“Didn’t Want to Go on TV, Didn’t Want to Talk to Anybody”: Lakers Legend Gets Real About Kobe Bryant’s Death

Sasha Vujacic spent his best years in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, playing parts of seven seasons and winning two championships alongside Kobe Bryant. Bryant and Vujacic had a strong bond from playing on the court together, but the pair’s Italian heritage is what really drove their relationship from the beginning. The two were known to be close friends, so unsurprisingly, the Mamba’s untimely death in 2020 hit the Slovenian quite hard.

He recently discussed Bryant’s passing during his appearance on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, where he shared how difficult it was to even talk about the situation in the immediate aftermath.  As someone who spent years with Kobe on and off the court, it was an especially hard reality for Vujacic to accept.

In the past, Vujacic has had nothing but high praise for his former Hall-of-Fame teammate. He witnessed Kobe’s hunger and passion for the game firsthand, so when the breaking news of his death came out, it took a long time before the 41-year-old was ready to discuss the tragedy.

“The thing is, after what happened, I just didn’t want to do anything,” Vujacic said. “Didn’t want to go on TV, didn’t want to talk to anybody I knew… I just needed some time to kind of process everything and be able to speak. And then years passed by, and you just started accepting that [Kobe’s] actually watching over us, and he’s with us every day.”

Vujacic has always spoken glowingly of Kobe’s drive, unable to compare his mentality to anything he’s seen before. The 10-year veteran recently discussed Bryant’s intense training regimen and how it inspired him to achieve his own greatness.

Sasha Vujacic discussed Kobe’s drive to achieve greatness

By the time Vujacic was winning championships with the Lakers, Kobe was still in his prime but was no longer the world-class athletic specimen he’d been during his first three titles. As a result, Bryant had to work even harder to maintain his level of elite play, something Vujacic saw throughout his tenure in LA.

It didn’t take long for Vujacic to catch on to Bryant’s tireless work ethic. He recalled how early the five-time champion would show up to the gym during his rookie season in 2004-05. Considering everything Kobe had already accomplished in the NBA by this point, his intensity caught young Vujacic off guard.

“[Kobe] probably got up at like 4 o’clock because he was in the gym at 5,” Vujacic said. “I got to the gym at 5 o’clock, and I’m like, ‘Kobe?’ Like, I’m the rookie. I’ve got to prove myself … But then, when you see Kobe, you’re like, wow. He’s a franchise player. He already won, and he wants to keep going. With Kobe, it was that obsession of being the greatest.”

Vujacic’s reverence for his former running mate clearly hasn’t waned. Despite being nearly 20 years removed from their playing days together, Vujacic still has only positive things to say about Kobe Bryant.