Shortly after it was reported that NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, had passed away following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, ESPN's Jay Williams took the airwaves to give a powerful tribute to the NBA legend.
"Today's a tough day. Today's a hard day. I hope that everybody at home, you give that person next to you -- whatever thing you have wrong in your life with them, it might be small or big -- let that s--t go. It doesn't matter," Williams. "None of that stuff matters, man. This is about life and being precious with every damn second we have here."
Aside from their connection through basketball, Bryant's death clearly resonated with Williams. The No. 2 pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, Williams saw his professional basketball end after just one season following a motorcycle accident.
"From somebody who knows, who it almost happened to me, like that man, it's over, it's done, randomly, arbitrarily," Williams said. "His four girls and his wife, we need to come around them and support them, help them. And the NBA should cancel all games today. I don't really know what else to say."
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, a total of nine people died in Sunday's plane crash. There were no survivors in the crash.