“He Was the Basketball Version of Me”, Kanye West on Kobe Bryant

American rapper Kanye West spoke about his relationship with recently deceased NBA legend Kobe Bryant; who died in a tragic helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.

West and Bryant were longtime friends, with a bond that went far beyond the memorable Nike commercials they starred in together. For GQ‘s May cover story, editor in chief Will Welch interviewed West on multiple occasions in a series of far-reaching conversations that included the 42-year-old’s relationship with the Lakers legend.

“One thing I thought was really amazing is that we were able to find a groove with the photographs today even as out of it as I was with the loss of Kobe. We were able to just go to the court and play ball.

He talked about passing by the site of the crash

“There’s one street that I drive to go from either my office or my home to the property where the domes were built. So now there’s no way for me not to be as determined as Kobe every time I drive down that street. It’s game time. There’s no move that we can’t make, or that we’ll wait to make.”

“Everyone in our life is now a member of the Lakers on one of Kobe’s championship teams”. Kanye continued, “The way that Kobe would say that we all have to come together to win this championship; that is the way I look at life now. To an infinite, other level.

This is a game-changer for me. He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts! We got the commercials that prove it. No one else can say this. We came up at the same time, together. And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things—but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now.

We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ’em. We bringing home the trophies.”