Jason Terry felt "totally numb" when he received a text message from his wife that read Kobe Bryant, 41, and his 13-year old daughter Gianna Bryant were among seven others who died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California just before 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
Just over one hour after the crash, the message to Terry's phone had a different meaning to the former Arizona Wildcat and longtime opponent of Bryant. Terry coaches his daughter's AAU team, "Drive Nation," which was scheduled to face Bryant's squad on Sunday at noon at Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.
Gianna's teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester also died in the crash.
"I received a call about six weeks ago asking my eighth grade team from Drive Nation to come to LA and play in a tournament, which Kobe called the 'Mamba Cup.' ... We were to play them Sunday — yesterday at noon," Terry said on Fox Sports Southwest Monday evening.
"I ran up to the first official I could see and said, 'Look, there's no more basketball, we cannot play another game today. Kobe has passed away.
"Immediately, the ball stopped bouncing. Everyone converged on one of the courts and we all just gathered around and got on one knee. ... They were on their way to play my team, to play against our team in that gym and it's just heartbreaking," Terry added.
"We cannot play another game today, because Kobe has passed away."Jason Terry discusses how his daughter's team was scheduled to play Gianna Bryant's team yesterday. pic.twitter.com/oDRLh2XzSk
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 28, 2020
Terry was in LA for the weekend and spent time with Bryant the day before his passing.
"Saturday when I got in, I was scouting Kobe's team and I sat right next to him as he coached his daughter. She hit a 3, she turned, he smiled, she smiled and she got back on defense. That memory for me is in my mind, because you just never know," Terry said.
Terry and Bryant were in the NBA together from 1999-2017. Most of Bryant and Terry's battles were from 2004-12 when the ex-Wildcat played for the Dallas Mavericks. Terry and the Mavericks prevented the Lakers from winning three straight NBA championships in 2011 by sweeping LA in the first round.
Since stepping away from basketball in 2018, Bryant and Terry both shared a passion for coaching their daughters and championing women's basketball.
