Giannis reflects on Kobe's influence: 'One of the reasons that I'm here today'

As the world mourns the tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, and the seven other individuals who died Sunday in a devastating helicopter crash, Giannis Antetokounmpo shared his thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

"Kobe is two different people. A basketball player and the person off the court," the Milwaukee Bucks star told reporters Monday. "He always had that smile, he always had that charisma that he carried with him. I think it touched a lot of people in the world. Touched my family, touched a lot of families that never had the chance to meet him. It's a sad day."

Antetokounmpo, who appeared to delete or deactivate his various social media accounts in the wake of Bryant's death, acknowledged the first NBA game he ever watched was a contest featuring the Black Mamba.

"I grew up with Kobe, Kobe influenced my life," the 25-year-old said. "Looking up to him. One of the reasons that I started playing basketball, one of the reasons that I'm here today."

Bryant's impact on Antetokounmpo evolved once the latter reached the NBA. The late icon notably challenged Antetokounmpo to win the MVP award ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, a feat the Greek phenom achieved last season. Antetokounmpo also worked out with Bryant in the summer of 2018 ahead of his MVP campaign, an experience he elaborated on in a Bucks YouTube series that season.

As of Monday, over 600,000 people had signed a petition to have Bryant's image incorporated into a new NBA logo. Antetokounmpo seemed to be on board with that proposal.

"They might change the logo from Jerry West to Kobe Bryant," he said. "If they did that I think that'd be awesome. But I think the league is going to find a way to honor him the right way."