On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers played their first game since the death of former Laker, Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The Lakers took several measures to honour those lost, including having Kobe's jersey placed backwards on every seat in the Staples Center arena. They left two of the courtside seats empty, however, and placed Gianna's jersey on one and Kobe's frontwards on the other, with some red roses. The 13-year-old's basketball team sat courtside in their memory, and when the Lakers appeared on the court just before tip-off, they were all wearing Kobe's jersey. Usher performed "Amazing Grace," Boyz II Men sang the National Anthem, and LeBron James gave a touching speech to memorialize his fallen friend.
At halftime, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth also took to the court to perform their heart-wrenching ballad, "See You Again," in honour of everyone who died in the tragic event. The song has often been performed in order to pay tribute to someone who has passed away, and was originally written for 2015's Furious 7 in honour of the late Fast & Furious actor, Paul Walker, who died in 2013. Watching the emotional Kobe tribute below:
