0:05:56.560 --> 0:06:00.440 was told that all heads nodded towards my friends place. 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:08.000 I feel incredibly like honored and grateful that the community 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:14.080 pointed Kobe and Vanessa our direction because their impact here 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:19.280 uh continues to this day. I knew that he understood 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:23.159 those young people, and I could see his sense of 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:29.200 responsibility of not using them for that moment. And then 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:33.279 he came back, and then he brought his community in 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:37.440 like right as it wasn't only about he and Vanessa 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.920 in that moment and having a stage to talk about 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:47.120 their interests in philanthropy and their launch of their family foundation, 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:52.400 which was beautiful unto itself. But then he invited his 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:58.279 friends and associates that our leaders in Los Angeles that 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.600 had the resources is to be able to invest in 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.960 organizations to be a part of the game changing of it. 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.520 So yes, he off the walk and he invited people 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.400 to step up alongside of him coming up a look 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.000 at how Bryant's darkest days were a wake up called 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.000 to young black men everywhere as the death and life 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:51.880 of Kobe Bryant continued. Earl Lafari Hutchinson is a well 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.200 known author, commentator, and civil rights leader in Los Angeles. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.280 Hutchinson says he's not much of a fan of basketball, 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.840 but considers Bryant a role model, especially for young African 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.440 American men. He points out that Brian's sexual assault case 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.760 in Colorado became a pivotal moment for a lot of reasons. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.280 It was a blessing and the curse. The curse was 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.720 if you're talking about the accusation of rape in the 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.080 trial in Colorado, that was a curas that had happened. 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.480 The blessing it is that had happened. Now it sounds 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:25.920 like what are you saying. I'm saying exactly that it 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.920 happened at the time. So basically you're talking about a 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:33.520 young guy who faced the situation that was essentially it 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:37.120 could have been career threatening. Um certainly it was not 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.880 life affirming, but it was threatening and it was a 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.800 wake up call for him. And I know we all 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:47.240 noticed after that decades after that. Uh, Kobe was an 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:52.079 examply individual. I mean it really was a thing to 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:55.319 wait a minute, this happened early. It caught him when 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.200 it was early. It was a shock. It was a 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.960 wake up call. And I think that did was it 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.160 alerted him. Look, I am a role model. Millions of 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.000 people watch me, millions of people judge me, and more importantly, 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.760 millions of people look up to me. So I've got 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.080 to start acting responsibly. I've got to start acting responsibly 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.720 first and foremost in the home, my wife, my family. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.559 And then also too, I have I have an obligation 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.120 to the fans. You know, the fans. Um even though 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:30.640 they over inflate. I feel athletes and their importance grossly 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.040 over inflate them. But it is what it is. So 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:39.680 the fact is they are idolatrized, these superstar athletes. People 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:42.199 do look up to them, and especially I think Kobe 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.880 was aware that so many young African American males were 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.080 looking to him because the identification with basketball, sports and 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.040 so forth. So I think all of that came together 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.480 in kind of a perfect storm. Um, I have to 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.480 be a good role model. Um. I learned a lesson, 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.040 and he asked he did learn from that, Because you know, 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.240 we have seen a number of celebrities and a number 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:09.280 of athletes that continue to do things, continue to shoot 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.319 themselves in the foot, continue to be their own worst enemies. 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.840 They haven't learned a damn thing. But he was different. 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:17.960 He did learn from that, and the proof of that 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:22.160 is it never happened again. I don't remember anything after 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:28.679 that of anything that we could call scandal, personal, involving morals, uh, 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:33.720 involving political, involving social, any kind of scandal. I don't 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.000 recall any of that. So Kobe had almost a two 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.640 decade run after that of basically exemplary behavior. But I 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.000 think the more important thing is he made up his mind. 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.360 I have to learn from this going forward. I still 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.440 got a lot of years left with my basketball career, 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:52.480 and I'm going to be looked up to in the 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.520 role model. I have to live up to that responsibility. 