Baseball player Kevin Pillar has always been a big fan ofKobe Bryant— so much so that the Boston Red Sox outfielder even named his daughter after the late NBA star.
Pillar, who spent time with the San Francisco Giants last season before joining the Sox, grew up in Los Angeles and was a big fan of Bryant and the Lakers team,ESPN reported. During his time with the franchise, Bryant won three championships from 2000 to 2002, before earning his final two NBA titles in 2009 and 2010.
“My wife wouldn’t admit to naming her after Kobe Bryant,” Pillar previously told theToronto Sun, “But it was a name I grew up around and obviously I was a big Kobe Bryant fan, there’s no secret there.”
Kevin Pillar/Instagram
“We wanted to name our daughter something with a ‘K,'” Pillar explained. “We wanted her to be KP; that was the nickname I had growing up. We bounced around a bunch of different ‘K’ names, and Kobe came out one day on a road trip and the name Kobie Rae came out and it was in our final two.”
“We waited until she was born,” he continued. “Maybe 30 minutes after she was born, we decided on her name.”
Pillar’s tribute undoubtedly takes on increased meaning after Bryant’s tragic death in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash, which also killed his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
According toESPN, Pillar said he was at the park with his wife and his daughter, full name Kobie Rae, when he received the news of the tragedy.
Gianna and Kobe Bryant in 2019.Ethan Miller/Getty
“I’ll have that memory as long as I live,” Pillar told ESPN.
Like Bryant before him, Pillar hadhoped to one day write children’s booksfollowing his athletic career. He planned on approaching Bryant for advice when the time came.
“That’s something that’s going to haunt me,” he admitted.
Earlier this month, theNew York Timesannounced that three of Bryant’s books that he co-wrote with his production company, Granity Studios,took the top three spotson its middle grade hardcover best-seller list.
“I enjoy stories and creating content that’s going to move people,” Bryant toldSports Illustratedin March 2019, while discussing his book,The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, the first book in his inspirational YA series.
The Lakers legend added: “I enjoy creating things that you can look at and say, ‘That forced me to look inward and challenge myself, or challenge others.’”
Bryant, 41, was honored over the weekend at the2020 NBA All-Star Gamein Chicago. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Saturday that the All-Star Game’s MVP award would permanently be named after Bryant. Kawhi Leonard of the L.A. Clippers was the first recipient of the award.
If you would like to help the families of the victims of the crash, consider donating to theMamba on Three Fund. Contributions to theMamba & Mambacita Sports Foundationwill help support youth sports.
source: people.com
