“RIP Kobe, RIP Gigi” – Luka Doncic Bore Secret Message on His Sneakers in His First Match After Kobe Bryant’s Death

Kobe Bryant’s death was a huge loss to the world. He was an NBA legend who gave it all on the court, and off it as well. Together with him, his daughter, Gianna Bryant, also passed away in the helicopter crash. It was a tragic accident that still haunts us to this day. There were many NBA personalities to pay tribute to the 5x NBA champ and his daughter, including Luka Doncic.

When Kobe passed away, Luka was one of the players to pay tribute to him just a few days later. He wore the Nike Kobe 5s on the court when playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On his shoes, Luka wrote, “Rip Kobe” & “Rip Gigi” on the side. After the game, he posted a tweet that said, “By far the hardest game I ever had to play!! still can’t believe it!! always with us #RIP.”

by far the hardest game i ever had to play!! still can’t believe it!! always with us!🙏🙏🙏 #RIP pic.twitter.com/PscNbfLain

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) January 28, 2020

Together with that, Luka also wrote the names of the other victims who passed away in that crash. They were; John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, Ara Zobayan.

Luka Doncic shared a special relationship with Kobe Bryant before his death

Kobe has always been one to look out for the younger players in the league, even if they were not a part of the Laker family. That was the case with Luka as well. The Lakers icon once shared some wise words with the Slovenian, which the latter revealed later. According to Luka, Kobe said, “Watch out, they’re gonna come after you because you’re from Europe. They’re gonna try to go after you.”

This quote was about the narrative that European basketball players faced harsh criticism from the NBA community. The Black Mamba knew this and wanted Luka to be prepared. Together with that, the last game that Kobe attended was when the Lakers played the Mavs on December 29, 2021. During that game, Kobe had his trash talk game on point when he hilariously taunted Doncic in Slovenian!

Kobe was an inspiration to us all, together with his daughter. The Black Mamba was sure to uplift the others around him and always wanted to bring the best out of his teammates and colleagues. It looks like Luka was no different, and the young superstar wanted to pay respects in his own way.