Kobe Bryant's Last Words Revealed: Texted His Agent To Help Get A Friend's Daughter A Job
By Mike Walters on February 24, 2020 at 9:31 AM EST
Gettyimages | Allen Berezovsky
Kobe Bryant's agent and general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers Rob Pelinka shared the NBA legend's last words while speaking at his memorial, and of course, it was a selfless act to help a friend's daughter.
Pelinka shared the heartbreaking story during his speech during Kobe and Gigi's memorial, explaining that the morning of the deadly crash, he recieved a text message from Kobe while he was in church.
Rob explained that for some reason he felt like he should check his phone even though he was in the middle of the service. The text was from Kobe, asking if Pelinka knew of a specific baseball scout in the Southern California area.
Gettyimages | FREDERIC J. BROWN
Kobe's agent told the packed crowd, he almost didn't respond because it was business, but felt at this moment he should text with his longtime friend and brother. He responded he had seen that exact agent recently at a Lakers game.
In the text chain, Rob explained, Kobe was asking so he could help get a friend's young daughter an internship at the agency so she could get a foot in the door of the business.
The text came through around 9:30 a.m. -- Kobe was texting him from inside of the helicopter.
Gettyimages | FREDERIC J. BROWN
Rob responded that he would do what he could to help the process and would get back to Kobe. Turns out, the friend he was trying to help was John Altobelli. The famed baseball coach who also lost his life in the devastating helicopter crash. Kobe was attempting to help Altobelli's daughter, Lexi, get a jump start on her career path.
In a fitting way, Kobe Bryant's last act was helping someone else reach their goals and dreams. "Kobe's last human act was heroic," Rob told the crowd. Saying, Kobe "wanted to use his platform to help shape someone else's future."
Several minutes after the two stopped texting, Kobe was killed when the helicopter crashed into hills outside of Los Angeles.
"Kobe's last human act was heroic."
— Rob Pelinka pic.twitter.com/oyuNRvPYOc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 24, 2020
Gettyimages | FREDERIC J. BROWN
Kobe's agent made it clear, the Black Mamba "lived life to make everyone else's life better, all the way up to the last text."
As we reported, Kobe and Gigi's memorial featured his wife Vanessa Bryant, Michael Jordan, Shaq and Jimmy Kimmel. Also, the event featured performances by Beyonce and Alicia Keys.
During a speech by Michael Jordan, he explained to the crowd the two best NBA players who ever lived would have late-night conversations about life, basketball, and their families. "When Kobe Bryant died a piece of me died," Jordan said.