“I can’t”- Naomi Osaka pays emotional tribute to former NBA star Kobe Bryant

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Naomi Osaka posted an emotional tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant

Reigning Australian Open women’s singles champion Naomi Osaka took to Twitter to offer her condolences to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who died on Sunday.

Japanese Osaka paid her heartfelt tributes to the sporting legend via social media handle by writing a letter and thanking him for being an inspiration to her and many athletes around the world.

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Naomi Osaka during a post-match press conference after her shocking third-round defeat at the Australian Open. (Getty Images)

Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, died in a helicopter crash that killed seven others on board in Calabasas, California putting the whole world and sporting fans in a major shock.

Osaka was one of the few earliest to lead tributes from the tennis world to the former Los Angeles Lakers star.

Many others including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Rod Laver also took to Twitter to pay their respects for the former American hoopster.

In the letter she thanks him particularly for caring and checking up on her after her hard losses and also at random times. She also thanked him for teaching a lot of things in a short period of time and concludes by saying, “I’ve been lucky enough to have known you. Thank you for existing.”

An NBA legend

A legend of the game, Bryant has won five NBA Championships and has two Olympic medals in his kitty. One in Beijing in 2008 and the other in London in 2012 respectively with the American national basketball side.

His other accolades include NBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2007-08 and was twice named the MVP of the NBA Finals and was the All-Star Game MVP four times. He was also a 15-time All-NBA selection, 18-time All-Star and 12-time All-Defensive team member.

Meanwhile, defending champion Osaka’s hopes of retaining her title went down the drain after she suffered a shocking 3-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of American teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the third round.

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