Kobe Bryant was remembered during the 2020 Academy Awards on Sunday night when his photo was the first to appear at the start of the In Memoriam segment.
The Lakers legend who lost his life in a helicopter crash on January 26 was seen holding the Oscar he won in 2018 as Billie Eilish performed a moving version of “Yesterday” by the Beatles.
Also displayed on the screen was a quote from Bryant.
“Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going,” it read. The Academy had said before the show that Bryant would be honored in some way.
“We can confirm that Kobe Bryant will be acknowledged in the telecast,” the Academy said. The Academy previously paid tribute to Bryant on the day of his end with an Instagram post.
“They doubted a kid could make it in the NBA and he proved them wrong. They doubted he could win a championship and he proved them wrong. They doubted he could make movies and he won an Oscar,” the Academy wrote.
“Like all great artists, Kobe Bryant proved the doubters wrong. Rest in peace.”
Bryant won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film during the 2018 Oscars for Dear Basketball, which was based on a letter he wrote to the sport he loved when he retired in 2015. It’s been an extremely emotional couple of weeks for Bryant fans and especially his family.
A few days after the incident that also finished his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, shared her thoughts on Instagram. “My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this scared time,” Vanessa began her post. “Thank you for all the prayers.
We definitely need them. We are completely shocked by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.”
She continued, “We are also upset for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives.
I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”
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