Kobe Bryant was remembered during the 2020 ESPY Awards on Sunday (June 21), which also landed on Father’s Day. Snoop Dogg honored the late legend with a rap tribute and video that praised his successes — on and off the court — over a video montage.
“You beat the odds by a mile/ All grit, no smile/ A new golden child/ Mamba style,” Uncle Snoop rhymed during the two-minute tribute. “You’re growing your family/ A friend and leader, understandably / And you did it candidly.”
“From Compton to Long Beach to Watts / We all peeped and watched you,” he added. “From Crenshaw to Malibu/ We was all proud of you.”
Elsewhere in the video, Snoop referred to Bryant as a “back-to-back champion” and put him up there with Los Angeles greats: “From the Pac’s and the Nipsey’s / To the Snoop’s and the Dre’s.”
The video portion of the tribute showed Bryant on the court, with his friends and family and the many murals around Los Angeles that keep his memory alive.
Beyond the ESPY Awards, other celebrities and hip hop artists remembered Bryant on Father’s Day by referring to themselves as “girl dads,” a term that went viral earlier this year when ESPN reporter Elle Duncan reflected on how much Bryant had loved being a father to his four daughters.
After retiring from the NBA in 2016, Bryant dedicated his time to coaching his daughter Gianna’s traveling basketball team. Tragically, Bryant and Gianna were on their way to one of her games when their helicopter crashed, killing the 41-year-old, his daughter and seven other passengers.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s ESPY Awards were broadcast from remote locations. The ceremony was hosted by Russell Wilson, Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. Watch Snoop Dogg’s touching Father’s Day video tribute to Bryant below.