Wichita bookstore owner remembers Kobe Bryant 'the writer and publisher'

Tributes continue to pour in from around the world, honoring the memories of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna and seven others killed in Sunday's helicopter crash in Southern California.

Among those remembering a special moment with the NBA legend is a local bookstore owner who had a glimpse of what kind of man Bryant was away from the basketball court.

Watermark Books owner Sarah Bagby meets many people from the book industry, but she didn't expect her path to cross with a legendary Laker.

"It was so exciting," Bagby says of her chance to meet Bryant. "Of all the people I thought I would meet, it would not be him, and of all the people that I ever thought would present a a new publishing program."

Bagby met Bryant at an independent bookstore conference. He was there to launch a new book line through his company, Granine Studios.

"They mix some fantasy and epic tails, but they focus on training camps," Bagby explains. "This is one of the first that came out. It was created by Kobe Bryant, but it was written by someone else. It takes place at a basketball camp."

Bagby says Bryant's daughter inspired his books.

"He used an example of training his daughter and how she'd miss a shot and get emotional, and then she'd miss every shot after that. So, he was inspired to train the next generation through story," Bagby says.

At the event meeting with her and others in the industry, Bagby says Bryant did not act like a big-time celebrity.

"There were five other publishers and he went first, and he didn't leave," she says. "He stayed and he looked at the material and of the other publishers. He listened to them talk. He laughed at their jokes."

Bagby says although she only met him once, she could tell he was special, and not just on the basketball court.