Ice Cube’s Son Recounts Tragic Story of Trying to Text Kobe Bryant After he Died

Kobe Bryant died a year ago, and his death shocked the entire world. Everyone loved the Black Mamba. He was a true inspiration for young athletes. Kobe was unstoppable on the basketball court. He did his thing and his skills helped him win five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. The world had a hard time accepting the dark reality. Kobe will never ever play the game. We will never get a chance to see him at Staples Center. The Black Mamba is gone. Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. can’t accept his death.

January 26, 2020 is one of the darkest days in US history. The nation lost a legend. The Lakers icon and his sweet daughter died in a horrible helicopter crash. Gigi was full of life. She wanted to play professional basketball just like her dad. Kobe was a proud dad and loving husband. They didn’t deserve this accident.

Kobe Bryant died, but his legacy will always live

The news of Kobe’s death came like a shock. O’Shea was rehearsing for a basketball-related project that day. He is a diehard Lakers fan who remembered all the great games Kobe had in his career. Remember when the Black Mamba hit 81 points in the game against the Raptors? O’Shea sure remembers it. He does a lot of Laker talk, and his friends, colleagues and family don’t mind any of that.

”I was in Richmond, Virginia, rehearsing for my first day of work the next day,” Jackson told Bill Oram and Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “Ironically, it was for a project by the name of ‘Swagger,’ which is executive-produced by Kevin Durant, and its main focus is basketball. Everyone who knows me knows I am one of the biggest Laker fans there ever was. And four days prior, I was reminding everyone on set that it was the day that Kobe scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. … I had literally, literally, just finished talking about Kobe to a young actress by the name of Christina Jackson, who plays my wife in the show, and was expressing to her how much Laker talk she was going to have to endure from me.”

Shocking news

O’Shea first heard of the death from one of his colleagues. He was shocked. Yes, he was so shocked that he even texted Kobe after the crash.

“When rehearsal finished, I walked to my car the same way I always do,” said Jackson. “And just before I grabbed the (car door) handle, the entire set ran out to meet me at my car. And Austin, our first A.D. (assistant director), has this look on his face of fear and confusion. He screamed, ‘Shea, wait!’ He was on the phone and kept asking the person, ‘Are you positive? Are you positive?’ I swear on the Lord above, my first words were, ‘Is it about the Lakers?’ To which he replied, ‘No, it’s worse.’

“So my initial thought was that it was about my father. I pull out my phone and see that I have at least 30 to 40 messages. And at the bottom of the notifications was TMZ. Every single message told me that Kobe died. I looked in everyone’s face. They all waited for me to say something. Instead, I just got in my car in silence and drove to my hotel. As soon as I walked through the door, I fell to my knees and cried harder than I can ever remember. I took out my phone to text Kobe. I texted, ‘Please tell me it’s not true.’ And the message never delivered.”

Mamba mentality

Kobe died at 41. Current and former NBA players delivered messages of support for the Bryant family. A lot of people honored the Black Mamba. They all wanted to pay tribute to the legend and his legacy. Kobe did so much in his life and he was successful off and on the court.

The NBA icon retired in 2016 and was a true mentor for young athletes. Kobe won an Academy Award for his short film and was really successful with his business.