‘TERRIBLE EVENT’

Lakers Superfan Jack Nicholson Mourns Kobe: ‘There’s a Big Hole in the Wall’

In a rare interview, the retired Oscar winner became emotional about his friendship with the NBA legend, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday.

In a rare interview, Oscar-winner Jack Nicholson, a Los Angeles Lakers superfan and personal friend of Kobe Bryant, emerged to speak of his heartbreak after the NBA legend died in a helicopter crash Sunday. The actor, now 82, spoke to CBS-LA hours after confirmation that Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in the crash. “My reaction is the same as almost all of L.A.,” Nicholson said. “Where we think everything’s solid, there’s a big hole in the wall. I was used to seeing and talking to Kobe that … it kills you. It’s just a terrible event.” Nicholson, long a courtside figure at the Staples Center and now retired from acting, recalled the first time he and Bryant crossed paths, saying: “I teased him the first time we met. It was at the Garden in New York and I offered him a basketball and asked him if he wanted me to autograph it for him. He looked at me like I was crazy.” He went on: “I remember the totality of how great a player he was… We’ll think of him all the time and we’ll miss him.”