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.080 In many communities, especially the African American communities, because he 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.760 was looked up to, they loved this man, They really 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.480 respected him. Um, they really identified with him. When I 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:08.280 say they, I mean a lot of young African American males, 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.120 I mean they saw him as as emblematic of a 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.760 good role model and also a giant sports figure, somebody 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.640 that we definitely want to emulate. So I think that 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:21.720 is a void right there. Um, Individuals like a Kobe 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.600 Bryant in many ways are very unique and they're almost 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.160 I know it's a cliche to say this, but there 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.960 are almost irreplaceable in the sense of who can really 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.680 step in where they were. Now. That's not to say 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.880 that others aren't coming along, but if we've noticed one 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:42.360 thing I haven't seen since the debt were even during 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.679 the life of Kobe and of course the death of 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:50.560 Kobe um the kind of agulation that a sports figure 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:55.360 slash community figure. And that's what I put behind Kobe 0:11:55.360 --> 0:12:00.000 Bryant had. That's why you saw this great outpouring, uh 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.280 of I mean sense of loss. And so I think 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.800 over time that loss is going to continue to resonate 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.960 because he is irreplaceable. Hutchinson wrote about Bryant's life being 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.000 more than basketball and that's how he wants to remember him. 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.560 He also says Bryant was a unique role model. I mean, 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:22.079 we talked about African American young males visa v basketball 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.720 players in the basketball and corps only because you know, 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:29.000 the NBA is what s the players anyway, African American, 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.800 so there's an identification there. But Kobe touched the nerve. 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.880 He was not only in this country. He was global. 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.360 He had an impact beyond the borders of the United States. 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.640 So that that means, and that tells me one thing. 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:55.400 If you're a youth in Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Serbia, uh Germany, Nigeria, Taiwan, Brazil, 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.880 you know about the Kobe, you can identify with the 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:04.640 Kobe um and I think that's why there was so 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:09.040 much drama and sadness, you know, after the tragity that 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:13.160 took his LFE, because that identification was global with him. 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.480 When you really think about it, how many sports figures 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.080 have that global identification. I mean you can really could 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.440 him on one hand and still maybe have two or 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.640 three fingers left over. But Kobe was one of them. 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.640 He was unique in that sense. So, yes, he did 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.960 touch a nerve across a lot of strata, and not 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.559 just among young people, you know, everybody. I mean, the course, 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.559 the arenas aren't filled by you know, nineteen and eighteen 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.640 and seventeen and sixteen year old A lot of mature 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.160 quote unquote mature adults so let's say older adults, they 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.439 identified with the Kobe too, so men and women. So 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.319 I think that, Um, I think that again is a 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:54.320 tribute to not only his legacy, but the impact that 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.679 he had. I don't think one of the things. I 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.640 don't think that Kobe would have continued to have that 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.800 land seen impact and that and that great residence across 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.880 a lot of lines, especially among women, if there wasn't 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:10.599 a sense that Kobe had done as Maya Colpa, I 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.920 made a mistake, a bad mistake, but in this case, 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:18.439 I'm gonna try to redeem myself by being the best 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.880 person I can be. And I think because of that, 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.120 if you notice a lot of women were not hard 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:27.880 on Kobe at the end. Um. Yeah, it was brought 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.840 up about what happened in Colorado, the rape accusation and 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:35.000 the trial, but you know that passed. Most of the 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.960 focus I saw on Kobe was really two things. One Um, 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.400 of course, basketball on the court, I mean that dominated, 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.720 But also thought there was a subtext to that. Individuals 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:50.920 like I brought up namely coldly the humanitarian coobly Kobe 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:55.480 the role model for actually doing good and giving back 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.240 to the community. I thought that was there too, and 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:00.680 I thought that was emphasized, maybe not as much as 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.800 basketball in sports, but nonetheless it was still in the mix. 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.640 Heather Carmichael's the executive director of My Friend's Place, a 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.320 nonprofit shelter for young homeless people. She says Briant's impact 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.360 on the organization will be felt for years. I think 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:22.080 they're Los Angeles will forever feel his absence. But his 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:30.160 action I think created momentum and built bridges in ways 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.440 that I can't really speak to it as a void 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:41.400 um for my Friends Place, because he opened eyes, he 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:48.600 opened doors, he opened people's hearts in ways that I 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.440 don't think can be shut again. I guess like on 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:57.840 an individual level, some people might have turned away, but 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:04.120 it was a game changer for or a champion to say, 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:12.240 look at this issue, we cannot tolerate Los Angeles to 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:19.840 not pull this into greater focus and greater action. So yeah, 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:26.480 I don't sense the void there. And he was one 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:33.560 of the early kind of champions to like associate his name, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.840 And you know, I think folks that have stages have 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:42.880 contemplated how to associate their names with different causes, and 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:50.120 I just feel like maybe there risk cause analysis hadn't 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:56.320 afforded people to like really think about the brilliance of 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:04.840 associating themselves with such a humanitarian issue in our own backyard. 