(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Naomi Osaka became a mother of a beautiful baby girl a few weeks ago, while she has foreseen her come back on the Tour for the 2024 Australian Open.The young Japanese star has always been a fan of other sports champions. She has told many stories about it throughout her career, including in reference to lessons she has been confronted with when she has had to deal with mental health issues.Among them, Naomi talked about the invaluable lesson she learned from the late NBA star Kobe Bryant.She said, during the Mountaintop Conversations By Saysh podcast on Spotify, how the Los Angeles Lakers star has always helped her through difficult times.Naomi said Bryant has inspired numerous people around the world: “I was lucky enough to interact with Kobe, before he passed.
He was always saying stuff about passing it down to the next generation.”
The death of Kobe Bryant
At 9:06 am PDT on January 26, 2020, Bryant, his thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others took off from Orange-John Wayne County Airport in California aboard Sikorsky S-76B helicopter registrations N72EX owned by of the player.The aircraft crashed in Calabasas at approximately 9:47 am, catching fire.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department put out the fire at 10:30, confirming the deaths of all passengers. According to initial reports, the helicopter crashed due to thick fog.On February 7, a strictly private funeral was held at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, California, after which Bryant and his daughter were buried.
A public commemoration was held on February 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where ordinary people, many personalities from the world of NBA basketball and Bryant’s friends gathered.During the ceremony Christina Aguilera performed Ave Maria, Alicia Keys played Beethoven and Beyoncé’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano, with a medley of Halo and XO.
The latter has been defined as one of Bryant’s favorite songs, to which the singer made changes to the lyrics during the performance, omitting references to crashes or death present in the song’s verses.
