Lamar Odom Remembers Close Friend & Former Lakers Teammate Kobe Bryant

Lamar Odom is breaking his silence after the death of Kobe Bryant.

The 40-year-old former basketball pro took to Instagram on Sunday night (January 26) to remember his close friend and former Los Angeles Lakers teammate after he, daughter Gianna, and seven other people tragically died in a helicopter crash.

“These picture are just the tip of the iceberg of our relationship,” Lamar wrote along with a slideshow of photos of and Kobe. “He taught me so many things in life that were necessary on and off the court. On the court he taught me how to carve out defenses and how to take my time. How to make winning my ultimate goal.”

“Off the court he taught me to sign my own checks lol. Of course anyone who knows my story knows I’ve suffered a lot of loss but the only loss I can compare this to is when I lost my son,” Lamar continued. “Even though our relationship wasn’t father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother. I’m glad I got to be the ying to your yang as far as the locker room was concerned. It was my pleasure.”

Lamar added: “I couldn’t even catch my breath today when I heard this news. I just knew if he was in a helicopter crash he would have been the one to survive. Somehow he would have jumped out and landed on his feet. I’m sitting here thinking about when we would be in practice scrimmaging and you would start the jump ball off with elbowing Sasha in the chest. Like dude it’s 10:30 in the morning lol. You think watching him play was crazy, you gotta think in practice if you scored like 8-9 buckets throughout the practice you had a great practice. I’ve seen him knock off 13-14 in a row in practice!!!!”

Lamar and Kobe played seven seasons together on the Lakers from 2004 to 2011. The two became close friends and Lamar praised Kobe for his leadership and friendship, especially after his 2015 drug overdose.

“Kobe Bryant played a crucial role in my life,” Lamar wrote in his memoir Darkness to Light, according to Vibe. “I have recently started to reflect back about my relationships and I’m so grateful for the people God gave me. His love and care was so deep I should have given you my 6th man award just because I feel you deserved it…I hope you know that I’m extremely blessed to have you in my life not only as a friend, Laker fam, but also as a father figure that I never had.”

“I’m still waiting for the media to come out and say wrong report. No way God took my brother this early,” Lamar concluded his post. “I know I been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself. When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened. In honor of my brother I’m up at 4am tomorrow to get to the gym! Gigi gone give you buckets!!!! I love you brother 💔🙏🏿😥 @kobebryant”

READ MORE: Kobe Bryant Started Using Helicopters Frequently to Spend More Time with His Family