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:10.480 And I never saw his hesitation to do that right, 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.000 And maybe there was a lot of contemplation that came 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:19.040 before um I got to meet him and his team 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:24.479 and Vanessa. But the moment he stepped into my Friend's place, 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:30.240 I got to see that fire in his eye and 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:35.639 the the willingness, and it just like everything made sense, 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:40.520 Like there's this extraordinary moment of like I was hesitant, 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:45.000 Like right, I didn't know Kobe. And my role in 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:49.320 my responsibility uh here at my friends place is to 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:54.080 ensure that we offer the young people the greatest amount 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:58.560 of protection that we can as it comes to our 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:03.119 community association shion with both the community and young people. 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.680 So I, I admittedly was a little bit suspect, But again, 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.600 the moment they walked in the door, I saw his 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:18.719 genuine interest in being a champion for ending homelessness. And 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.800 then he sat at this table with these young people 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:27.960 that saw him as hero. He could have maintained that 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:31.720 edge with them, but he sat at that table as 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:36.320 someone that was genuinely like taking these young people in 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.920 one their admiration for him, But he didn't stop there. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:46.240 He listened to who they were, what their dreams were, 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:51.000 and what the consequences of their circumstances of being homeless, 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:57.360 and he synthesized the that those experiences and then turned 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.239 to the media that a way did him as he 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:07.479 announced their family foundation, and he expressed what he heard 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:15.879 from those young people in such real connected not artificial, 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:23.720 not like objectifying. He understood what homelessness meant to those 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:29.959 young people, but also didn't diminish them to their circumstances. 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.480 He saw them in very whole ways, just like I 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.960 bet he did with every young person he mentored on 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:41.719 a court. He won my heart in that moment coming up. 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.800 Those who worked with him knew him and knew of him. 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.840 Remember the day of the helicopter crash as the death 0:19:47.880 --> 0:20:05.200 in Life of Kobe Bryant continues, m Kurt Alexander, otherwise 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.840 known as Big Boy. It was a close friend of Bryant's. 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.639 We heard earlier about the friendship the two shared, but 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:13.199 he also remembers the morning of the crash. You know 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.119 it was. It was a Sunday, and Kanye West does 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:19.880 the thing called uh uh Sunday What what? What is it? 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.800 It's uh Sunday Sunday Service. Sun cleverly hited there in 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.400 the Sunday service. So I was at Sunday Service with 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.800 you know, with my family and Kanye and everybody, and 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:32.720 we were just happy to be driving home. And I 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.160 was driving. My wife was sitting next to me, and 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.560 she said she got a phone call and I heard 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:42.280 her say Kobe died. And instantly I'm like looking at her, 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.800 like Kobe die and this she was like, what happened? 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.200 In my head? You know, your mind goes so fast. 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:51.240 I'm thinking so many different scenarios and is this a 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.440 real phone call? But it was my daughter calling from 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:55.960 one car to the car that we were in, which 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:59.439 was behind my daughter's car as far as you know, 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.640 being with their friends. When I heard that, it just 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:08.720 felt so surreal. It just felt unbelievable. Like from that 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.159 point on, I don't even remember any of the words. 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.000 I don't remember the traffic, I don't remember what was 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:16.879 the next you know lane, you know the road that 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:19.560 we were getting off of. Like everything became just just 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.280 a blur. Because Kobe is one of those guys that 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:26.359 you just felt like he was gonna live forever or 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:28.920 you know, like it wasn't gonna be you know, an 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:30.919 instant thing when you get a phone call while you're 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.760 riding with your family. So that was on a Sunday. 