The stunning news of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death Sunday brought back memories of his 2018 visit to the Alabama football complex.
Two years after retiring from the NBA, Bryant was probably biggest speaker Alabama’s invited for preseason camp inspiration.
A video posted by the program showed the standing ovation Bryant received when stepping into the team meeting room that August day. Nick Saban was fascinated by Bryant’s mentality on the court and his approach to life. He sat down to interview Bryant as part of the video released by the school.
“Hearing you speak today about your mentality as a player and your work ethic and your perseverance gave you the confidence to the kind of player you were,” Saban told Bryant. “My comment about that was every good player I’ve ever met, they all have that. They all have talent, but they all have that.”
Bryant responded with a comment about today’s generation being outcome-oriented instead of process-oriented -- long a Saban staple in messages to athletes.
Alabama players tweeted pictures with Bryant as the stars of college football were star struck by an icon of their childhood.
“It's surreal at the same time, because he's a legend,” said Josh Jacobs, now a star in the NFL with the Raiders. “You're just looking at him like 'man, that's a walking legend.' It was crazy.”
Jacobs on Sunday tweeted prayers to the family while saying he was still in disbelief about Bryant’s death.
"I was excited to see him because that was my first time ever seeing someone that's a legend that's on that level,” said linebacker Mack Wilson in 2018, now a Cleveland Brown. “You know, makes a lot of millions of dollars and just seeing an NBA player that close up. It was definitely a good experience."
Wilson on Sunday wrote about the impact Bryant had on the lives of so many.
Little was written at the time about Bryant’s 2018 visit since there wasn’t a public-facing component to the visit outside of the school’s video. A story from AL.com at the time noted Bryant stopped for lunch at Full Moon BBQ before heading out of town.
Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.