Former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter, Gigi, and seven others died in a horrific helicopter crash 
in suburban Los Angeles five years ago this week.
As someone who grew up admiring Bryant, Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson said he often thinks about that day that rocked the NBA world.
“I think about him and Gigi every day,” Thompson said. “Ask anybody who was born around the time I was (in 1990), and he was like our Michael Jordan.
“His style of play and his influence on the game on a global scale is something that is probably only second to Michael.”
Bryant played his entire NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 until he retired in 2016 after becoming an 18-time All-Star and a five-time NBA champion. Part of that time, Thompson was growing up in Los Angeles, because his father, Mychal Thompson, played for the Lakers from 1987-91 and won a pair of 
NBA championships with the Lakers in 1987 and ’88.
Mychael and Klay, in fact, are the only father-son duo in NBA history to win NBA titles in back-to-back years, with Klay accomplishing the feat in 2017 and 2018 while he was with the Golden State Warriors.
Klay Thompson attended high school at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., and his father is currently the Lakers’ radio commentator.
“My memories of Kobe are very fond, especially growing up in Southern California — for high school, at least,” Thompson said. “Kobe was one of the most intelligent athletes to ever grace this earth.
“He was the ultimate competitor. Getting to see him, especially to go with my dad. . .”
After his retirement, Bryant attended a Mavs-Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 29, 2019. He was there mainly to watch Mavs point guard Luka Dončić, who was
in his second season and was one of the up-and-coming rising stars in the NBA.
Thompson remembers that day as if it happened yesterday.
“That’s the first thing I told Luka when we met,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, I knew you were going to be special’ because he brought Kobe out of the house to go watch him play.
“Kobe doesn’t just give that love to those who don’t earn it. So, that’s a cool moment, because it was cool to see him in retirement give Luka that love.”
Dončić scored 19 points, grabbed four rebounds and distributed seven assists in that game against the Lakers. Afterward, he got to meet Bryant and Gigi, who were sitting courtside.
“He was talking Slovenian,” Dončić said after the game. “He was talking my language.
“I saw Kobe talking Slovenian and I was really surprised,”
Some 28 days later on Jan. 26, 2020, the helicopter carrying Bryant, Gigi and seven others crashed into the side of a mountain while they were on their way to play an AAU basketball game at Mamba Basketball Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
As the years have passed, Thompson still thinks of the pain of losing the nine people on Jan. 26, 2020.
“It’s still crazy to think (Bryant is) not here,” he said. “I can go on and on about him, because he meant so much to my basketball journey.”
X: @DwainPrice
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