- Director Spike Lee paid a touching tribute to Kobe Bryant at the Oscars red carpet on Sunday night.
- Lee wore a purple suit with gold piping, the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers, for the show, along with Nike Kobe 9 Elite sneakers.
- The number 24, one of Bryant's retired numbers with the NBA team, was stitched on Lee's lapels and on the back of his suit.
- Lee was longtime friends with Bryant, making him the star of his 2009 documentary "Kobe Doin' Work."
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Spike Lee paid a touching tribute to Kobe Bryant at the Oscars red carpet on Sunday night.
Lee, who is presenting at the 92nd annual Academy Awards, sported the Los Angeles Lakers' colors with a purple suit that featured gold piping.
The number 24, one of Bryant's retired jersey numbers, was stitched onto the lapels of the director's custom Gucci suit, as well as on the back.
Lee also sported orange Nike Kobe 9 Elite sneakers as part of his tribute.
Lee was a longtime friend of the NBA icon, who was killed alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a California helicopter crash on January 26. Bryant was just 41 years old.
Bryant was the star of Lee's 2009 documentary, "Kobe Doin' Work," which followed him for one day during the 2007-2008 Los Angeles Lakers season.
Ryan Seacrest asked Lee how he was coping with the loss of Bryant, leaving the director speechless on the Oscars red carpet.
Earlier this week, Lee told Extra that he was "still shook" over Bryant's death.
"It's like some Greek tragedy," he said. "Some kind of crazy thing, and with his daughter."
"All of us human beings, and I include myself, we take for granted this great gift we have of being alive," he added. "But tomorrow's not guaranteed and I know I was not the only one, I know I was not the only husband in the world that hugged his wife and kids. I did, and that's the first thing you think about."
Bryant will be honored during the Oscars ceremony, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The NBA star won an Academy Award in 2018 for the animated short "Dear Basketball," which he wrote and produced.
Details on how Bryant will be honored during the telecast have not been revealed.
Bryant was also honored during the annual Oscars nominees luncheon on January 27, according to The Los Angeles Times.
David Rubin, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, led the nominees in a moment of silence for Bryant and the other victims of the helicopter crash.
Rubin recalled how Bryant had been at the same luncheon when he was nominated just two years ago.
"With all his mega-success on the court, he was possibly the most excited person in the room to be a nominee," Rubin said.
The Academy also tweeted a touching tribute to Bryant, along with a picture of the NBA star smiling with his Oscar, after news of his death broke.
They doubted a kid could make it in the NBA and he proved them wrong.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 26, 2020
They doubted he could win a championship and he proved them wrong.
They doubted he could make movies and he won an Oscar.
Like all great artists, Kobe Bryant proved the doubters wrong.
Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/1fYnKHbnt7
- Read more:
- Magic Johnson paid tribute to Kobe Bryant with both of his jersey numbers. Here is the meaning behind each one.
- Kobe Bryant talked about his daughter Gigi and his love for family in his last sit-down interview with the LA Times
- Lakers fans paid tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant by leaving more than 1,300 basketballs outside the Staples Center
- Carli Lloyd says that watching Kobe Bryant look 'so happy' in retirement gave her comfort about 'what my post-soccer career might look like'
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