It’s been four weeks since Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. A public memorial for the two was held Monday at Staples Center, where thousands of Bryant’s admirers gathered to pay their respects to him and his grieving family.
LeBron James, however, isn’t over Bryant’s death just yet. In fact, he says he may never fully heal.
“It’s never a closure. It’s never going to be a closure,” the Los Angeles Lakers star said at Tuesday morning’s shootaround, per ESPN’s David McMeniman. “I mean, we continue to live on his legacy and continue to have our hearts heavy with both sadness and with happiness for his family that are still here. So it’s not a closure. But it was a celebration which was well received from not only the Laker faithful, not only the family here, but everybody around the world.”
It’s been a tough couple of days for James, who’d grown close with Bryant throughout his NBA career. James says he’s still “emotionally a wreck” following the memorial as he continues struggle with the grief.
“(Today is) another challenging day for all of us,” James said. “Like you’ve been hearing me talk about the last couple times you guys asked me about the whole situation, it’s just been hard to kind of talk about it. Trying not to go back. It’s just tough.”
Bryant was 41 when he died.