Rob Gronkowski contributed to the outpouring of love for Kobe Bryant after the former Los Angeles Lakers star died in a helicopter crash that killed eight, including Bryant’s daughter Gianna, on Sunday. Gronk, a retired New England Patriots tight end, remembered a brief but meaningful interaction with Bryant on the sideline of a Celtics-Lakers game.
“You came shouting my name,” Gronk wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “It put a huge smile on my face. Just a honor to be recognized from the greatest. You will be missed and always remembered as the Hero that you are. Sending my love and prayers to his family.”
It seems Gronk is referring to an interaction with Bryant in 2012 when the Lakers travelled to Boston. Bryant was recruiting Gronk to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant’s favorite team, in the middle of playing in a fiercely competitive matchup.
“I said the Eagles need a tight end,” Bryant said in an interview with WEEI radio in Boston in 2012 after the game. “I’m recruiting. He’s a freak athlete. He shouted at me and I shouted back. It’s fun to have those conversations with athletes you respect.”