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:37.240 What was your show like on that Monday? Horrible? My 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:43.440 show was horrible. It was because it was live, it 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:47.280 was Los Angeles. It was putting people on that probably 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.880 never thought they would be on the air before because 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:52.880 they didn't thought they had didn't have a reason, and 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:54.720 they never thought that they would be on the air 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:58.359 talking about Kobe Bryant. We just opened up the phone 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:00.440 lines and we let the people speak, and you heard, 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.879 I mean not just from us, because we were in 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.639 here bawling. We were crying. You heard it in every 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:10.520 phone call. There was no phone tap that day. There 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.119 was no funniness, there was you know, it was just 0:22:14.320 --> 0:22:17.360 it was we were all very emotional that day. And 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:20.560 and and it's crazy because I have shows. This is 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:24.240 my twenty seventh year of radio, and I have shows 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:27.159 that I can remember, and that's called back to me 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:32.520 all the time. The day my mom passed and I 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:36.560 came on air to announce that my mother died, Tupac 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:42.800 passing Nipsey, Hustle, passing Kobe Bryant passing out. Of all 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:45.720 the shows that I've done, those are the shows that 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:49.080 always come back, you know. And with pocket was I 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:51.879 announced to Los Angeles. So people remember that, old man, 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.320 when you announced when not eleven happened, we were live. 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:58.920 We announced that people had some time with Nipsey, people 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:02.639 have some time with Kobe. And no matter if it 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.679 was you know, eighteen hours the next day or something 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.600 like that, people were very emotional on air with us. 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.840 We we didn't know how to we even now I 0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:16.480 can't digest it. So the next day we weren't ready, 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:20.480 you know, but it was beautiful, not beautiful radio. It 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:25.360 was a beautiful day to also celebrate. But the day 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:28.879 that we just steve we came together. You could feel it. 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:32.200 You could feel it. You I mean everyone in the room. 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:35.200 Of course, this is you know, pre pandemic. So everyone 0:23:35.240 --> 0:23:39.480 in the room just red eyed. Everybody's crying, the callers 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:44.000 like and just silence on, letting people take their time. 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:45.960 You know. It was it was. It was a show 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:55.560 that I would never forget. Their car Michael worked with 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.480 Bryant and his wife Vanessa, my friend's Place, a shelter 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:02.400 for young homeless people. She too remembers hearing about the accident. 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:07.359 I was training my friends Place runs the l A 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:12.000 Marathon as one of our fundraising and community building endeavors 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:16.920 um I it was my first full marathon, and I 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:21.199 was out training and my phone. I could feel the 0:24:21.359 --> 0:24:24.639 texts coming through, but you know, I'm listening to music. 0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:27.400 I'm trying to, like go on a really long run, 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:33.399 and finally I just stopped and took in those texts 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:36.439 and standing in the middle of I don't even remember 0:24:36.440 --> 0:24:38.119 where I think I might have been in the still 0:24:38.160 --> 0:24:47.120 a and just being overwhelmed and so sad for Vanessa 0:24:48.280 --> 0:24:53.280 and her family, and just like feeling the collective loss 0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:56.879 for Los Angeles. I didn't know that I would be 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:03.720 so impacted. Um, but really, you know, one being touched 0:25:03.840 --> 0:25:12.240 by his being nous and his generosity and the bigness 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:18.199 of his presence and just the realness of his kindness 0:25:18.440 --> 0:25:21.240 and how that is as like it's a part of 0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:25.280 our social fabric. And I guess I felt that tear 0:25:25.400 --> 0:25:34.320 in that moment. Author and civil rights leader Earlfari Hutchinson 0:25:34.359 --> 0:25:36.840 says he was in his car inside his garage when 0:25:36.840 --> 0:25:39.760 he heard about the helicopter crash and he couldn't believe it. 0:25:39.840 --> 0:25:42.600 And uh, I'm, you know, doing a little surfing on 0:25:42.600 --> 0:25:45.920 my cell phone looking at some of the news. Now 0:25:45.960 --> 0:25:51.399 here's here's where it gets. Really I'm laughing. I mean 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:55.119 I'm laughing almost because it's there's apothos here about this. 0:25:56.119 --> 0:25:59.800 So I catched his news item Sunday. This is Sunday. 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:03.320 I catch his news item. Uh, Kobe Bryant killed in 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:06.000 the crash. I laughed. I'll tell you why I laugh 0:26:06.440 --> 0:26:08.880 because you know, on the internet you get so much 0:26:08.920 --> 0:26:11.800 of this stuff. Celebrities dies, celebrities doing that. I mean, 0:26:11.800 --> 0:26:14.080 I've seen so much of that. People are, you know, 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:17.320 with their sardonic humor, they put all this crap up there. 0:26:17.760 --> 0:26:20.400 So I said it. So I laughed at it. I said, 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:26.439 God but um, and I've kind of dismissed it. But 0:26:26.840 --> 0:26:29.159 about five or ten minutes later on online and of 0:26:29.200 --> 0:26:32.520 course the c ann headline, and then that was a shock. 0:26:33.720 --> 0:26:36.879 What I thought was a gag, a very poor chase gag, 0:26:37.160 --> 0:26:41.679 a very sard donni you know, pathological gag that somebody 0:26:41.760 --> 0:26:44.240 put it I thought put on the internet. Well it 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:45.920 turned out to be the truth. It was a shock. 0:26:46.480 --> 0:26:49.880 I said, this cannot be. It cannot be for several reasons. One, 0:26:50.080 --> 0:26:52.240 I mean, when you look at Kobe, I mean, it's 0:26:52.240 --> 0:26:54.840 not like he's you know, ninety years old, you know, 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:57.720 in the walker and a wheel chair. When you look 0:26:57.760 --> 0:26:59.280 at him, you still thinking of me as a young 0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:01.440 guy on the work. I mean, that's the image of 0:27:01.520 --> 0:27:04.159 you have you have with with Kobe. That was the 0:27:04.200 --> 0:27:06.320 first thing that was the biggest part of the shot. 0:27:06.480 --> 0:27:08.199 He would be one of the last people on the 0:27:08.240 --> 0:27:11.639 planet I would think would go that way. The second 0:27:11.680 --> 0:27:14.040 thing is the way he died right in our own backyard, 0:27:14.680 --> 0:27:16.960 right here in l A County. So all of these 0:27:16.960 --> 0:27:20.919 things came together. I think that that really dramatized, at 0:27:21.000 --> 0:27:23.840 least in my mind, the shock aspect of it. And 0:27:23.880 --> 0:27:26.800